As with Karajan and Böhm’s first recorded Magic Flutes, and the pioneering Beecham set, Klemperer’s 1964 EMI version includes the arias and ensembles only, omitting the dialogue. Klemperer’s mesmerizing concentration compensates for the loss in dramatic immediacy. He patiently unravels Mozart’s scoring like a veteran storyteller who relishes every little detail of plot and subplot. The pacing is weighty at times, but never ponderous in the manner of Klemperer’s later Mozart opera recordings.
There’s not a weak link in the cast. The stratospheric reaches of the Queen of the Night’s two arias hold no problems for Lucia Popp, although she is not the natural coloratura Roberta Peters is for Böhm (DG), or Wilma Lipp for both Karajan and Böhm’s mono traversals. Nicolai Gedda brings ardency, tenderness, and intelligence to Tamino, and Walter Berry’s rounded, splendidly articulated Papageno is a joy. Gottlob Frick takes easy charge of Sarastro’s low-lying tessitura (quite impressive for a 58-year-old singer), while the young Gundula Janowitz’s fresh, radiant timbre is just right for Pamina. EMI’s remastering enlivens the bloom and sparkle that characterizes this classic recording. To experience Mozart’s valedictory opera in its true theatrical context, however, Böhm’s Vienna recording for DG (with Solti’s Decca remake as a close second) remains your basic Zauberflöte.
