Negative Positive
Title: OK, unless you care about the story.
Review: It's pretty, and the singing is competent. But too much is cut from the book. Dialog isn't just there to waste time between musical numbers; you have to develop the story. I realize, of course, that people generally go to the opera simply for the music, but as a composer of opera myself, I can tell you that the story is the most important part of the piece; without it, the music is pointless. And even when the music is Mozart's, you can take out large chunks of dialog simply because they're not sung and still expext the piece to work as a whole.For a truly wonderful video of Magic Flute, I recommend the Metropolitan Opera recording from the late eighties. This is the production that set the standard for all contemporary productions to follow. Right now, it's still VHS only, but it's still more than worth it. And it respects the story as well as the music.
Is the review positive or negative? 