Oh, that all opera
performances should sound like this
one! This is veritably three hours of
pure delight and joy. Of course there
are some comments to make and parts
with which to take issue, but as a whole
this production is hard to beat.
Mozart’s penultimate
opera, with its imagery of Egypt, freemasonry
and temples has long been rightly admired
and loved. Add to these factors the
pomp of the ritual processions, the
noble bearing of the priests and masons,
and then the gentle humour of the bird-catcher
and his inamorata. It all makes for
a full recipe for success. And how these
performers react to it! From the opening
chords, one senses that this will be
something to remember. Sir Colin Davis,
ever a sensitive Mozartian, chooses
sensible speeds, the orchestra respond
to his every direction, and above all
are in excellent balance with the singers.
The singers themselves are all aptly
cast; many of them I had not heard,
but shall make sure I do so again. Of
the main characters, there was not one
weak link; Will Hartmann is an excellent
helden-tenor and I would like to hear
him in Wagner (he won the International
Wagner Singing Competition in Strasbourg).
Dorothea Röschmann is a very persuasive
Pamina and Diana Damreau throws off
the coloratura parts as the Queen of
the Night with aplomb. Simon Keenlyside
seems to relish the role of Papageno,
and makes the most of the humorous side,
with a markedly lugubrious straight
face. Ailish Tynan, from Dublin, as
Papagena also has her part to play in
the exchanges; rather than appearing
as an old woman she is made up as "mutton
dressed as lamb" in a synthetic
fur coat, short skirt, very high heels
and designer-frame glasses. In the second
act finale, she is wheeled onto the
stage on a divan in an even shorter
dress! The supporting parts are also
well sung and acted; the three ladies
are tuneful and dramatic, and the three
boys sing most melodiously, helping
in the continuity of the story. Monostatos
is made to look suitably like a buffoon
(but not as a Moor as in the original
plot), and of course Thomas Allen is
imposing as the Speaker of the Temple.
So, what about the
demerits? These are few, but given the
excellence of the performance they are
possibly more noticeable. The main criticism
is the poor indexing of the disc; yes,
there are chapters, but these are very
difficult to marry to the action and
place in the libretto. No directions
are given, not even when the acts are
broken down into time zones. If one
does not know the opera well, it will
be difficult to search and find any
particular point. This particularly
as the finales to both acts take 25:15
for Act I, and 32:15 for Act II. The
overall staging and scenery is minimal
as is the current fashion. I have no
argument with this but does the set
need to be so consistently dim? I realise
we are in a masonic temple, but surely
there were at least windows even in
Egypt; even more where artistic licence
is taken. The other upsetting aspect
is some dissociation of singing and
mouth movements, something I should
have thought need not happen nowadays.
There is some dichotomy of dress in
period fashion, and certainly a clash
between Tamino, the priests, Sarastro,
Monostatos, and Pamina who are in eighteenth
century robes or dress. I have already
mentioned Papagena’s "outfit";
add to this that Papageno wears a twentieth
century suit (although very scruffy
like a tramp) and the three boys are
in shirts and grey shorts (again untidy).
In itself, this is not unduly out of
place and one soon gets used to the
difference but at first the difference
was striking.
The disc has the usual
"extras" we have come to expect
from DVD issues; in fact, these are
very useful for the most part. There
is an illustrated synopsis of the opera,
which lasts 4 minutes, a BBC feature
looking behind the scenes at this production,
and then a talk from Sir Colin Davis
about the opera. Curtain calls and credits
take 5 minutes at the end of the performance.
At this point, I should say that I must
give full marks to the audience who
were quiet and restrained throughout
and obviously absorbed in the performance.
The opera is sung in German, with well
presented sub-titles in English, French
and Spanish.
This production by
David McVicar has been rightly lauded,
and with such a cast of singers and
sound quality to match, I urge you to
take advantage of a first-rate venture.
John Portwood
The Royal Opera Chorus/Terry Edwards 
OPUS ARTE OA 0885 D [Act I: 69:30 + Act II:
94:08 - approx 185:00] 