Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791)
Die Zauberflöte
Queen of the Night – Rita Streich (soprano)
Pamina – Maria Stader (soprano)
Tamino – Ernst Haefliger (tenor)
Papageno – Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone)
RIAS Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Choir/Ferenc Fricsay
rec. 1954, Jesus-Christus Kirche, Berlin, Germany
Full score, vocal score and libretto available
Ambient Stereo XR
Reviewed as download
Pristine Audio PACO226 [142]

The arrival of the LP in the early 1950s was a revolution, primarily for its extended playing time; compared to the 78 rpm records which had room for only three to five minutes per side, the new medium played for 25 minutes per side, containing a full Haydn or Mozart symphony without interruption. For complete operas, the gain was even greater; the big companies realised that the field was open for a new market, and during the first half of the decade there was a steady stream of operas. Decca was in the forefront, releasing the complete second act of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg under Knappertsbusch (the remaining acts followed soon) and Die Entführung aus dem Serail under Josef Krips. Mozart was hot stuff in those days, his bicentenary celebrations coming up in 1956, and by that year the prospective buyer could choose between three different recordings of Die Zauberflöte, all with starry casts. EMI offered Herbert von Karajan with the Vienna Philharmonic and Irmgard Seefried, Wilma Lipp, Anton Dermota and Erich Kunz in the leading roles, Deutsche Grammophon recorded RIAS Symphony Orchestra in Berlin under Ferenc Fricsay with Maria Stader, Rita Streich, Ernst Haefliger and the young Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, while Decca engaged Karl Böhm, like Karajan in Vienna, with Hilde Güden, Wilma Lipp, Leopold Simoneau and another youngster, Walter Berry, as Papageno, so the competition was keen indeed. When I started collecting opera recordings in the early 1960s, my choice was Böhm, primarily because his recording was in stereo. I never regretted that choice, and when it was issued on CD I promptly replaced the old LP with the then brand new medium. It has weaknesses: Kurt Böhme’s unsteady Sarastro is disappointing, but Hilde Güden’s Pamina is lovely, Walter Berry’s Papageno is a down-to-earth child of nature and Leopold Simoneau’s Tamino is frankly the best on record, together with Wunderlich of Böhm’s remake for DG. That recording from the mid-sixties has been my reference recording ever since I bought it when it was new, and my colleague Ralph Moore ranked it as a first choice in his survey a couple of years ago. 

However, I have always had a soft spot for Fricsay’s old mono recording from 1954. To begin with, he was an unsurpassed Mozart conductor. His recordings of Mozart symphonies and piano concertos have a freshness and directness that are irresistible, and his recordings of Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Don Giovanni, which I have lived with for sixty years, are still models of ideal Mozart performances. Die Entführung is mono of course (even though my original was issued in a kind of electronic stereo) and contemporaneous with Die Zauberflöte. The entire cast of Die Entführung was also engaged for Zauberflöte: Maria Stader, Rita Streich, Ernst Haefliger, Martin Vantin and Josef Greindl. Returning now to this 70 plus years old recording, which I hadn’t heard for ages, I was immediately struck by the over-all-excellence of both conducting and singing. There is not a tempo one can question, and having listened to Klemperer’s recording, contemporaneous with Böhm’s sixties remake, from time to time for the excellence of the singing, the ponderous conducting seems to be a remnant of a style that belongs more to the late Romantic era, influenced by Wagner. There is a distinct gloominess, whereas Fricsay radiates joy and naturalness without underplaying the seriousness of the combat between good and evil.

As for the singing, there isn’t a weak link in the ensemble. One notes, for instance, Marianne Schech as Erste Dame, who among other things was Feldmarschallin in Böhm’s recording of Der Rosenkavalier a few years later, and Margarete Klose as Dritte Dame, who was one of the leading German contralto during the 30s, 40s and early 50s. Hungarian soprano Maria Stader is a lovely Pamina and her slightly fluttery tone also makes her sound vulnerable, Rita Streich is a brilliant Queen of the Night, and her coloratura is perfect. Lisa Otto is a charming Papagena, and her duet with Fischer-Dieskau in the second act is one of the many highlights in this recording. Ernst Haefliger is another Mozart expert with beautiful tone and unforced expressiveness, and Martin Vantin is an oily Monostatos. Fischer-Dieskau never sang Papageno on stage. He considered that his considerable stature wouldn’t make him a believable bird-catcher, but his two recordings of the role – the second with Karl Böhm – are hard to beat. Here, in his relative youth, he is even more spontaneous and mischievous than later, but the difference is negligible. Josef Greindl was one of the greatest Wagner basses of the 1950s, at a time when there was a profusion of deep German voices – Ludwig Weber, Kurt Böhme, Gottlob Frick – but he was also an excellent Mozartean, both in comic roles such as Osmin and as here a warm and noble Sarastro. His two arias are real highlights, and his low notes send shivers of delight down the spine. We hear another great bass, Finnish Kim Borg, as the Speaker. I had the pleasure of hearing him several times at the Stockholm Opera in the early 1970s; Sarastro was among his roles. He, to, had a warm, noble voice, which also is notable in this brief but essential role.

A minor disappointment is the choice of having a second cast of actors for the spoken dialogue. I hasten to add that they are very good and lively, but the problem is that the actors’ voices are so different from the singers’ that it is hard to know who is speaking. To give two examples, Walter Bluhm’s speaking voice is wholly unlike Fischer-Dieskau’s singing voice, and Sebastian Fischer’s speaking voice is quite different from Haefliger’s singing voice. Trained singers are usually fully capable of speaking, which is obvious in Böhm’s recording where Fischer-Dieskau and Wunderlich both sing and speak – but don’t let this deter you from acquiring this set. 

As long as all this excellence was available only in mono this recording was never a first choice for Zauberflöte, in an age where stereo seems a must. However, through Andrew Rose’s revolutionary Ambient Stereo XR remastering Pristine has “saved” lots of valuable older recordings, giving them a new lease of life – and this is the latest example. I can now unhesitatingly declare that this a worthy “modern” alternative to any of the best recordings of this much-recorded work.

Göran Forsling

Other review: Paul Corfield Godfrey (December 2025)

Other cast
Sprecher – Kim Borg (bass)
Sarastro – Josef Greindl (bass)
Monostatos – Martin Vantin (tenor)
Papagena – Lisa Otto (soprano)
1er Geharnischter – Howard Vandenburg (tenor)
2er Geharnischter – Kim Borg (bass)
Erste Dame – Marianne Schech (soprano)
Zweite Dame – Liselotte Losch (mezzo soprano)
Dritte Dame – Margarete Klose (contralto)
Erste Knabe – Margot Guillaume (soprano)
Zweite Knabe – Maria Reith (mezzo soprano)
Dritte Knabe – Diana Eustrati (contralto)