New Magic Flute recording released on 2nd August 2019

Deutsche Grammophon has now released the 6th installment of its collection of Mozart’s late operas. This follows recordings of Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Grammy Award Nomination), Le Nozze di Figaro (Grammy Award Nomination & Echo Klassik Award) and La Clemenza di Tito, all recorded at the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus, under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin and featuring tenor Roland Villazon. The cast of The Magic Flute includes:

Klaus Florian Vogt, Tenor (Tamino)
Rolando Villazón, Baritone (Papageno)
Christiane Karg, Soprano (Pamina)
Regula Mühlemann (Papagena)
Albina Shagimuratova, Soprano (Königin der Nacht)
Franz-Josef Selig, Bass (Sarastro)
Tareq Nazmi, Bass (Sprecher)
Paul Schweinester, Tenor (Monostatos)

RIAS Kammerchor

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung praised Villazón’s “comic talent” in his first Papageno, “achieving ‘heights of emotion’ with the captivating Regula Mühlemann’s Papagena”, as well as the “magical tenor” of Klaus Florian Vogt as Tamino, Christiane Karg’s “lyrically perfect Pamina” and the “imposing” Franz-Josef Selig’s Sarastro. Nézet-Séguin “is a genuine Mozartian … and rolling out a red carpet for the singers”.

The Magic Flute is available here.

The Chamber Orchestra of Europe last recorded the opera for Kenneth Branagh’s film The Magic Flute back in 2008 with conductor James Conlon.