Search - Mozart - Die Zauberflote / Mihailov, Kurz, Beer, Miklosa, Holecek, Ofenbock, Lessky, St. Margarethen Opera on DVD

The Magic Flute with Kurz/Beer/Miklosa/Holecek

Neil Anderson | Orangevale, CA USA | 12/14/2005

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I did not pay heed to the previous review that was posted. The previous reviewer was too kind. Where do I begin with reviewing this performance?

First of all, when I received it I knew I was in trouble when I saw that the timing was 100 minutes. I have at least 6 other versions of this singspiel and all of them run about 150 minutes (or more). Where did the other 50 minutes go?

First of all, the overture was not truncated, but COMPLETELY OMITTED!!! As reported previously, there are no subtitles. I can live with this, since I have learned the story line quite well even though I do not speak German. Time is made up, not by speeding up the pace, but by omitting much of the dialogue AND (most annoyingly) cutting short many of the arias, particularly the opening arias of Tamino and the Queen!!!! There are no pauses whatsoever between scenes or arias. WHAT IS THE HURRY???

I need to put in at least one good word. The performance is not bad, not the best, but not bad. THE EDITOR IS THE VILLAIN. I am sure the audience did not see what is on this video. It is a shame. I will think twice before purchasing another video from Nutech.

My first recommendation for a purchase of "Die Zauberflote" is the BBC/Opus Arte production of the performance by the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden with Colin Davis conducting and Dorothea Roschmann as Pamina and Diana Damrau (the best Queen of the Night I have seen yet). Only Papagena disappoints in this performance.

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