Mozart: Die Zauberflöte, K620

Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, January 1962

Here we have the real theatrical experience. It's not perfect, of course. Klemperer's speeds, which are much as on the later recording, caused problems here and there...Carlyle never puts a foot... — Gramophone Magazine, July 2015 More…

Release Date: 13th Apr 2015
Catalogue No: SBT21504
Label: Testament

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Richard Lewis (Tamino), Geraint Evans (Papageno), Joan Sutherland (Königin der Nacht), Hans Hotter (Sprecher), Joan Carlyle (Pamina), David Kelly (Sarastro), Robert Bowman (Monostatos), Jenifer Eddy (Papagena), Edgar Evans (1er Geharnischter), Victor Godfrey (2er Geharnischter), Judith Pierce (Erste Dame), Josephine Veasey (Zweite Dame), Monica Sinclair (Dritte Dame), Margaret Neville (Erster Knabe), Ann Hood (Zweiter Knabe), Marian Roberts (Dritter Knabe), John Dobson (Erster Priester), Ronald Lewis (Zweiter Priester)
Royal Opera House Covent Garden
Otto Klemperer

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About

This largely British cast – the one exception being Hans Hotter as the Speaker – was very much the resident company at Covent Garden in the early sixties and even Hotter was a regular guest there. The star of the evening was Geraint Evans as Papageno, whose interpretation of the role was already very familiar but who rose to new heights of excellence on this occasion. David Cairns, writing in The Spectator said of him: ‘Geraint Evans’s Papageno – inspired even for him – is an unending delight, radiating humanity, mercurial, dark-eyed, unpredictable, brilliantly funny, always drawing the attention without ever stealing the scene...’. In addition to Evans, the performer who received the most praise was Joan Carlyle, a member of the company since 1955, who was performing Pamina for the first time. David Cairns reported that her singing was ‘pure, sensitive and strong and that her acting repeatedly touched the heart by its sureness and sincerity.’ Indeed, in the years that followed she established herself as a major star of the company in a wide variety of roles. Hans Hotter also made a strong impact in the brief but important role of the Speaker of the Temple. Superbly sung, his was a performance of complete musical and dramatic accomplishment.

Harold Rosenthal felt that for an artist of his calibre to undertake such a small role spoke volumes for his integrity, and the fact that he treated it with as much care and dignity, as if he were singing Wotan, was an object lesson for every member of the local company. Of the other principals, Richard Lewis repeated his familiar and pleasingly well-sung Tamino and the two pairs of men: John Dobson and Ronald Lewis (Two Priests) and Edgar Evans and Victor Godfrey (Two Armed Men), all veterans of the resident company, contributed first class performances.

Artists

Richard Lewis (Tamino), Geraint Evans (Papageno), Joan Sutherland (Königin der Nacht), Hans Hotter (Sprecher), Joan Carlyle (Pamina), David Kelly (Sarastro), Robert Bowman (Monostatos), Jenifer Eddy (Papagena), Edgar Evans (1er Geharnischter), Victor Godfrey (2er Geharnischter), Judith Pierce (Erste Dame), Josephine Veasey (Zweite Dame), Monica Sinclair (Dritte Dame), Margaret Neville (Erster Knabe), Ann Hood (Zweiter Knabe), Marian Roberts (Dritter Knabe), John Dobson (Erster Priester), Ronald Lewis (Zweiter Priester)

Covent Garden, Otto Klemperer

Reviews

July 2015

Here we have the real theatrical experience. It's not perfect, of course. Klemperer's speeds, which are much as on the later recording, caused problems here and there...Carlyle never puts a foot wrong...Lewis sings a lovely ardent Portrait aria...Evans, in complete command of the audience, is funny and touching...I listened with a smile on my face and a tear in my eye.

July 2015

Richard Lewis's nobly voiced Tamino, which is a constant joy; he sounds genuinely harassed when pursued by the serpent in the opening scene, and delivers a perfectly articulated Portrait aria. Joan Carlyle’s Pamina, too, puts real drama into her first scene with Robert Bowman's Monostatos, while throughout she's in fleshy, radiant voice, summoning up a technically adroit and deeply expressive ‘Ach, ich fühl’s’ to cap a lovely performance.

26th April 2015

there’s no denying that the 76-year-old Klemperer’s interpretation could sometimes do with a lighter spring in its step. But his leisurely approach and careful balancing allow details of texture, often obscured, to stand out. He gets committed performances, too, from the largely British cast.

23rd April 2015

this mono recording of the opening night, remastered from BBC tapes, shows how much higher vocal expectations must have been half a century ago, for by today’s standards much of it sounds very good indeed. Klemperer’s conducting is certainly rather staid and heavyweight...But there’s an honesty about the performance that’s totally convincing.

Mozart: Die Zauberflöte, K620

2 CDs

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