MOZART, W.A.: Zauberflote (Die) (The Magic Flute) (Drottningholm Court Theatre, 1989) (NTSC)

Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART
DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE
From the Drottningholm Court Theatre 1989
Opera in Two Acts; Sung in German

Stefan Dahlberg, Ann Christine Biel, Mikael Samuelsson,
Lászlo Polgár, Birgit Louise Frandsen
The Drottningholm Court Theatre Chorus and Orchestra,
Arnold Östman

Stage Direction by GÖRAN JARVEFELT
Directed and produced for TV by THOMAS OLOFSSON

Sound Formats: PCM Stereo
Picture Format : 4:3 · DVD 9 / NTSC
Menu Languages: D, F, GB, SP
Subtitle Languages: D, F, GB, IT, SP
Region Code: 0 worldwide
Running Time: 161 mins

Cat. No: 102 013

• Die Zauberflöte is the artistic and philosophical testament of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who died a few weeks after the work’s premiere in Vienna. Intertwining music of awesome purity and beauty with the conventions of the singspiel - a popular form of musical comedy - Mozart’s final operatic legacy to the world explores Man’s search for the truth and his confusion between the forces of dark and light and the final utopian resolution of seemingly irreconcilable elements.

• Because of the opera’s relationship to freemasonry, commentators have identified Tamino with the Emperor Joseph II, Pamina with the Austrian people, Sarastro with Ignaz von Born, Monostatos with the clergy and the Queen of the Night with the Empress Maria Theresa. Whichever level one approaches Die Zauberflöte on, it remains a great work in the spirit of the Enlightenment as well as a delightful fairy-tale. Nothing is so simple as to be absolutely clear-cut. In life, the serious and the comic often intermingle in a way that is disconcerting. In Die Zauberflöte, Mozart succeeds in combining these two elements in a way which has never been surpassed.

• The light and vibrant presentation of the Scandinavian cast - internationally renowned bass Lászlo Polgár is the only non-Scandinavian soloist - the authentic staging and the lean orchestra sound conducted by the illustrious Arnold Östman makes this performance definitely one of the best Zauberflöte performances of the 20th century.