Rating: 
Summary: A delighted first-time opera viewer!
Review: My spouse and I had intended to see "The Marriage of Figaro" performed at a local opera theater in mid-September 2001. Then the 9/11/01 crisis occurred and, of course, the opera was forgotten.Months later, and residing as I do in the desert southwest of the USA (rodeos are a million times more popular than opera, need I say more?), I knew my best bet at viewing an opera would be to purchase a filmed performance. Alas, being monolingual, and finding no filmed opera performed in English, I looked carefully for one subtitled in English. As I couldn't find "The Marriage of Figaro" with English subtitles, I settled for "The Magic Flute." I am very delighted with this video, and even my spouse enjoyed it! The singing is superb, the actors are attractive, and the special decorative flourishes in the sets make for a very appealing sensory experience. My one criticism (and it is just one) of the video is that occasionally an actor or actress was focused too closely into, thus sacrificing a greater sweep of the backdrop against which he or she played. However, again, this is an *occasional* thing. If you purchase this video, I do hope you find it as enjoyable as I did. And I can't wait to see a live Mozart opera, hopefully soon!
Rating:
Summary: Sublime
Review: No other director is the history of the medium had the balls to something like that.And no other director in the history of medium broke all the rules,so often,like Ingmar Bergman.In a time of his life that he did everything that someone could do with film ,(The Seventh seal,Wild Strawberries,Persona etc etc)this very pleasent work was born.The rest is history...
Rating:
Summary: Classic
Review: Opera is a difficult thing to present on film. The problem is that the choice of the main players is based on their singing ability. When an opera is staged live the audience sits at a distance from the production and it is possible to imagine the players in a heroic role and for the sets and production to give a sense of magnificence. The reality is that opera stars are often people in their forties or fifties and they can suffer from a range of problems such as losing hair, not being physically attractive or being overweight. Anyone familiar with main stream cinema would be aware of the care that goes into choosing people who appear in movies as the physical appearance of the stars is important in defining how the audience will feel about them. For that reason it is often difficult for a main stream audience to appreciate filmed opera. A person who loves the music may be able to suspend their belief as they see Pavaroti play a handsome young writer. Someone approaching opera for the first time will see a fifty year old man who is overweight and losing his hair pretending to be someone much younger. The use of close ups and the concentration on the emotions and acting of single singers can destroy the illusions you need for theatre. This production of the Magic Flute has chose all of its singers on the basis of how they will look. Thus it is possible for anyone to see this film and to be caught up in its magic. The liberetto for this production is in Swedish but it does not seem to affect the quality of the music. Bergman is a clever director and as well as showing the production he intertwines the opera itself with shots of the audience and actors and creates a sense of the creation of the production. One of the best filmed operas ever, but of course that does not mean that it is the best singing or the best of operas. Rather it is one of the most succesful transitions to the screne.
Rating: 
Summary: Accessible Opera
Review: Purists always complain when something isn't done the conventional
way, but that doesn't mean the results can't be just as fun as the so-called proper version. Mel Gibson as Hamlet for instance can be just as much fun as Lawrence Olivier, and easier for most people to watch. The same is true for this Magic Flute, it's not conventional, but far easier for non-opera lovers to watch, especially children. My only complaint with this opera aside from all those shots of audience faces, especially the little girl's, is that the picture color and brightness changes very noticeably when the subtitles are on and the flashing back and forth is very irritating.
Rating:
Summary: Mozart\Bergman's "Tempest" in which love and art triumph.
Review: Reviews don't mention that the opera, originally in German, is here sung in Swedish...which to this American's ear, sounds the better for it. In Swedish the humor and fantasy SOUNDS light and in much sharper contrast to the sinister psychological tone Bergman brings to Mozart's pre-Freudian evil. The Magic Flute is Bergman's ode to art and its importance in his life, communicated as a love poem to his daughter, the young girl in the audience shot in closeup during the overture and throughout the opera. Were it not for "Fanny and Alexander", a later "realistic" confrontation of spiritualities over the lives and souls of children, this would be Bergman's "Tempest" farewell to his audience at the end of a career (as "Flute" was Mozart's, whether he knew it or not) that like the Bard before him dealt with the demons and delights of life and love. Bergman's career certainly ranks with Shakespeare as they committed themselves equally well to the breadth and depth of human suffering and survival.
