BaL 21.11.20 - Mozart: Die Zauberflöte, K620

[crb11]

Solti for me.

Which of the two? I liked the excerpts I heard this morning from the 1969 version, but other sources (eg Gramophone) seem to reckon the 1990 one is much better.

[Keraulophone]

the winner was grim especially that awful Papageno/Papagena duet.

Truly ghastly.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

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

Indeed. What might be effective in a single live performance, is not likely to be appreciated on repetition.

Why play so many "Der Hölle Rache" and leave out, for instance, the Three Boys?

Agreed.

[DracoM]

Yes, a bit surprised by that given how much time onstage they have.

[gradus]

Did Haitink get a look-in, Popp there too.

[Bryn]

Unless I missed such, again there was no consideration of DVD options. Why change the name from CD Review to Record Review then ignore recordings on DVD? I'm rather fond of the ROH/Colin Davis DVD recording, for instance, albeit that it's not of the HIPP variety.

[visualnickmos]

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

I second your agreement. Popp in any recording I've heard, is beyond equal.
NB Barbara Hendricks in the Four Last Songs (cond Sawallisch) is pretty marvellous, too.

[visualnickmos]

Solti for me.

Which of Solti's recording was at the starting line? I have a version with Sumi Jo - was it that one?

[ardcarp]

Oh dear, oh dear. What a dire record review. I grew up with the Karajan Vienna Phil version, and though it may not pass muster, it might have been given a little consideration. Wilma Lipp was surely, at one time, the ultimate Queen of the Night? But what made me most annoyed was the sneering, not just of the performance but of the music itself associated with Papageno and Papagena. Are we meant to belly-laugh at it? No, of course not. Were we ever? Firstly humour has changed simce the 18th century, but surely that famous final love-meeting of the two Ps is one of Mozart's most sublime and ingenious inventions. As for the over-done stammer in the chosen version, it doesn't NEED to be overdone. It's all there in the music. Was there any reference to Freemasonry in the review? If so, I missed it.
This was not BAL's finest three quarters of an hour IMHO. Sorry Flora. The third of your options for consideration was offside. The trial of IRRITATION????

[Bryn]

Which of Solti's recording was at the starting line? I have a version with Sumi Jo - was it that one?

This one:

Pilar Lorengar (soprano, Pamina)

Stuart Burrows (tenor, Tamino)

Cristina Deutekom (soprano, Queen of the Night)

Martti Talvela (bass, Sarastro)

Hermann Prey (bass-baritone, Papageno)

Renate Holm (soprano, Papagena)

Wiener Sängerknaben

Wiener Staatsoper

Wiener Philharmoniker

Georg Solti (conductor)

Decca 4780394 (3 CDs)

[gurnemanz]

This one:

Talvela appears on the 1964 Böhm as an Armed Man, paired with James King. This recording has Fischer-Dieskau as an appealing, non-barking Papageno and the not-worth-mentioning Fritz Wunderlich as Tamino.

[gurnemanz]

I second your agreement. Popp in any recording I've heard, is beyond equal.
NB Barbara Hendricks in the Four Last Songs (cond Sawallisch) is pretty marvellous, too.

A nice tangent..... I don't know enough Barbara Hendricks recordings and have just listened to Four Last via Spotify. She has a lovely tone. It is a double CD playlist of Strauss songs, also with piano, and I have greatly enjoyed listening to some more of them. I've clicked the heart icon to make it a favourite.

[Bryn]

Talvela appears on the 1964 Böhm as an Armed Man, paired with James King. This recording has Fischer-Dieskau as an appealing, non-barking Papageno and the not-worth-mentioning Fritz Wunderlich as Tamino.

The listing quoted was copied and pasted from the Radio 3 Record Review page, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000pm7z

[Leinster Lass]

Unless I missed such, again there was no consideration of DVD options. Why change the name from CD Review to Record Review then ignore recordings on DVD? I'm rather fond of the ROH/Colin Davis DVD recording, for instance, albeit that it's not of the HIPP variety.

That's a very good question! Works I have in DVD form only include Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius, Mozart's Requiem, Britten's War Requiem and Peter Grimes (2 versions of the latter) and Monteverdi's Vespers of 1616.

[Barbirollians]

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

They aren’t that slow -lazy cliched reviewing IMO. I was amazed Wunderlich’s portrait aria Wasn’t played and she made a reference to an obscure Gedda live recording when he sings it very beautifully for OK.