Five Flute Friday (Magic Flutes, that is!)

ROH, 2008

Salzburg, 2006

Royal Concertgebouw, 1995
Act 1

Act 2



Hamburg Oper, 1971

Kenneth Brannagh Film, 2006
Act 1

Act 2

Even More Mozart – from Dorothea Röschmann and Christian Gerhaher

And then there are these two fairly new discs, which I actually got a few weeks ago. 

The DR program is a known quantity from the radio broadcast of the concerts last year. It's remains a wonderful program; and I continue to wish someone would cast her as Vitellia again...soon...and somewhere I can hear her (and hopefully see her, too.) I also wonder, as her voice darkens wonderfully, if she (and any impresario) would consider taking on Dorabella. She’d be awesome in any variety of interpretations (insane, oversexed, neurotic, naïve, or any combination thereof.)

The GG program is completely new on my radar. Also, taken from live performances last year, this concert contains the usual suspects as far as arias go, but GG has made an effort to create a program with an overarching theme. While the DR concert had an entire Mozart piano concerto in the middle of it* (not included on the CD), GG's disperses the four movements of Symphony no. 36 throughout his program (and not in symphony order.) On paper it sounds messy and/or contrived; but in hearing, I think it works quite well. 

These discs (as well as the Clemenza I mentioned yesterday, plus both recently observed Zauberflöten) call for separate posts that are more review-like (vs. the wow! look what I found! type of post.)  

*I still think there was a missed opportunity here to program the concert aria (with piano), "Ch'io mi scordi di te? ... Non temer, amato bene;" but for some reason they didn't ask me when they were planning the concert.

Saturday Matinee: Two More by Mozart

An "old friend" (with blue Kool-aid). English subs.

And a familiar opera in a crazy new setting (literally). French subs. (Are the inmates in charge?)

Die Zauberflöte from Norway – Mozart, Sci-Fi, and Hoverboards

Thanks to Den Norske Opera and The Opera Platform, we have a New Year's Day treat online! Mozart, Sci-Fi, and hover boards. Love it or hate it, it should at least be interesting. (It's sung/spoken in Norwegian with English subtitles.)

Watching the Radio – Opera on Concerthuis 4

From Radio 4 in the Netherlands: More reasons to spend time in front of your computer!

Handel: Orlando* 

Bejun Mehta

Sunhae Im

Lenneke Ruiten

Rene Jacobs conducting (2014)

Mozart: Die Zauberflöte

Miah Persson

Topi Lehtipuu

Daniel Schumutzhard

Rene Jacobs conducting (2012)

Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail

Anders Dahlen

Lenneke Ruiten

Cynthia Seiden

Frans Brüggen conducting (2011)

Tchaikovsky: Mazeppa

Lado Ataneli

Gelena Gaskarova

Yuri Kissin

Alexander Vedernikov conducting (2014)

Happy listening!

*This one is great fun! I just finished listening to it, and I'm ready to do it again!

Weekend at the Opera with Radio 4 Concerthuis

Baroque, Classical, and 20th Century opera are all on the menu at the Netherlands Radio 4 Concerthuis. Each recording will be available for about 2 to 3 months.

Vivaldi's Farnace from June 2012, with a cast that includes Max Emanuel Cencic, Emiliano Gonzalez Toro, Daniel Behle, and Vivica Geneux with Diego Fasolis conducting.

Vivaldi: Farnace

Die Zauberflöte from 1958, with a young, vibrant Fritz Wunderlich, and an otherwise all-Dutch ensemble that includes the young Elly Ameling as the First Boy, and a young Bernard Haitink at the helm. 

The Magic Flute

Richard Strauss' Arabella, from April 2014 with rising star American soprano Jacquelyn Wagner (who seems to be making a specialty of the title role), Agneta Eichenholz as Zdenka, and Marc Albrecht leading this performance from the Netherlands National Opera.

Arabella

Tribute to Maestro Claudio Abbado from France Musique

Last week's edition of the France Musique radio program Lirico Spinto is a 90-minute tribute to Claudio Abbado's work in the opera house.

Even if you have heard and/or have most or all of Abbado's opera recordings for Decca and Deutsche Grammophon, there's some great listening here. Excerpts from commercial releases include the entire Act 1 Finale of  Die Zauberflöte, and the Act 2 Finale of Fidelio. In addition, there are bits from live La Scala performances of Macbeth, Aida, and Boris Godounov. The Aida excerpt (from 1972) features Domingo and Arroyo; and it is particularly exciting!

In addition to the radio program listings, the web page contains embedded full-length videos (as seen on YT) of:

• Macbeth
• Il Viaggio a Reims
• Lohengrin
• Don Giovanni

It looks like this audio program will be available for two years (but my French comprehension is neither strong nor reliable.) Just in case the website is wrong (or I am), go listen ASAP! 

Godunov Going Fast – Only 7 More Days to Watch

Calixto Bieito's production of Modest Mussorgsky's Boris Gudonov for the Bayerische Staatsoper is on view at Arte live, but only for a few more days. The musical values are high and the production is strange, as  expected; but it's much lower on the gross-out meter than we've come to expect from Bieito. Watch it before it disappears.

Meanwhile, La Sonnambula is still online for about another month. 

And if you live in Europe, you have 14 days to see the Bregenz Festival Die Zauberflöte (not available in the U.S.)

