BaL 21.11.20 - Mozart: Die Zauberflöte, K620

[Wolfram]

The Klemperer set arrived on my doormat this morning. I’ve got as far as the Queen of the Night’s first aria, and Popp is indeed superb. I don’t think I’ll ever want to hear another singer in this role now. I feel same way about her in Strauss’s Four Last Songs.

Update: I've reached the first "I don't like" aspect of this recording. The three boys sound as though they've been rehearsing with the BBC Singers.

I know what you mean about the three boys. Compared to some recordings that successfully use real boys (Solti's Vienna boys in his first recording are particularly good) they just sound matronly to me. A view encouraged by the picture of the three of them together in the booklet of the GROTC release. I am interested to hear what you think of Gottlob Frick, who used to come in for a bit of bad press for this recording IIRC, and Nicolai Gedda, who suffers from the drawback of not being Fritz Wunderlich. I do think that Klemperer manages to capture the charm of the piece though, and keeps everything tripping along nicely, despite his traditional slowish tempi. I was surprised by Bohm, whose tempi are very similar to Klemperer's, but which are a bit sedate in places, the Queen of the Night's arias in particular, and lack the sparkle that others manage to generate at similar speeds.

Totally agree about Popp and Tennstedt in the Four Last Songs.

[Lordgeous]

The Klemperer set arrived on my doormat this morning.

Mine's arriving tomorrow!

[Barbirollians]

All gone a bit quiet before this morning on the Klemperer.

[Wolfram]

I hope William Christie gets a look in. I've been quite taken with his recording this week.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Looks like Christie out and Klemperer not at the starting gate after the QOTN test. The two QOTN arias are about the only bit of the opera I don’t like very much.

[Barbirollians]

Looks like Christie out and Klemperer not at the starting gate after the QOTN test. The two QOTN arias are about the only bit of the opera I don’t like very much.

Nonsense to leave Popp out.

[Barbirollians]

Klemperer thrown out because Sarastro’s aria too slow - what superficial reviewing .

[mikealdren]

Klemperer thrown out because Sarastro’s aria too slow - what superficial reviewing .

A bit unfair, Klemperer was discarded with regret for slow tempi throughout which FW has suggested are not correct for this opera.

[Ein Heldenleben]

It’s very much focused on singing this review but doesn’t have basic information like does it have the dialogue and how well does it work with the music. The conductor’s challenge of integrating the comic and the serious indeed near tragic has been barely mentioned . Key sections like the Two Armed Men ( which I think is amongst the greatest music Mozart ever wrote ) never seem to get played
Ah they’ve just mentioned the dialogue glancingly.

[Barbirollians]

I thought that was pretty dire and the winner was grim especially that awful Papageno/Papagena duet .

[Darloboy]

Klemperer thrown out because Sarastro’s aria too slow - what superficial reviewing .

At least he was mentioned, unlike Karajan 1950; Fricsay & Bohm. This shortlist approach is getting ridiculous. I was thinking how much I would have liked to hear Nicholas Kenyon discussing the recorded history of this work - but then realised they’d probably have limited him to 8 recordings.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I thought that was pretty dire and the winner was grim especially that awful Papageno/Papagena duet .

Yes if that duet doesn’t both make you laugh and touch the heart you’ve missed the whole point of this work....

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I found much of interest in this BaL, but some of the conclusions were reached for the most insignificant of reasons. As for the "Importance" of the fortepiano - that was a real head-in-the-hands moments. If it were so important, why didn't Mpzart bother to include it in the score? Keyboards were sometimes used in performance, but only as a way of keeping the ensemble together in the days before the conductor..

That said, the two top choices were both worthy winners.

[gurnemanz]

I thought that was pretty dire and the winner was grim especially that awful Papageno/Papagena duet .

Agree. That duet singing may have been OK as a one-off on stage but would surely become irksome in repeated listening.

I got very little out of this BaL. Opportunities to achieve more even within the limitations of the format were squandered. Why, for instance, play Schreier only to slag him off and not even mention Fritz Wunderlich? Why play so many "Der Hölle Rache" and leave out, for instance, the Three Boys?

[DracoM]

Solti for me.