Opera - The Magic Flute

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756-1791)

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The Magic Flute

136:47

Singspiel in two acts

Libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder, English translation by Jeremy Sans

1

Overture

6:27

Act I

2

'Have mercy, have mercy'

6:22

Tamino, Three Ladies

3

'I'm sure that there could never be'

4:26

Papageno, Tamino, Three Ladies

4

'Such loveliness beyond compare'

4:33

Tamino, Three Ladies

5

'Don't be afraid, now hear my song'

4:54

Queen of the Night, Tamino

6

'Hm! hm! hm! hm!'

5:47

Papageno, Tamino, Three Ladies

7

Dialogue: (scream) - 'Slaves!' -

3:01

'You will not dare escape again'

Pamina, Monostatos, Papageno

8

'A man in search of truth and beauty'

3:07

Pamino, Papageno

9

'If you can strive to be a man'

1:40

Three Boys, Tamino

10

'These words of wisdom reassure me'

2:06

Tamino, Speaker

11

'What rash adventure bring you here'

6:34

Speaker, Tamino, Chorus

12

'How soft, how strong your magic sound'

3:02

Tamino

13

'Walk on tip-toe, not a sound'

3:01

Pamina, Papageno, Monostatos, Chorus

14

'We worship Sarastro, we bow before him!'

1:50

Chorus, Papageno, Pamina

15

'Sir, I was disobedient'

3:08

Pamina, Sarastro

16

'Our Lord Sarastro will decide'

3:20

Pamina, Sarastro

Act II

17

'My brothers who serve the great gods'

4:30

Sarastro, First Priest, Second Priest

18

'O Isis and Osiris, arm them with strength'

3:06

Sarastro, Priests

19

Dialogue: 'Where to you think we are?'

1:18

Tamino, Papageno, First Priest, Second Priest

20

'A woman's beauty is beguiling'

1:03

Second Priest, Speaker, Papageno

21

'Why, why, why are you in this place of fear?'

3:29

Three Ladies, Papageno, Tamino, First Priest, Second Priest

22

Dialogue: 'There she is, the blushing violet' -

2:20

'All the world is always lusting'

Monostatos, Queen of the Night, Pamina

23

'The wrath of hell is burning in my bosom'

4:01

Queen of the Night, Pamina, Monostatos, Sarastro

24

'We worship at the altar'

4:00

Sarastro

25

Dialogue: 'Here we must leave you'

1:20

First Priest, Second Priest, Papageno, Tamino, Old Woman

26

'Now for the second time we greet you'

2:14

Three Boys, Papageno, Pamina

27

'Now I know that love can vanish'

3:59

Pamina, Papageno

28

'O Isis and Osiris, gods all-knowing'

2:41

Chorus of Priests, Sarastro, Pamina, Tamino

29

'Will I not see my love again?'

2:54

Pamina, Sarastro, Tamino

30

Dialogue: 'Tamino! Tamino. . . Tamino. . .'

1:06

Papageno, Second Priest

31

'If only I could meet her'

4:42

Papageno, Old Woman, Second Priest, Papagena

32

'Behold, the harbinger of morning'

1:50

Three Boys

33

'Are you the man I love the best'

4:21

Pamina, Three Boys

34

'The man who dares to tread this path'

3:11

Two Armed Men, Tamino, Pamina

35

'Pamina? I hear her calling'

1:19

Tamino, Two Armed Men

36

'Tamino, mine, welcome at last'

3:55

Pamina, Tamino, Two Armed Men

37

'The fiery furnace could not harm us'

3:17

Pamina, Tamino, Attendants, Priests

38

'Papagena! Papagena! Papagena!'

4:30

39

'Play your magic music'

0:42

Papageno, Three Boys

40

'Pa-pa-ge-na!' - 'Pa-pa-ge-no!'

2:20

Papageno, Papagena

41

'We must be very, very quiet!'

