Mozart: Die Zauberflöte: Complete Mozart Edition Volume 43
The Magic Fluteis, for many, the embodiment of musical perfection, as dazzlingly perfect as the esoteric pyramids and symmetries that populate the composer's paean to Masonic philosophy. As so often with Mozart, beneath the sublime lurks darker subtexts--here, themes of sexuality, slavery, and vengeance. Sir Colin Davis conducts the incomparable Staatskapelle Dresden, with Peter Schreier's charming Tamina rescuing Margaret Price's lovely Pamina.--Joshua Cody