Fantastic Zauberflöte(转发)

For its outstanding popularity over more than two hundred years of having been played by the world's great opera theaters, it is quite puzzling that Die Zauberflöte has not yet received a recording that achieves perfection. Yet, in this 2006 recording from Modena, Claudio Abbado may have achieved just that. While Klemperer, Böhm, and other great Mozart conductors have brought great insight into Mozart's highly philosophical opera, Abbado adds something special that makes listening to this recording all the more a delight compared with several predecessors. It's not just the lean textures that Abbado provides to the score that delineates his work from other conductors. It isn't his wonderfully thought out tempi either, nor is it his keen sense of theatricality that makes his "period" orchestra sound more alive than many "historically correct" recordings of this opera. Abbado is a high priest of music, one who can probe into the intricacies of Mahler, Verdi, Mussorgsky, Beethoven, and Mozart and bring a sense of spirituality that eludes many of today's best conductors. For a score that incorporates Mozart's quasi-spiritual beliefs, it goes to say that no other conductors is perhaps more fit to the job than Claudio Abbado. All the other elements of his conducting style just fall naturally into place and make an experience that is otherwordly and unique. Listen to the overture alone...those clean textures are only supported by his ability to make the many triplet/Masonic themes jump out of the page. His invocation of the different characteristics of the principals like Pamina's nobility, Tamino's heroism, the Queen's spiteful vehemence, Papageno's carefree spirit, and Sarastro's benevolence and wisdom is clearly laid out for the listener. It is his ability to change the colors of his score that make him unlike any other conductor before him--a master of the musical idiom of Mozart. In his hands, Mozart's score achieves a degree of spiritual greatness unmatched by any recording committed to tape in history. The Mahler Chamber Orchestra that he so scrupulously trained from young players also adds to the attractiveness of his music making. The lean textures are only bettered by their ability to respond to Abbado's demands on the music. It also helps that the recording was captured in fantastic sound.

His cast is just another layer of icing on the cake. Dorothea Röschmann is today's best Pamina, and what a delight it is to listen to her full-bodied, fruity voice negotiating with Pamina's exquisite line. Her intelligence is also an asset, with the highest praise going to her lieder singer nuances for highlighting the sensitivities of an otherwise weaker role. Her duet with Papageno is simply the best I've heard, while her arias are colored with such autumnal shades that one cannot help but be enamored with her character. Her Tamino, Christoph Strehl, is the best tenor to handle the part since Fritz Wunderlich took on the role during his time. He is in splendid voice and gives the role a wonderful balance of light and darkness that makes him irresistible to listen to. He is also alert to the role's more dramatic aspects and makes Tamino more three dimensional than many of his contemporaries. Hanno Müller-Brachmann is a very good singer with the right weight for Papageno. It helps too that he is able to capture the humorous aspects of the birdman without going into caricature. Erika Miklosa makes a vocally splendid Queen of the Night. Only her dialogue before Der Hölle Rache is impaired by her lack of command of the German language. No one else besides Lucia Popp and Diana Damrau have been endowed with better instruments to take on this incredibly difficult role. Best of all in this cast is Rene Pape's noble Sarastro, perhaps the greatest of all the bass voices that ever assumed this part. His "O Isis und Osiris" never fails to touch me every time I listen to it.

Coming in excellent sound and showing off many of the greatest exponents of Mozart's music today, I have no doubts that this recording will achieve classic status within years of its release. Along with Solti's, this is another perfect Flute to get acquainted with. Five stars for this one!