2:23

Monostatos, Queen of the Night, Three Ladies

42

'The banner of sunlight'

2:50

Sarastro, Chorus

Barry Banks tenor - Tamino

Elizabeth Vidal soprano - Queen of the Night

Rebecca Evans soprano - Pamina

Majella Cullagh soprano - First Lady

Sarah Fox soprano - Second Lady

Diana Montague mezzo-soprano - Third Lady

Simon Keenlyside baritone - Papageno

Lesley Garrett soprano - Papagena

John Tomlinson bass - Sarastro

John Graham-Hall tenor - Monostatos

Christopher Purves bass - Speaker, Armed Man, First Priest

Peter Bronder tenor - Armed Man, Second Priest

4-10 November 2004

Sir Charles Mackerras

Indeed, this is on of the most desirable sets in Chandos’ admirable series, worthy to stand comparison with some of the classic accounts in the original German… A real winner
Sir Charles Mackerras conducts this enchanting performance with a superb cast headed by Barry Banks and Rebecca Evans, with Simon Keenlyside’s Papageno and John Tomlinson’s Sarastro.
Mackerras… is perhaps the world’s wisest and most inquiring Mozartian, and here he gets playing of magical transparency from the LPO… bringing a sense of wonder to the music now rarely experienced in the theatre.
Barry Banks marries ease, expressivity and eloquence to notable effect…
The lovely, warm soprano of Rebecca Evans shines as Susanna… she captures the right feeling of sensuality of a woman awaiting her lover on her wedding night…
This may be the finest release yet in Chandos’ Opera in English series: an opera that is singularly appropriate for English-language performance in a recording that is worthy of comparison with most of its German-language predecessors. I enjoyed this ‘Flute’ enormously, in part because of Jeremy Sams’s delightful, witty translation and in part because this is a first-rate performance in almost every way.
Mackerras has long been one of the most discerning of Mozartians. As ever, he chooses lively but never inflexible tempos, encourages light, period style articulation, and never misses a trick with Mozart’s miraculous woodwind colouring. Linguistic purists will turn up their noses. Others will find this ‘Magic Flute’ as magical as any in the catalogue, irrespective of language.
CD of the Week
The performance is very good, with some lively singing, both from the soloists and the Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, excellent orchestral playing from the LPO, and above all that sure sense both of overall direction and of an appreciative ear for detail that characterises Sir Charles Mackerras’s conducting (not least in his feeling for appoggiaturas and light ornamentation).
Rebecca Evanss Ilia is all one expects from this lovely soprano, the voice pure, intonation secure and musicianship impeccable…
This set is the best argument I have heard in ages for the Royal Opera to perform Mozart’s great vernacular Singspiel in English. Rebecca Evans (Pamina) and Simon Keenlyside (Papageno), sang in Covent Garden’s recent revival, as did John Graham-Hall (Monostatos), and they are even better here in their own language, particularly in Jeremy Sams’s witty dialogue. Mackerras, who conducted, is perhaps the world’s wisest and most inquiring Mozartian, and here he gets playing of magical transparency from the LPO, highlighting the wind solos and bringing a sense of wonder to the music now rarely experienced in the theatre.
No work seems to me to make better sense in the vernacular than Mozart’s concluding masterpiece… All in all, anyone wanting the work in English need no hesitate to acquire this set, the first-ever version in the vernacular on CD.
Chandos has assembled a superb cast. It is wonderful to have Simon Keenlyside’s incomparable Papageno preserved on disc and clever to bring along Lesley Garrett as a delectable Papagena. Barry banks and Rebecca Evans are ideally matched as Tamino and Pamina, both singing superbly. Elizabeth Vidal is a Queen of the Night who retains her character and is not just a coloratura soprano. Sarastro’s arias are sung with immense authority and richness of tone by John Tomlinson. With Majella Cullagh, Sarah Fox and Diana Montague as an especially well contrasted Three Ladies, John Graham-Hall as Monostatos and Chrisopther Purves as the Speaker (and in two other roles), one could not hope for a finer English-singing cast.


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