Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, René Jacobs, RIAS Kammerchor
Harmonia Mundi · HMX290404145
Jacobs treats this Magic Flute as a piece of theatre for your ears, and the result crackles with life — the dialogue, the period band’s bite, the way every scene feels like it’s actually happening in a room you’re sitting in. The Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin play with such color and character that even the bits you think you know feel freshly discovered. If you’ve ever found Mozart’s fairy-tale opera a little static on record, this one will change your mind in a hurry.
Awards:
- Presto Recording of the Week — 13th September 2010
- Building a Library — November 2010 — Recommended Recording (Die Zauberflöte)
- Sunday Times — 2010 — Albums of the Year (Die Zauberflöte)
- Gramophone Awards — 2011 — Finalist – Opera (Die Zauberflöte)
“This is a total experience, perfectly tailored for private listening. René Jacobs thinks of it as a Hörspiel: it’s a play to be heard – I don’t know a recorded Zauberflöte more thrillingly alive…”
— BBC Music Magazine, November 2010,5 out of 5 stars
Juan Diego Flórez (tenor)Orchestra La Scintilla, Riccardo Minasi
Sony · 88985430862 · 51 minutes
Flórez has always had that crystalline tone, but here there’s a new depth to it — a warmth that comes from really living inside these roles rather than just showing off the high notes. Backed by the period instruments of Orchestra La Scintilla under Minasi, it’s got that bright, springy texture that makes Mozart feel freshly minted. At just under an hour it’s a generous taste rather than a full meal, but every minute earns its place.
Awards:
- Presto Editor’s Choice — October 2017
- Presto Recordings of the Year — Finalist 2017
- International Opera Awards — 2018 — Nominated – Solo Recital
- Opera — February 2018 — Recording of the Month
“What does stand out…is the mature warmth of musico-dramatic approach informing both singing and characterisation…His combination of technical brilliance and imaginative sentience, of long-breathed…”
— BBC Music Magazine, February 2018,5 out of 5 stars
Sabine Devieilhe (soprano)Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon
Erato · 2564601625 · 72 minutes
Sabine Devieilhe doesn’t just sing the Queen of the Night’s fireworks, she makes them feel effortless — those stratospheric coloratura runs land with a sweetness and precision that’s genuinely thrilling. Pichon and Pygmalion give her gorgeously detailed period-instrument support throughout, and the whole program glitters with the kind of musicianship that earned it a Gramophone Award. If you want to hear what makes Mozart’s writing for the high soprano so special, start right here.
Awards:
- Presto Recording of the Week — 20th November 2015
- Presto Recordings of the Year — Finalist 2015
- Gramophone Awards — 2016 — Winner – Recital
“the concert-aria and operatic readings themselves are gems, each one thrown off with a splendid combination of technical brilliance, musicianly assurance and tonal sweetness, and impeccably…”
— BBC Music Magazine, February 2016
Daniel Behle (Tamino), Marlis Petersen (Pamina), Daniel Schmutzhard (Papageno), Sunhae Im (Papagena), Anna-Kristiina Kaappola (Königin der Nacht), Marcos Fink (Sarastro), Kurt Azesberger (Monostatos)Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, René Jacobs
Harmonia Mundi · HMC902068/70 · 2 hours 46 minutes
René Jacobs treats this Magic Flute like a radio play you can’t stop listening to, with dialogue that crackles and a period band that keeps everything light on its feet. The cast is a joy — Behle’s warm Tamino, Petersen’s heartfelt Pamina, and Schmutzhard’s irresistibly cheeky Papageno — and it all feels like real people living the story rather than singers parked in front of a microphone. Pop your headphones on for this one; it’s an opera that rewards your full attention and gives plenty back.
Awards:
- Presto Recording of the Week — 13th September 2010
- Sunday Times — 2010 — Albums of the Year
- Gramophone Awards — 2011 — Finalist – Opera
- BBC Music Magazine — November 2010 — Opera Choice
“…this is a total experience, perfectly tailored for private listening. René Jacobs thinks of it as a Hörspiel: it’s a play to be heard – I don’t know a recorded Zauberflöte more thrillingly…”
— BBC Music Magazine, November 2010,5 out of 5 stars
René Pape (Sarastro), Erika Miklósa (Königin der Nacht), Dorothea Röschmann (Pamina), Christoph Strehl (Tamino), Hanno Müller-Brachmann (Papageno), Julia Kleiter (Papagena), Georg Zeppenfeld (Sprecher), Kurt Azesberger (Monostatos), Caroline Stein (Erste Dame), Heidi Zehnder (Zweite Dame), Anne-Carolyn…
Deutsche Grammophon · 4775789 · 2 hours 28 minutes
There’s a real spark to this Magic Flute, the kind that makes you forget you’re listening to a recording and feel like you’ve just snuck into a great night at the opera. René Pape’s Sarastro is all velvet authority, while Erika Miklósa fires off those impossible Queen of the Night coloratura runs with a fearlessness that’ll make your jaw drop. Add Dorothea Röschmann’s tender Pamina and a wonderfully human Papageno from Müller-Brachmann, and you’ve got a cast that swept up critics back in 2006 for very good reason.
Awards:
- Gramophone Awards — 2006 — Finalist
- BBC Music Magazine — June 2006 — Disc of the month
- Record Review — December 2006 — Critics Disc of the Year
- Gramophone Magazine — June 2006 — Editor’s Choice
“This is certainly the most desirable version using modern instruments to appear since Solti’s second recording in 1990. That said, its characteristics are rather nearer William Christie’s 1995…”
— Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010
Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
BIS · BIS2062 · 61 minutes
Willens and his Kölner Akademie strip away the cobwebs here, playing on period instruments with a brightness and zip that makes the whole thing feel freshly minted. The textures are lean and transparent, letting Mozart’s wit and color shine through without a hint of stuffiness. At just over an hour, it’s a lively, characterful take that reminds you just how playful this opera can be.
“The Kölner Akademie is in period instrument guise, and the sound is often suitably thrilling and zippy.”
— BBC Music Magazine, March 2024,3 out of 5 stars(Performance) /4 out of 5 stars(Recording)
Klaus Florian Vogt (Tamino), Christiane Karg (Pamina), Rolando Villazón (Papageno), Regula Mühlemann (Papagena), Franz-Josef Selig (Sarastro), Albina Shagimuratova (Königin der Nacht), Paul Schweinester (Monostatos)RIAS Kammerchor, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Deutsche Grammophon · 4836400 · 2 hours 14 minutes
Nézet-Séguin and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe bring such lightness and bounce to this Magic Flute that the whole thing practically floats off the page. Vogt is the real surprise — a big Wagnerian voice somehow sounding boyish and tender as Tamino — while Villazón’s Papageno is all warmth and mischief, exactly the kind of company you want on a magical adventure. It’s a cast that clearly loves singing together, and you can hear the fun they’re having.
Awards:
- International Classical Music Awards — 2019 — Nominee – Opera
- Opus Klassik Awards — 2020 — Nominee – Male Singer of the Year (Villazón)
“Vogt shows no signs of lightening an oversized voice. In fact, it is impossible to guess that he isn’t a fresh young lyric tenor. By what vocal magic this was accomplished is beyond me, but…”
— Fanfare, January/February 2020
