“There are some pieces which are so brilliantly successful and so immediately popular that people tend to forget how extraordinary they are. But let’s not forget what a raging masterpiece Mozart’s Magic Flute is and how different it was from anything anybody had done before – even Mozart.” Sir Simon Rattle
The Financial Times spoke of a “top-drawer cast”: “Pavol Breslik is all you could wish for in a Tamino, Michael Nagy’s Papageno is charismatic and lithe, Kate Royal gives Pamina subtle complexity as well as grace.” Then there is all the magic of new beginnings that comes with this Easter Festival, which took place in Baden-Baden for the first time, opening a new chapter in the history of the Berliner Philharmoniker. And there is yet another first connected to this performance: the orchestra had never performed the opera live before. Only three studio recordings – under Sir Thomas Beecham in the 30s, in the 60s with Karl Böhm, Herbert von Karajan in the 80s – were previously released. This great recording tradition is now continued with this new DVD.

Subtitles: English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese

Sound format: PCM Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1

“[Rattle's] speeds are generally on the fast side but he allows the singers plenty of expressive leeway...Do give this a try if you’re after a thought-provoking new perspective on the Flute: the balance of dark and light is masterly, and it sounds and looks gorgeous!” Presto Classical