Krips: Mozart – Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail (2 CD, FLAC)

Performer: Endre Koreh, Emmy Loose, Wilma Lipp, Peter Klein, Walther Ludwig
Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Josef Krips
Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Audio CD
SPARS Code: DDD
Number of Discs: 2
Format: FLAC (image+cue)
Label: Pearl
Size: 289 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: no

Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio), opera, K. 384
Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performed by Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
with Walther Ludwig, Peter Klein, Endre Koreh, Wilma Lipp
Conducted by Josef Krips

Disc: 1
01. Act 1: Overture
02. Act 1: Hier soll ich dich denn schen
03. Act 1: Wer ein Liebchen hat gefunden
04. Act 1: Solche hergelauf’ne Laffen
05. Act 1: Konstanze!….O wie angstlich
06. Act 1: Singt dem grossen Bassa Lieder
07. Act 1: Ach, ich liebte
08. Act 1: Marsch, marsch, marsch!
09. Act 2: Introduction….Durch Zartlichkeit
10. Act 2: Ich gehe, doch rate ich dir
11. Act 2: Welcher Kummer….Trauigkeit
12. Act 2: Martern aller Arten

Disc: 2
01. Act 2: Introduction…Welche Wonne, welche Lust
02. Act 2: Frisch zum Kampfe
03. Act 2: Vivat Bacchus!
04. Act 2: Ach Belmonte! Ach mien Leben! (quartet)
05. Act 2: Wenn der Freude Tranen fliessen
06. Act 3: Im Mohrenland gefangen war
07. Act 3: O wie will ich triumpheren
08. Act 3: Welche’in Geschick!….Meinetwegen sollst du sterben
09. Act 3: Nie werd’ ich deinen Huld verkennen

Gorgeous

Two legends: Sweet, elegant, gentle Walther Ludwig (Fritz Wunderlich’s predecessor but more human-sounding), who caresses his arias as if they were his pet leopards; and, Wilma Lipp, most famous for playing the Queen of the Night ten million times, but fully Constanze-capable. She makes “Marten aller Arten” sound EASY. Her voice is like a fencer’s foil–thin, sharp, supple, steely, quick, and deadly precise. She’s not as passionate and fearful as most Constanzes, but her reservedness enhances the character’s nobility and determination. This Constanze won’t have any problem keeping the kids, when they arrive, in order.

The servants, Peter Klein and Emmy Loose are also both famous interpreters of their roles, and it’s easy to hear why.

The weakness is Endre Koreh, who sings everything, even “O, wie will Ich triumphieren” as if he were taking double-valium. Maybe he thinks he’s singing Papageno. If Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau or Hermann Prey were to sing Osmin it would sound like this.

The reunion-quartet (“Ach, Belmonte! Ach, mein leben!”) is as well-executed as any I’ve heard. ENTFUHRUNG is light as froth, lighter even than the libretto to COSI FAN TUTTE, but there’s still no such thing as love without anxiety in Mozart.