A Re-packaged Also Ran
Virginia Opera Fan | Falls Church, VA USA | 05/25/2010
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This set just showed up in a remainder bin of a local bookshop at the princely sum of $3.98 so my curiosity led me to compare it to its previous midprice incarnations in the RCA Victor Opera Series (4586-2-RG) and Masterworks Opera (82876-87760-2). I suspect this is the same DSD re-mastering that Sony/BMG used in 2006 to attempt to tame the early (1980) digital sound. It sounds as chilly as ever. The combination of respectable performance and so-so sound constitutes good reason that this item has never been issued in a premium silver format.
I have always enjoyed Eric Tappy's singing in Mozart, including his Tito in the Ponelle video of La Clemenza di Tito roughly contemporary with this set. His Tamino is decently sung but it does not challenge Wunderlich in the rival Bohm/DG set. Christian Boesch is also a very good Papageno who sings well and avoids the hamminess of some his recorded competitors. Talvela is an imposing Sarastro as he was for Solti a few years earlier. Hiestermann and Van Dam are fine in their roles. (Despite being past his vocal prime, Hotter's Speaker is wonderful in his exchanges with Tamino under Bohm.)
The ladies are a mixed bag. Cotrubas is a decent Pamina but the voice as such isn't a great one. Donat nails the florid passages and high notes of the Queen of the Night. For some reason, she did not record her own dialogue. Kales is a serviceable Papagena.
The 3 disc format, versus two for most of its rivals, is a tip off that a LOT of the dialogue is included. For non-German speakers, this is a mixed blessing. Some trimming would have been welcome for repeated listening as all the talking does get tedious in the absence of stage business.
The Vienna choral and orchestral forces sing and play well. Levine is in typical form, but if you like his way with the score, he leads an equally good cast in the Metropolitan Opera Production preserved on DVD. In addition, you get the wonderful David Hockney designed sets as a visual treat.
In short, this is a decent performance that looks good on paper, but just doesn't catch fire."
