Rating: 
Summary: Simply Fantastic!
Review: I have just watched this performance, and I have to say that this is simply fantastic. The characters that really stand out from the show are Manfred Hemm's Papageno and Luciana Serra's Queen of the Night. Hemm delivers the best Papageno I have ever seen, with not only a great voice (solid baritone - lovely!) and also commendable comic acting. Serra blew me away the moment she sang her first aria "O zittre nicht mein lieber Sohn..." It is note-perfect and flawless. She sings those scales as if they are a piece of cake, and she hits the high F perfectly, even in "Der Holle Rache". She falters just a teeny weeny little bit in the latter, but perhaps I'm picky. I've been wanting to find the perfect recording of "Der Holle Rache", but I haven't been in luck yet. (the version sung in the movie "Amadeus" was pitch-perfect, but incomplete and not available in the soundtrack.) But understandably, the Queen of the Night is one of the most difficult opera parts to sing, and Serra already pulls it off remarkably well, delivering an overall brilliant and astounding performance. (I thought she looked beautiful as QOTN too.) Of course, besides these two, there's Kathleen Battle as Pamina, perfect as always, Francisco Araiza as Tamino and Kurt Moll as Sarastro to look out for. I have to share 4 of my favourite scenes here. 2 belong to the Queen of the Night's 2 arias, 1 is the scene where Monostato's slaves and himself are under a spell from Papageno's Glockenspiel, and they really "totter" away harmlessly. That scene is absolutely hilarious, with them going "lalalala" and dancing away, exiting at stage right. The final one is the finale duet with Papageno and Papagena (Barbara Kilduff)in "Pa-pagena! Pa-Pageno!". Hemm's and Kilduff's voices blend very well together. I love that song. Thumbs up to this beautifully recorded performance, conducted by James Levine. I highly recommend this recording. It is definitely worth the money, and worth rewatching again and again.
Rating:
Summary: Just enchanting!
Review: I thought this production was just delightful! The Met stage and the set design give just the right amount of fun and imagination necessary for "The Magic Flute." Hamm is fantastic, just comically and vocally perfect. Battle is just enchanting. She is the PERECT Pamina. Serra is just amazing. She hits that F like she's got notes to spare above that; and her acting is commendable as well. This absolutely gives the BEST represenation of what "The Magic Flute" should look like. Good performances all around.
Rating: 
Summary: Sets by David Hockney
Review: If anyone has managed to find this listing, this is the Met production with the sets by David Hockney. Pamina is sung by Kathleen Battle and Sarastro by Kurt Moll. Other singers are Luciana Serra (the Queen of Night), Francisco Araiza(Pamino), Manfred Heim (Papageno), and Heinz Zednik (Monostratos); conducted by James Levine of course. The DVD has subtitles in German (hallelujah!), English, French, and Chinese, but no other extras. The singing sounds weak, but that may be because I'm used to other recordings in which the singers are over-miked. Otherwise, it's good performance of "The Magic Flute".
Rating:
Summary: Manfred Hemm steals the show!
Review: If you are looking to enter the world of opera, this is the greatest way to do it. I use this video with my 4th grade music classes, and although sung in German, the kids love the plot and the music (what's not to like about Mozart?). The cast is strong all the way around, but for my money Manfred Hamm is the best Papageno I have ever seen. Great voice, but even better comic acting! Enjoy this finely staged production of a delightful opera.
Rating: 
Summary: What we see is just as important as what we hear.
Review: It is my firm belief that `opera' is an artistic medium that combines the arts: music, literature, theatre, dance, architecture, etc. In this respect one should be careful not to underestimate any of these components that make up a good performance. Now everything what we see (the movement, the costumes, the stage settings, etc.) is equally as important as what we hear. This is the nature of opera. If you go to the opera merely to "see", than you are a theatre-lover, if you go merely to "listen", than you are a music-lover. Enjoying "opera" is in fact, enjoying both.
Most of these reviews at Amazon tend to focus at the musical aspect of the performance and I partly concur with much of what has been said in this regard. The quality of the singers is first rate and their interpretations show great quality. I am not a big fan of Levine (his Mozart is to broad, almost like Wagner, and the choice of his tempi is far too slow), but one cannot say that this man (although called "The Conducting Swine") is not a great musician. His approach is not a historical one (like e.g. Harnoncourt) and Mozart might not recognize his own musical intentions in this performance, but that is Levine's choice and I'm willing to leave it as what it is.
So, musically, this performance is all right (though not `splendid'). Theatrically, however, this performance rates below zero. This is the reason why I won't give it more than one star. The Metropolitan tried to make a conservative Die Zauberflöte and so they followed Schikaneder's (E. Schikaneder wrote the text-book of this opera) stage-directions to the letter. I don't know why. If you don't try to make a historical recreation of the opera in the music, you shouldn't try so hard to do it on stage. From a theatrical point of view this performance is un-inspirational, unimaginative, dull and banal, even laughable. Let me illustrate this point by giving two examples.
The very first scène shows us a tacky stage, with a few make-belief tries and rocks and a small temple in the middle. Tamino runs on stage and hides behind one of the rocks. Than the snake - although here it seems to be some sort of dragon - comes up. This is by far the most embarrassing snake I have ever seen. You can actually see the guy inside this suit. How can anyone be afraid of that, I shall never know. And the smoke coming out of his nostrils was way over the top.