This Magic Moment – Mozart at the Bregenzer Festspielen 2013

© Bregenzer Festspiele/Karl Forster 

David Pountney’s fantastical, gigantical Zauberflöte is on display this summer (and next) on the stage in the lake at the Bregenzer Festpielen. There is a video on Arte Live Web, but apparently it’s only available to European viewers. It keeps telling me, very politely of course, “Sie haben keine Rechte...”

However, there’s always hope that someone will make it available to all via that video-sharing website or other pirate-y sources. But in the meantime, there are a handful of video clips to tease, titillate, or tick us off. Among the fine (double and triple) cast of singers is Rainer Trost as Tamino. The lovely and talented Ana Durlovski reprises her Queen of the Night, last seen in Baden Baden; she also appeared recently as our damaged sleepwalker im Stuttgart.

Riding the Magic Flute Bandwagon – Q&A with Mr. Branagh

Well, even though there are no showings of this film within 250 miles of my home, I still want to get in on the Branagh Magic Flute boom. There was a version on YouTube for a while. There is a different one now, a video for each act with Russian (?) subtitles (links below.) It seems we also can watch it via YouTube's new PPV setup. They say it's priced "From $3.99" That version probably looks and sounds better.

But maybe best of all (for now, anyway, till the U.S. DVD comes out), Kenneth Branagh recently fielded questions in conjunction with the U.S. screenings. This Q&A session is available on the Emerging Pictures website.

Meanwhile, here's the official trailer:

At YT

The Magic Flute Act 1

The Magic Flute Act 2

The Magic Flute PPV  "From $3.99"

Gratuitous Friday – Dorothea Röschmann is Pamina

Mozart: Die Zauberflöte – Ach, ich fuhl's

Recognition, Magic, and Loneliness (A Stream of Consciousness Post)

ArteLiveWeb_de ‏@ArteLiveWeb_de17 Apr

"This Zauberflöte is a great way to spend an afternoon or evening" says @Rob_Mus - What do you think? http://regieornotregie.blogspot.de/2013/04/die-zauberflote-aus-baden-baden-2013_8.html … /cc @BerlinPhil

I won't quit my day job; but it is nice to know that they noticed.

Die Zauberflöte aus Baden Baden 2013 – Review Part 2: It Takes a Village

Blindfolds. I'm tired of 'em.
Someone else can explain 'em this time.

The only characters who remain distinguishable from the crowd throughout this Zauberflöte are Pamina, Tamino, and Papageno, who wanders in from the lobby, as if from another show. Like Tamino, Pamina is literally thrown into the action. Several choristers grab her and plop her on the ground for her first scene with Monostatos.

Everyone else steps in from the chorus to be or do whatever is needed to move the story along and get the two couples united in the end; then they meld back into the ensemble. 

Die Zauberflöte aus Baden Baden 2013 – Review Part 1: An Earthly Kind of Magic

Tamino sings to the portrait of Pamina.

This Zauberflöte is about death. Well, not about death, but death plays a prominent role. In one of the video blogs leading up to the performance, director Robert Carsen points out the multiple suicide attempts, murder threats, and attempted rapes (see below). That being said, while it’s not fluffy and cartoon-ish, it’s far from the darkest, stuffiest interpretation I’ve seen.

Die Zauberflöte in Baden-Baden – Preview

The Berliner Philharmoniker established 
a new Festival at Baden-Baden. The main focus of the Easter Festival 2013 is four performances of Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute” conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, in a production by a director well-known to readers of this blog. 

The Berliner Philharmonker Digital Concert Hall site says:

The Canadian Robert Carsen has directed productions for almost every major opera house. He is fascinated by the complexities in the Magic Flute: "It is completely designed around opposites. Day and night, love and hate, man and woman, the hero Tamino and the simple Papageno." Musically, too, the Magic Flute has an infinite variety - and given the immense popularity of the opera, this wealth is often overlooked.

DVD Extras – The Making of...

I know a composer who is reluctant to provide program notes, feeling that the work should speak for itself.  In so many cases, art does speak for itself. But sometimes art needs a little help, especially when it comes to Regieoper. 

Kušej does not, in fact, tell us why
the Three Ladies are blind. Sigh.

Personally, I am a firm believer in program notes. I don’t need a step-by-step walkthrough of the piece, but a little background would be nice so the audience isn't going in blind. 

Die Zauberflöte – Zurich 2000 (Part 2: Pounced into eternal night)

Recap of the last post: Music 10 (well sung, well played), Looks 3 (we are not (very) amused)

Jonathan Miller told an interviewer that the Queen of the Night is the Empress Maria Theresa, and the opera is about light and reason and freemasonry.

So this production is regie, but maybe it isn't? Sort of.  It could  be.  I feel Miller should go further to make his point about the enlightenment and freemasonry.* Be more French. Somehow make it clear why he bothered.  

Die Zauberflöte – Zurich 2000 (Part 1: Light and Reason and Freemasonry)

During the Overture, Tamino reads a book, (the set is some sort of library/temple combo) and falls asleep. Is this going to be staged as a dream sequence? Yup. Or…no. Actually the audience is more likely to fall asleep.  The Zurich Zauberflöte of 2000 is a static staging, but not in the way that makes you pay attention like Robert Wilson’s Orphée. It’s static in a way that makes you start making a mental grocery list. 

Although I have issues with the staging, this disc is worth checking out for fine music-making. I got it mostly because I really wanted to see Malin Hartelius as Pamina.  (Every time she entered, I thought, “She’s so pretty!” She sings really well too.)

Gratuitous Friday – Dorothea Röschmann is Pamina

...and Simon Keenlyside (no vocal slouch either) in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte:

From David McVicar's 2003 production at Covent Garden.