Mozart lovers, you are in for a tremendous treat. If you haven’t heard this recording on LP, now is your chance to run to buy it on CD. Originally released in 1981, this studio recording was made with the same ensemble as in the September 1980 Salzburg Festival. And it is sheer delight. Not only will you hear the incomparable sound of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra playing Mozart as it should be played but you will get the exceptional clarity of an early digital recording processed with Super Bit Mapping. Overall, this performance is like a rich and exquisite piece of chocolate whose complex elements cannot be teased apart. In other words, it is much more than the sum of its parts.
In Act 1, the Three Ladies who rush to Tamino’s rescue, saving him from the evil dragon, are beautifully melodious, creating a gorgeous unified sound. Christian Boesch is a hearty Papageno with a deep, chesty voice. For those who speak German, the recitatives are just terrific, with every word clearly audible (although surround sound is greatly missed). Tamino’s “Dis Bildnis” is sung with great expression and tenderness. Tenor Eric Tappy is both lyrical and heroic. His and the instrumentalists’ cadences weave together beautifully like a velvety quilt. It is hard to imagine a better combination than this Tamino and this orchestra. Zdislawa Donat as the Queen of the Night sounds a bit too sweet and sugary. Her “Du, du, du” is not sufficiently edgy, but she displays good coloratura and great intonation. José van Dam is a smooth and powerful Speaker. A minor snag is that the CD-Text on CD 1 (only) displays track titles for the wrong opera : Così fan tutte, an earlier opera by Mozart.
In Act 2 the duet between Pamina and Papageno is enchanting. Boesch sings with great zest, and Ileana Cotrubas’s voice is light, innocent, and girlish. Martti Talvela’s Sarastro is a gentle, sympathetic wizard. His first grand aria, “O Isis und Osiris,” is exceptionally smooth, musical, and sonorous. Horst Hiestermann’s Monostatos is excellent—dramatic and intense. In “Der hölle Rache,” Donat’s Queen of the Night again is too lightweight. Her sharp and clear tones in this angry aria, however, pierce like shards of glass. Maestro Levine does an admirable job of keeping up with her coloratura. The Trio of boys is beautifully sung by soloists from the Boys’ Choir of Tölz. We are fortunate that they have not been replaced by women, as often happens. The final meeting of Tamina and Pamino, now that they are allowed to talk to each other, is exquisitely moving. Elizabeth Kales as Papagena is creamy and light, and the cadences of the conducting are delightful.
This performance of Die Zauberflöte is how Mozart must have imagined it when he wrote it in a great hurry. The libretto is not included with the discs but can be found at https://opera.sonybmgmasterworks.com/libretti/masterworksopera.
– Dalia Geffen
