Mozart: Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) / Jacobs [Box set]

Rene Jacobs has never been one to shirk controversy in his recordings of Mozart operas and this is no exception. The highly controversial point here is that he takes the spoken dialogue seriously and presents it almost uncut. To help the drama he also brings a certain amount of accompanyment by forte-piano and other instruments, and speech-song from the singers. This gives us not only an insight into the usually puzzling plot but also a very entertaining and often funny way with the dialogue. Some may find repeated listening to all of this tiring, but one can always program it out on CD.
The revelatory way with the dialogue would be nothing if the performance wasn't so live and vital. True, you will find better individually sung performances but this is very much a performance where the whole is very much more than the parts, with none of the cast letting the side down.
Behle and Petersen are both good as the lovers, Schmutzhard both funny and pathetic as Papageno, and Kaappola tremendous as the Queen of the Night. Worth buying this just to hear her vengeance aria! Perhaps Fink is a little light for Sarastro but sings and acts well.
As ever Jacobs is provocative but the score comes up fresh and vital. A truly magical flute this which can be wholeheartedly recommended except to those of a traditional disposition, who are advised to sample first!

The first thing that strikes you about this set is the oversize box featuring three CD's and a substantial booklet. Gosh! Part of that is because Rene Jacobs includes all the original dialogue thereby necessitating the use of 3CD's. And that in itself would not be such a problem were it not for the fact that, in order to bring all this dialogue to life, numerous studio tricks have been deployed. So, in the opening act, and then later on again, we get an array of chirping bird sounds which, quite honesty, I could have done without, especially as, after a while, they start sounding like squeaky toys - very irritating on repeated listening! Then there is the intermittent sound of dripping water (which curiously only seems to drip when no one is speaking!) from act two onwards, and a hooting owl! How can we be asked to believe in the sound world of the 18th century (the use of period instruments and the attention to details such as tempi and phrasing as described in the booklet) on the one hand, while being subjected to 20th century studio gimmickry on the other? It just doesn't work for me. Then there is also the pulling to and fro of tempi and odd eccentric touches Jacobs is now notorious for. The three ladies in the first act, for instance, instead of delivering their lines in the way we are used to, sing some phrases in a contrived campy manner which I found a little overdone and consequently quite irritating. Rene Jacobs tells us in the booklet that Mozart, for some reason, abandoned the idea but that he (Jacobs) has reinstated it! Or what the later Pa-Pa-Pa-Pa-Papagena duet, as performed here, gains from its deliberately mannered opening I do not know!

So while I appreciate the conductor's attempt to reinvigorate the work - and he certainly succeeds in bridging the disparity between the spoken and the sung parts of older recordings - part of me also wished he had just gotten on with things and allowed the music to speak on its own terms. One feels in many places that the music would do just as well, if not better, if it had not been tampered with. I mean, afterall, this is Mozart we are talking about and he needs no spicing up in the way some obscure baroque composer might! So, yes, while there are elements that work wonderfully, there are other elements that are unnecessarily distracting. Some have commented on the unconventional use of the fortepiano continuo. I did not find this bothersome.

I think where the set gains is through the use of singers who, while not international names, sing reliably and sensitively and so bring us to a more intimate closeness with the text. Some reviews have singled out the singing of Marcus Fink (Sarastro) as too lightweight but I did not find this to be a problem. I did however find Anna-Kristina Kaappola as the Queen of the Night to be slightly underwhelming in her first aria. She takes a while to get off the ground and so fails to impart the otherly quality necessary to make the characterisation work. In the first section of her aria, where the colour in the voice is meant to convey pathos, she sounds completely routine and so fails to create any contrast between the subsequent section of fiery colouratura. Fortunately by her second aria she fares much better bringing in a great variety of colour. I found the singing of Daniel Behle (Tamino) in Tamino's first aria to be rather flat towards the end, sounding more thoughtful than impassioned! Daniel Schmutzhard as Papageno is somewhat dry and wanting in humour. Of all the soloists, Marlis Peterson as Pamina is the most exceptional, singing with a silver-toned elegance that surely rivals the greatest accounts.

Overall, I'd say you need to investigate this set carefully. While the Harmonia Mundi recording balance is superb and the chorus and orchestra come off with vitality, moving the drama along nimbly, there is a want of 'personality' in some of the singing and an overabundance of `special effects' giving it an overly produced feeling.

No faulting the vibrancy of the playing or the stunning recording. Even Jacobs' tempi are relatively sensible. It just lacks that Mozartean charm and warmth that I think this opera really needs. Jacobs' full-on approach to Mozart's operas works wonderfully with his Figaro and Cosi (both are must-buys), even his Don Giovanni, but here it just doesn't seem to be entirely appropriate. Having said that, it's definitely worth adding to the collection. If you're a first time Flute buyer, go for the Abbado (DG) set first, then this one. The contrast will astonish, and delight.