Mozart: Die Zauberflöte, K620 (highlights) (The Magic Flute)

Enhanced CD with Libretto

These are highlights from a live performance at an opera festival in Römersteinbruch St. Margarethan during July 2010.

In the 19th century there are numerous examples of musical transcriptions. Mozart himself was not adverse to this practise, his reasons for doing so being varied and interesting. At times pecuniary reasons governed his writings as, for instance, when he carried out Van Swieten’s commissions to re-orchestrate some great works by Handel (amongst them Messiah). These reductions, however, were often done to flatter an interpreter’s ego.

One could not accuse Patrick Gallois and Pierre-Henri Xuereb of this - their playing is sober and well phrased, filled with all the poetry inherent in Mozart’s music, and their transcriptions are intelligent and pure in style. They took inspiration from an adaptation of The Magic Flute dating from 1792 for two identical instruments (2 flutes or 2 violins). Opera connoisseurs will certainly find pleasure in the freshness of the present evocation.

Of even greater interest is the transcription of the Duos K423 and K424. These works are seldom performed, possibly due to the fact that the original scoring for violin and viola appears to lack depth and could seem colourless. It is, therefore, an original idea to separate the two parts, entrusting one to the flute. The counterpoint then stands out boldly, and this puts new life into two little-known works.