MOZART

Vol. 25 Die Zauberflöte (Highlights)
Margaret Price · Luciana Serra · Peter Schreier · Mikael Melbye · Robert Tear · Rundfunkchor Leipzig · Staatskapelle Dresden · Sir Colin Davis

CD446 247-2
PHILIPS

-Mozart's last opera (although La clemenza di Tito bears the last Köchel number of the operas, K. 621) was written in 1791 and premiered in Vienna. It is a musical miracle born of the spirit of theatre: it unites great folk theatre (immortalised in the figure of Papageno), Baroque spectacle and a Masonic brand of humanism. But without Emanuel Schikaneder's libretto and theatrical instinct even Mozart's music would drift into nothingness. In congenial unity the powers of light and darkness mutually complement one another, Eros and Humanitas condition one another, to present Mozart's and Schikaneder's tale of human edification. - Tamino is entrusted by the Queen of the Night with the task of bringing back her daughter Pamina, who is in the hands of Sarastro. A magic flute will protect him from danger and he will be accompanied by the bird catcher Papageno. They find Pamina in Sarastro's realm, the Temple of Wisdom. Tamino and Pamina, who have fallen in love with one another, pass through severe ordeals with the help of the flute and are accepted into the brotherhood as "initiates." The machinations of the Queen of the Night collapse in the face of the doctrine of beauty, strength and wisdom. - Sir Colin Davis's masterly direction, the Staatskapelle Dresden and the godsend of a dream cast lend this Zauberflöte a fairy-tale dimension.

The Best of the Complete Mozart Edition