Rating:
Summary: Watching this video felt like a night out at the opera.
Review: The audience and behind the scenes shots made this feel like being at the opera rather than justing watching a video at home. Though performed in Swedish this was barely noticeable to the uninitiated (i.e. me) except in the dialog - and then was not distracting.
Rating:
Summary: The Magic Flute
Review: The DVD transfer of The Magic Flute is indeed magic. I have seen this wonderful film at the cinema, via television and on two VHS tapes, one PAL and one NTSC. Not until this DVD have I seen Bergman's Flute in all its glory. It is superb - and the new stereo PCM soundtrack is especially wonderful because it lets us hear, for the first time, how good these singers really are. But... There is always a but! The sound channels are transposed. They are back to front. The left is in the right and vice versa. It is such a pity to get so near to perfection and just miss the goal.
Rating:
Summary: The Drama Of Mozart's Magic Flute
Review: The Magic Flute, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's last opera, is a multi-layered Singspiel opera that is accessible to children as well as adults. It is an allegory of good versus evil, layed with Freemason ideals, and scored by Mozart's most sublime music. Ingmar Bergman filmed a live performance in a Stockholm theater in Sweden. The singers are singing in Swedish, not its original German, and the camera provides glimpses of going ons backstage and shots of the audience, focusing especially on a red-haired girl who is deeply engaged in the opera. This way, Bergman makes opera a dramatic experience. At times, it feels as if we are not watching an opera at all, but a play. The Swedish cast is fresh, energetic and engages the audience in the fabulous story. The story should be familiar to opera buffs. Tamino, a lost prince, finds he has been commissioned to save a beautiful princess, Pamina, from the clutches of a supposed evil wizard, Sarastro, and return her to her mother the Queen of the Night. As the opera progresses, we discover that Tamino has been deceived and he is, in essence, "shown the light" of truth through the aid of the enlightened religious order of Sarastro's men. The Queen, Pamina's mother, is the villain, bent on dominating the earth, and Sarastro, Pamina's father, is a benevolent holy man who intendes to foil the dark queen's plans. The custody battle over Pamina is true to the Mozart allegory. He had Pamina represent Austria, Sarastro, the "father", was the wise ideals of Freemasonry, while the "mother" Queen of the Night is the suppression and censorship of Freemasonry by imperialist autocrats like the Empress Teresa, whom the Queen is modeled after. Superb singing. The arias "Dies Bildnis", in which Tamino looks at a portrait of Pamina and falls in love, is well made. Papageno's character is sharply defined as comic, earthy and human. In this film, he wears no feathery costume or plumage, and is instead an actual human man with earthy appetites for food and lovemaking. The Queen of the Night's two arias "O Zittre Nicht" and "Der Holle Rache" are full of dramatic prowess and coloratura technique, both escalate to high F's. Pamina's "Ach Ich fuhls" which she sings in a backdrop of utter darkness, is melancholic and moving. Finally, Sarastro's character is divine, with a sonorous bass-baritone voice, and a final scene almost likens him to Jesus or God. As a bonus, this film presents us a view of the going-ons backstage during intermission. Tamino and Pamina play chess, the Queen of the Night puffs away on her cigar and Sarastro reads the manuscript to Wagner's opera Parsifal, all the while the interlude "March Of The Priests" plays in the background. This is superb performance, quality drama and on DVD, this is a must have for all opera fans who put opera DVDs on their collection.
Rating:
Summary: This is the greatest filmed opera ever
Review: The voices are not uniformly great, but this is an unforgettable presentation of what is arguably the greatest opera ever composed. Every frame is imbued with Bergman's love for this masterpiece. Flute is probably the most elusive of operas. This is a wonderful introduction... Very warmly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Bergman made an opera lover out of me
Review: This is a very enjoyable perfomance of The Magic Flute-it keeps you smiling from beginning to end. The performances are very good by the singers and orchestra, and matching Mozart with Bergman can only yield wonderful results. This film contains very good acting, performances, cinematography, directing, etc., and it converted me from being someone who disliked opera. I can't compare this to other stagings of the opera or comment on how much Bergman deviated from the original, but I can give it my recommendation. This is definitely one to see, if not own.
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