Die Zauberflöte (HD DVD)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Die Zauberflöte, the Magic Flute, opera to libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. Directed 2003 by David McVicar at the Royal Opera House. Stars Will Hartmann, Dorothea Röschmann, Diana Damrau, Franz-Josef Selig, Simon Keenlyside, Ailish Tynan, Adrian Thompson, Gillian Webster, Christine Rice, Yvonne Howard, Thomas Allen, Matthew Beale, Richard Van Allan, Alan Oke, Graeme Broadbent, Zico Shaker, Tom Chapman, and John Holland-Avery. Sir Colin Davis directs the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House and the Royal Opera Chorus (Chorus Director Terry Edwards). Design by John Macfarlane; lighting by Paule Constable;  choreography by Leah Hausman; TV direction by Sue Judd. This is the HD-DVD  version, released in 2007, of the Zauberflöte.  Opus Arte also published this in Blu-ray later. Disc has 5.1 PCM audio. Grade: A 

This production follows the score and libretto pretty closely, so its a good way to learn this opera. It has fine singing (especially Röschmann) and conducting. The design is an odd mix of industrial grunge and 18-century themes---but after a while, it grows on you. Diana Damrau, in real life a harmless-looking pale blond, morphs into a fearsome Queen of the Night---the scariest female to come along since the death of the Alien She-Bitch. Papageno is played as a homeless tramp and Pagagena as a refugee from 10 years of wife-swapping parties. This is not the Die Zauberflöte we've been waiting for, but it's fun to watch for the time being and wipes out the DVD competition. We believe the HD DVD version is identical to the Blu-ray product and will probably be completely satisfactory if you have a good HD DVD player. Please read our full review of Die Zauberflöte.

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