Word: pamina
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Dates: during 1956-1956
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Mozart: The Magic Flute (RIAS Symphony Orchestra, chorus and soloists conducted by Ferenc Fricsay; Decca, 3 LPs). Despite its slightly studied style and rather tubby sound, this is the finest recording yet to appear of the 165-year-old masterpiece. Soprano Maria Stader makes Pamina a joy to the ear; Rita Streich is awesomely secure in the Queen of the Night's sky-high aerobatics, while the two leading men, Tenor Ernst Häfliger and Baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, use their handsome voices with distinction...
...handsome, slender performers. But their Juilliard-type excellence somehow did not thrill. Baritone Theodor Uppman tried hardest and succeeded best as Papageno, the comical birdman; partly thanks to Ruth and Thomas Martin's competent translation, he put across his role with almost Broadway-like punch. Soprano Lucine Amara (Pamina) sang beautifully, and Roberta Peters (Queen of the Night) did her bell-like best despite a cold. But Tenor Brian Sullivan (Tamino) was dry-voiced and stiff-backed; Basso Jerome Hines, while he hit all of Sarastro's low notes, failed to be really moving...