Pa - Pa - Pa - Pa

This is the only disk that I have of a mainstream full length opera, although I have a baroque opera from Rameau and a one act opera by Ibert. Audio disks aren't really the best medium for opera but if you are going to have one I would argue that this makes the most sense; Mozart's The Magic Flute. Having said that, "making sense" and The Magic Flute are not terms that readily come together, since the plot seems to make little sense at all. It is supposed to be full of Masonic overtones but since I know little about the inner workings of the secret society, these pass me by. There may well also be satirical allusions to contemporary politics in the Habsburg Empire but these too have become blurred with the passing of time. it has a lot in common with many Shakespeare plays that are ostensibly about those of noble birth but when some of the most enjoyable parts revolve around the antics of the lower classes, roles fulfilled here by Papageno and Papagena None of the impenetrability of the plot seems to matter however when the staging is right. And the music is packed with memorable arias and orchestral writing, plus solo roles for the title instrument. This recording is solid down the middle traditional by the Berliner Philharmoniker conducted by Karl Bohm. The mainly German cast is excellent and includes Hans Hotter, Fritz Wunderlich and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as Papageno. The fearsome Queen of the Night aria is taken by Roberta Peters. The recording includes the spoken dialogue and since there is a full libretto, this adds to the atmosphere and plot development, such as it is in this opera.