Mozart: Die Zauberflöte [The Magic Flute]

Mozart :  Die Zauberflöte  SACD  2004

   I was seeking a good quality interpretation of Mozart's "The Magic Flute" ever since I bought my SACD player and Kuijken's 3 SACD set was always priced a bit out of my league until a few weeks ago when I found it NEW on Amazon for $ 14.98 US. It looks like since then the price has been jacked back up but keep your eye cause this treasure is well worth hunting down.

   Ok so I guess you really don't care how much I paid for this gem and are much more interested in my impression of this recording and the SACD sonic performance.

    Lets start with the recording....simply brilliant.....Mozart's famous opera really is a deep moving piece that tell a magical little story of Tamino and his bird friend Papagno in his quest to free his love, slay the serpent and face evil along the way...including the Queen Of The Night and the evil Sarastro. The cast are superb and you really could not ask for a more talented people! I find this hard to believe it was recorded live as the sound is so pure and there is very little background noise to distract you. Mozart was famous for his harmonies and lovely melodies and no question this opera reveals both of these aspects. In fact this recording is a necessity for fans of "The Magic Flute".
Because this is an entire opera you should be aware that a good chunk of the album is speaking as the story unfolds and music is interwoven throughout.

Now to the sound.....ok this is crazy good......the orchestra is pure, quite bright and rich....this is the sound that Classical music should be like! The vocals are well mic'd and considering this was live there is really no vocal drops or microphone issues as we listen. The opera was really carefully recorded and beautifully mastered to SACD.

This opera premiered in Vienna on Sept 30th 1791 with Mozart himself conducting the orchestra. While Mozart wrote all the music, the narrative and story was penned by Emanuel Schikaneder.