Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756 - 1791)
Die Zauberflöte
Isolde Siebert (soprano) - Queen of the Night; Suzie LeBlanc
(soprano) - Pamina; Christoph Genz (tenor) - Tamino; Cornelius Hauptmann
(bass) - Sarastro; Stephan Genz (baritone) - Papageno; Marie Kuijken
(soprano) - Papagena; Philip Defrancq (tenor) - Monostatos; Stephan
Schreckenberger (bass) - Speaker; Inge van de Kerkhove (soprano) - First
Lady; Patrizia Hardt (mezzo) - Second Lady; Petra Noskaiova (contralto) -
Third Lady; Robin Schlotz (soprano), Frederic Jost (mezzo), Niklas Mallmann
(alto) - Three Boys;
Chorus and Orchestra La Petite Bande/Sigiswald Kuijken
rec. 2, 4 July 2004, Basilica Notre Dame, Beaune
Libretto available at www.brilliantoperacollection.com
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 94239 [3 CDs: 69:53 + 44:34 + 43:14]
Beaune in the Burgundy region of France has become well known for
its Baroque Opera Festival in July each year. This year (2012) there will be
performances by among others Paul McCreesh, Christophe Rousset, Rinaldo
Alessandrini, Marc Minkowski, William Christie and René Jacobs: the
cream of baroque conductors. Find more information here.
This Zauberflöte was recorded in the 12th
century Basilica Notre Dame in July 2004 and is heard in the original 1791
Vienna version. This involves a large amount of spoken dialogue, which
explains why a third CD was needed. Usually the dialogue is abridged, both
in live performances and recordings. Several early recordings cut out the
dialogue altogether: Beecham, Karajan, Böhm and even Klemperer. Here we
get all of it and for repeated listening this can be a bit tiresome.
Fortunately the dialogue is separately tracked. Some of these episodes are
long indeed, thus the section after Papageno’s Der
Vogelfänger runs to more than six minutes. The section just before
Bei Männern welche Liebe fühlen is five minutes long.
Not so long ago I reviewed William Christie’s
Zauberflöte, a studio recording based on Christie’s and
Robert Carsen’s Aix-en-Provence production from 1994. For the
recording Christie brought in a group of actors for the spoken dialogue. It
worked reasonably well, even though there are mismatches between the voices
of the singers and those of the actors. Christie also trimmed the dialogue.
In most respects Christie’s and Kuijken’s recordings are
comparable. Both orchestras are period bands, both conductors have their
roots in Baroque music. The leaner sound of a period band fits the out-door
character of Die Zauberflöte. Christie is the lighter of the
two; Kuijken somewhat heavier and also more dramatic, at least to begin
with. The three ladies sound more aggressive than most of their counterparts
on other recordings. On the other hand the Queen of the Night, though
singing musically, lacks the demonic part of her character and there are
some questionable leisurely tempos. By and large there is nothing seriously
wrong with Kuijken’s reading and La Petite Bande play excellently.
There are some frightening sound effects: just before the Queen of the
Night’s first appearance. Listening with headphones during a
coach-ride the effect was so tremendous that I thought we had crashed into
another vehicle.
The three boys, members of the famous Tölzer Knabenchor, are
possibly the best on any recording I’ve heard. Isolde Siebert’s
Queen of the Night is technically without blemish but a little bloodless.
Her daughter Pamina, on the other hand, is lovely and full of character, her
aria Ach, ich fühl’s, es ist verschwunden (CD 2 tr.17) one
of the best things on this set. Papagena is a bit over the top as the old
woman but otherwise fine.
Of the men Christoph Genz is a light-voiced and slightly pale
Tamino, but he sings his arias beautifully, while his brother Stephan is a
lively and charming Papageno. Just listen to his Ein Mädchen oder
Weibchen (CD 3 tr. 5). The Monostatos is fairly anonymous and the
Speaker makes little impression. Down in the basement, voice-wise, Cornelius
Hauptmann has all the deep notes and sings with warmth, especially in In
diesen heil’gen Hallen (CD 2 tr. 13).
The recording can’t be faulted and at Brilliant’s
super-budget price it digs no big holes in one’s wallet. I prefer
Christie’s version by some margin but it is more expensive, despite
being issued on only two discs.
Göran Forsling
At super-budget price, it can’t be faulted.