Another example is the scène where the Queen of the night sings her second aria (Die Hölle Rach). The acting performance of K. Battle kills the entire moment, even though she is not singing. In the role of Pamina, she is supposed to be listening to the words of her mother (The Queen) She makes a few funny faces and some stupid gestures and repeats them over and over again. Either she is the worst actress ever, or she hasn't been properly coached by the director. Being a good singer is not an excuse for being a bad actress. If she cannot act, she shouldn't perform on stage. She could do recordings, concerts, recitals, etc. but not a fully staged production of an opera. What we see is just as important as what we hear.
This production put too much emphasis on the fairy-tale-aspect of this opera; and I don't mean the eighteenth-century-German fairy-tale tradition (Wieland, Gellert, etc.), but the childish one, that could only have been done by an American opera Company. The philosophy of the Enlightenment, inherent in this opera, is nowhere taken seriously and the Masonic truths (Mozart and Schikaneder were masons) who were an undeniable source for the opera were left undeveloped.
In conclusion: The production by The Metropolitan is a very childish approach to Die Zauberflöte and nothing more.
Rating:
Summary: Worth watching, just don't be distracted by stupidities
Review: It is so obvious from the very start that the designers of this DVD had no idea what the hell they were doing. Using a 'kids' font for the opening credits? Rather insulting, and sad that this opera of Mozart's wasn't treated as it deserves.
James Levine's conducting kind of took me by surprise, right from the start. That's one fast overture, too fast for my taste, overlooking the overture's melodic power. The counterpoint seems to be undermined as well, and the counterpoint is precisely what makes this overture such a peak in all of history. Levine could have been more sensitive. Of course he seems to think that his way is right, but I just wish no future conductors take his cue.
'Dies bildnis' comes across as trying-hard, partly because of the stage direction and also because this production's Tamino doesn't blend in with the orchestra all that well.
Luciana Serra, who didn't quite nail the Queen of the Night in Colin Davis' CD, gives a much better performance here. Her voice is more powerful and more accurate. The sets used around the Queen of the Night are the coolest in the production as well.
A standout in this DVD is Pamina. Her voice is wonderful, but her poor-me look during Sarastro's 'In diesen heil'gen hallen' is kind of ridiculous.
I prefer Kurt Moll's rendition of Sarastro in Colin Davis' CD; him being slightly younger then as well may have something to do with that. And if you're questioning why I insist on comparing this DVD to Colin Davis' CD, it's for the simple fact that plenty of the performers in the CD are also featured here. Besides, it's the only other entire version I've heard. Live with it.
Papageno is supposedly a scene stealer in this DVD. He may be so, but the theatrics of this great work of music are so secondary, I don't care that he elicits laughs from the audience. Made me smile though.
Rating: 
Summary: Pamina is not Black!
Review: Kathleen Battle as Pamina? Sick! Pamina is "a fair blond maiden"... The only black character in the Opera was the villainous rapist, Monostatos who, in this twisted version, is played by none other than a white guy with black paint on his face. Great music, sets, and singing but I think Mozart would be rolling over in his unmarked grave to see his Pamina played by a negroid who can't act to save her life.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent production/excellent performance.
Review: Of course, this made-for-VHS production (which possibly aired on PBS at one point) does not have the video quality of some films on DVD, but it is quite crisp and vibrant, and has the special touches (wonderful costumes/props/sets) of a Met production. The Met touch is especially nice for Zauberflote, as it frequently receives a "minimalist" staging. Manfred Hemm is excellent as Papageno and Kurt Moll is an incredible -- if slightly unconfident in the lower register at times -- Sarastro. This is an opera that even people who hate opera will love. Spoken dialogue is included, so the plot is intelligible (especially with German, French, Chinese and English subtitles). The performance rivals the best I've heard, and you are not liable to find a better DVD edition.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best Magic Flute performances
Review: The most striking in this production is Manfred Hamm's Papageno. He is a great singer and especially a great comic actor. The comic effects are also directed well. The dance by Monastatos' slaves after they get enchanted by Papageno's magic bell (well, a Zauberding) is very humorous because of the straight-faced choreography (the humorous effect is better than most productions I've seen). Serra is very good as the Queen of the Night (although Edita Gruberova recorded with Teldec the best "Queen" I've ever seen, but that recording isn't availble in video format). Battle is a likeable and apt Pamina, and Araiza and Moll are good in their parts. Eva Lind's Papagena is cute and very energetic. The set is not extravagent by any means but serves the purpose. This is the best Magic Flute available. The Magic Flute, a great masterpiece in opera history, of course, has a deliberately contradictory plot and motif, if you know the story. Some of the stuff, if you think about it, is (intentionally) ridiculous. For example, how can a prince who fainted upon seeing the giant snake be entrusted to save the abducted Pamina? Watch it a few times and you'll start feeling the deliberation in the music too, which is magical.
Rating:
Summary: It DOESN'T get any better than this . . .
Review: This DVD of Mozart's "Magic Flute" is one of the best I ever seen (over-shadowed only by the CD set with Gedda, Janowitz, Berry and Popp). I approach this opera with skepticism as all the roles are incredibly difficult to sing (coming from experience singing the role of Tamino in college). Araiza's vocal expertise and physical stature make him a convincing Tamino. Battle's ever-innocent features make her a perfect Pamina (check out her Zerlina also). In my eyes nothing could ever surpass Lucia Popp in the role of the Queen of the Night but Serra certainly gives it run for the money. Her features (the "beautiful villainess" reminiscent of Malificent from Disney's "Sleeping Beauty") and the sheer vocal power of her Queen makes her as stunning as she is beautiful. This is one of the BEST casts I've ever seen put together.
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