Mozart: Die Zauberflöte (Zurich, 2000)
 

Cast: Malin Hartelius (Pamina), Piotr Beczala (Tamino), Elena Mosuc (Königin der Nacht), Matti Salminen (Sarastro), Anton Scharinger (Pagageno), Julia Neumann (Papagena), Jacob Will (Sprecher); Chorus and Orchestra of the Zürich Opera House, Franz Welser-Möst (conductor) Jonathan Miller (director)

Recorded at the Zurich Opera House in 2000

Issued on DVD in 2002 by TDK Mediactive (DV-OPMF, PAL/Region 2 with menus in English and subtitles in English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian).

Technical Details:
Picture Format: 16:9 (nominal); ~14:9 in practice
Sound: LPCM Stereo; AC3 Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1 [reviewed in LPCM]

Running time: 151 minutes

Sung in German
 
One must begin with the production (directed by Jonathan Miller) which is clever, intriguing and effective. Set in an 18th-century library with costumes appropriate to the era, a segmented, mutable structure provides for most entrances and exits. Stage front is a divan; in the background are two obelisks providing the only suggestion of the exotic East. Action flows easily among the elements, but specific points simply fail as though this recording were the first performance of a production needing polish by repetition. Not surprisingly, the dialogue varies substantially from that in the score, but the result is often quite jarring. The Papagena/Papageno interactions are unsatisfying, though Scharinger is truly inspired in his role. Monastatos (Volker Vogel) is all too often in the wrong place; minstrel-show blackface makes him stand out and may make small directorial faults seem large. Another oddity is that during the overture Tamino falls asleep, leading one to believe that the fantasy is to be played out as his dream - yet he does not awaken at the end and there is no closure to the concept.
 
The singing varies from exceptional to very good. Mosuc's Queen is regal, maternal and absolutely 'on' vocally and dramatically. Hartelius offers exquisite tone and beautiful phrasing, but occasional oddities of German pronunciation. Beczala looks and sounds fine for the role, but Scharinger stands out vocally and dramatically, overmatching his prince. A comparison with Hagegård in the Bergman film is not out of place since each is so persuasive in the role that one looks forward to more from him. Salminen is something of a disappointment here; the voice per se is still good and he certainly portrays the character well, but he seems less comfortable with the conducting than the others and seems aged rather than elderly. The three ladies are fine; the three boys, drawn from the Zürcher Sängerknaben, are marvelous.
 
The conducting is something of a sore point here. It is perfectly competent, but the music does not dance. There are many points where there are slight timing errors between orchestra and singers; the excellence of the chorus is marred by entrances which sound as though some are following the score, the rest the conductor. The faults of balance may be attributed to Welser-Möst or to Miller, but in either case they are faults. One really should be able to hear Papageno's bells; Mozart knew what he was doing when he brightened the scene with the lilting melody. The magic of Tamino's flute extends to a tune not found in the score. If there was dramatic reason for either choice, it eluded this viewer.
 
Some technical comments are in order. The sound is as crisp and true as expected in this series. The picture is not up to that standard, appearing to suffer from too little illumination on stage and excessive digital processing to compensate. The effect is disturbing rather than glaring, but given the drab coloring there is a visual ennui. The producers' choice to use two discs for the opera would be less significant if they had divided at the break between Acts. Presumably, they ran the first disc a few minutes into Act II in order to accommodate the trailers on the second; the choice was unwise. Finally, though all such subtitling has its gaffes, the English titles in this case are beyond the pale, at one point lapsing into German.
 
In sum, this recording ranks with the finest available in any format vocally and offers an intriguing concept far from the fairy-tale world so often seen. It does miss in details and has an overall neutral shade which keeps it from excellence, but it can be recommended for those sated on routine interpretations of the opera as a fairy tale. (However, one should resist the temptation to enliven the experience by guessing which character will appear at what portal for the next entrance.)
 
Related website:
TDK Mediactive www.tdk-mediactive.com
 
Michael Richter, 8 November 2002
mrichter@cpl.net
 
See also Michael Richter's Introduction to the DVD, for a list of other reviews see the DVD Project page.