Of course, the Queen of the Night herself doesn't make a recording, but you also get the VPO, Stuart Burrows, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Hermann Prey. A fantastic performance all around, and the most exciting IMO. Zu Hilfe! Zu Hifle! is spine-tingling.
My favorite Zauberflöte recordings are the 1955 Fricsay version on DG with the wonderful Rita Streich and the 1959 live recording from Salzburg (George Szell, Orfeo) with the likewise wonderful Lisa Della Casa.
I have Bohm and Klemperer and loved both! I also have the Sir Colin Davis recording, but it's been too long since I've listened to it to give an opinion. I know I at least LIKED it a lot, it's hard for a conductor to ruin a Mozart opera for me. I really enjoyed Rene Jacobs as well, though not quite as much as Klemperer.
It is hard for a composer to ruin Mozart's music, but I never understood the love Klemperer gets. For me, he completely damages Fidelio with his soft and plodding conducting, and completely misses dramatic points in Zauberflote with his plodding conducting. In the opening it sounds like Tamino is crawling from a giant serpent that is pursuing him and singing a lullaby.
That glories Decca sound, Lorengar as one of the best Pamina's ever and even Schwarzkopf admitted she never heard a queen of the night so good as Deutekom at the coloraturas , add Solti's great conducting.
Job done.
I also like Solti's first Decca Zauberflöte, but his earlier studio recording for Frankfurt Radio is even better and has the cast of the century. Nobody matches Elisabeth Grümmer as Pamina.
Jacobs us a very original take on Zauberflote but he does include all the dailogue - if you don't speak German it becomes very tedious - but you can programme it out.
Another very good - and underrated HIP - is Christie.
Wunderlich just is Tamino for me. Any recording with him, live or studio, will be worth listening to. Of course he is already on the Böhm studio recording, which is one I woulnd't want to be without.
I gave it a listen a couple of years ago as I'm a Furtwaengler fan, however I found the singing somewhat disappointing and this is probably the opera where a slow approach is least productive. If ponderous Mozart is your thing, then the Klemperer is an all round better option. It's on YouTube so you should be able to find it there to listen to.
I'm not sold on Furtwängler's Don Giovanni, which is on Orfeo too. Sound's poor (even considering the date). Rather listen to Sony/Mitropoulos or Decca/Krips, for example. This Zauberflöte doesn't grab me either, even though I AM actually a big Furtwängler fan. I've got the classic Böhm one...
From multiple recordings of Die Zauberflöte only two have survived in my collection: Klemperer because it has no dialogue and I like the singers and the tempi, and the Sawallisch, because I love Rothenberger, Schreier and the Moser Queen of the Night.
On November 20th, 2020, Decca are releasing a 1978 recording of Die Zauberflöte by Alain Lombard and the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra. The cast includes Kiri Te Kanawa, Peter Hofmann, Edita Gruberova, Kathleen Battle, Kurt Moll and Jose Van Dam, but "urprisingly, this recording has never made it to CD". My first thought was that this is some sort of creative marketing, but a cursory look online reveals no legitimate CD version of this recording. I wonder why? And I also wonder why Decca used a version of the original LP artwork but added a sickly tint to the original natural colors?
The release is available to pre-order at Amazon (it's not yet listed at Amazon.com, but when it is you can just switch the domain name), but right now, the only info in English is at Australia's Classics Direct:
As the musical director of the Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg and the Opéra du Rhin in the 1970s, Alain Lombard recorded a large array of repertoire with the orchestra, almost exclusively for Erato. Among the few recordings for other labels, he made one for the French Barclay label in 1978: Mozart's Die Zauberflöte.
A real gem looking at the incredible cast, a veritable "Who's Who" of opera singers of the time: Kiri Te Kanawa, Peter Hofmann, Edita Gruberova, Kathleen Battle, Kurt Moll and Jose Van Dam. Surprisingly, this recording has never made it to CD. It is now being re-issued on Decca, with the original texts and libretto.
However, translating the information at Tower Records Japan reveals a little bit more:
The first CD of a gem opera with gorgeous cast members
French conductor Alain Lombard made many recordings mainly on the Erato label in the 1970s as music director of the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra and the Rhein Opera. And one of the few recordings I've made to other labels is The Magic Flute on the 1978 French Berkeley label. Starring Kiri Te Kanawa, Peter Hofmann, Edita Gruberová, Kathleen Battle, Kurt Moll and other amazing jewel-like casts and famous opera singers of the era. Even more surprising, this recording has never been on CD. This Berkeley recording will be released as a 2-CD set for the first time from Decca. Includes a 100-page booklet with original text and lyrics (German, French, English). (Universal Music / IMS)
On November 20th, 2020, Decca are releasing a 1978 recording of Die Zauberflöte by Alain Lombard and the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra. The cast includes Kiri Te Kanawa, Peter Hofmann, Edita Gruberova, Kathleen Battle, Kurt Moll and Jose Van Dam, but "urprisingly, this recording has never made it to CD". My first thought was that this is some sort of creative marketing, but a cursory look online reveals no legitimate CD version of this recording. I wonder why? And I also wonder why Decca used a version of the original LP artwork but added a sickly tint to the original natural colors?
The release is available to pre-order at Amazon (it's not yet listed at Amazon.com, but when it is you can just switch the domain name), but right now, the only info in English is at Australia's Classics Direct:
However, translating the information at Tower Records Japan reveals a little bit more:
I just wanted to do that, but you beat me, go on, do it.
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