Mozart - Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute) / Levine, Battle, Serra, Metropolitan Opera
Director: Brian Large
Encoding: All Regions
Studio: Uni/Deutsche Grammophon
DVD Release Date: December 12, 2000
ASIN: B000050X31
The most striking in this production is Manfred Hamm's Papageno. He is a great singer and especially a great comic actor. The comic effects are also directed well. The dance by Monastatos' slaves after they get enchanted by Papageno's magic bell (well, a Zauberding) is very humorous because of the straight-faced choreography (the humorous effect is better than most productions I've seen). Serra is very good as the Queen of the Night (although Edita Gruberova recorded with Teldec the best "Queen" I've ever seen, but that recording isn't availble in video format). Battle is a likeable and apt Pamina, and Araiza and Moll are good in their parts. Eva Lind's Papagena is cute and very energetic. The set is not extravagent by any means but serves the purpose. This is the best Magic Flute available.
The Magic Flute, a great masterpiece in opera history, of course, has a deliberately contradictory plot and motif, if you know the story. Some of the stuff, if you think about it, is (intentionally) ridiculous. For example, how can a prince who fainted upon seeing the giant snake be entrusted to save the abducted Pamina? Watch it a few times and you'll start feeling the deliberation in the music too, which is magical.
Die Zauberflote, Mozart's last opera, performed on this disc by the Metropolitan Opera under the direction of James Levine.
The cast features such stars as Kathleen Battle (Pamina), Fancisco Araiza (Tamino), Manfred Hemm (Papageno), Kurt Moll (Sarasto), and Luciana Serra as the Queen of the Night. Brian Large, who has vast experience with opera, directs this major work.
This opera showcases the voice and acting skills of Kathleen Battle: she is brilliant, beautiful and with a voice that could only be described as a gift. Also noteworthy are the exquisite vocals by Luciana Serra as the Queen of the Night. However, it is Manfred Hemm as Papageno who steals the spotlight: from beginning to end, his funny interpretation of his character (accompanied by his great voice) carries this work to its fitting conclusion.
The only negative comment (thus the loss of one star) was the surreal quality of the sets. Frankly, I thought they were ugly and if anything, detracted from an otherwise stellar performance. Also the overture featured, I felt, a little too much of James Levine: surely, some more shots of the orchestra could have been inserted here somewhere.
While The Magic Flute is not my favorite opera by Mozart, this is, all things being considered, an enjoyable performance. Musically, I could honestly recommend this DVD.
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