Die Zauberflöte

Neville Marriner, Conductor

Francisco Araiza, Kiri Te Kanawa, Olaf Bär, Samuel Ramey, Cheryl Studer, José van Dam, Eva Lind
Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Librettist: Emanuel Schikaneder

I bought this recording of Die Zauberflöte to go along with my copy of Klemperer's set. It's a great alternative, and corrects a few of the Klemperer version's flaws. For instance, the Three Boys are played by boys, not women. It fits the piece so much better. For those who find Klemperer's conducting to be on the slow side, Marriner takes it a bit faster, though not too fast. (I personally do not find Klemperer's conducting slow.)

This set features the superb Francisco Araiza as Tamino. Araiza is in his element here - he is possibly the best Mozartian tenor around and was born to sing stuff like "Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön" - but he also manages to convey the touchingly naïve and eager personality of the character very effectively. He obviously has a good handle on the role (as is even more evident in the wonderful video from the Metropolitan Opera production conducted by James Levine.)

Kiri Te Kanawa's voice is possibly a bit too weighty and mature for Pamina, but it doesn't really seem to matter as she delivers some of the most beautiful singing ever. She is also a great "vocal actress" and really breathes life into the character.

Olaf Bär's Papageno is excellent. He is very connected with the humor in the role, which comes through both in dialogue and the singing. He matches well with Araiza both vocally an in a dramatic sense. I do prefer Walter Berry's performance on the Klemperer set - I find it a bit warmer and slightly more lively - but again, that set has no dialogue. Plus, Bär and his Papagena, Eva Lind, deliver a really superb performance of "Pa-Pa-Pa-Papapagena."

This set's Queen of the Night, Cheryl Studer, has a much weightier voice than the Klemperer's Lucia Popp. This allows for a more mature sound and counters Te Kanawa's Pamina nicely. However, while Studer's "Der Hölle Rache" is lovely and impressively agile, it lacks the sheer breathtaking beauty of Popp's performance. (I lay this down partially to Marriner's quicker tempo, which may have forced a trade-off between agility and tone.)

Samuel Ramey is possibly my favorite Sarastro - his low notes are the most sonorous and impressive I've heard so far. His voice exudes at all times a very warm, forgiving, paternal aura. An Amazon reviewer from England describes his singing as "like a velvet volcano" and I hope you'll forgive me for borrowing the phrase - it's too suitable to resist.

José van Dam puts in a really great performance in the small role of the Speaker. Wonderful to listen to although there isn't much acting involved - lots of rolling low notes.

As I mentioned, the Three Boys are sung by boys, which is one way in which this set clearly bests Klemperer's. No mezzo can really substitute for that boyish flutey sound that suits the music so well.

The inclusion of the dialogue is a plus for me, (this is the album's other huge win over the Klemperer) as I find that without it the songs don't flow into each other properly. Besides, some of the best jokes are in the dialogue! ("Erdrosselt!")

I could go on praising this recording for ages, but I think you get the picture by now. Let me just add that Marriner is a truly superb conductor of Mozart (I like pretty much everything he's done) and I'll let you run off to try this album out.

Originally Reviewed:

10-Jul-03