Better late than never. The Magic Flute, promised for the end of April, after being delayed 'for unforeseen and unavoidable reasons, has now made its appearance. It is in four volumes, two volumes to each act, and thirty-seven recordings, the final record having one side blank.

It is customary to speak of Gluck's Orpheus, Mozart's Figaro, Verdi's Aida, and, in general, when a composer A has set to music the libretto of a writer B, to refer to the work as A's opera. In this custom there is the tacit admission that the most valuable part of an opera is its music. I do not propose to challenge this indeed, I am prepared to infer from it that the first duty of an operatic artist is to sing well and that ability to act well, though very desirable, is of secondary importance ; I raise the matter for quite another reason. An opera should have some value as drama and some as spectacle, so that its total value is the sum of three components. Now, as in the past, a good many people refer to The Magic Flute as Mozart's greatest opera. It would be interesting to know the sort of relative values assigned to music, drama and spectacle in reaching this conclusion. The entrancing loveliness of the music should be evident to all who listen to these recordings of it. The value of the drama can be assessed from a study of the booklet that is given with them ; and the booklet is not without its use in arriving at some conclusion regarding the value of the opera as a spectacle. When reasonable allowance for dramatic and spectacular merit is made I cannot see how The Magic Flute is entitled to the premier position and when no allowance is made I am prepared to watch two large camps of musicians upholding the rival claims of the Flute and the Don, while I sit comfortably on the fence.

Unlike the Italian operas which the Society has already issued, The Magic Flute has no recilativo secco. Its place is taken by spoken dialogue and this, of course, has not been recorded, while in the opera house it is ruthlessly cut. In the booklet, however, it is given in full, as well as the words of the vocal items. In this way it is probable that many purchasers will become acquainted for the first time with the entire text of the opera. To make it useful to those who cannot cope with German, a prose translation into English is provided. As the person responsible for this translation I may perhaps be allowed to say that it was a pleasure to me to prepare it and that I hope its shortcomings are not very serious. It has not made me think any better of the German text as drama, poetry or prose. I thoroughly endorse the uncomplimentary remarks that Mr. Legge makes about it. Much interesting information concerning the opera will be found in Mr. Legge's introductory essay and annotations, with references to a number of German authorities for those who wish to delve further into the subject. To these he has added a reference to Prof. Dent's Mozart's Operas (Chatto & Windus, 1913) and I would mention that Dent's admirable English singing versions, familiar to visitors to Sadler's Wells, have recently been published quite cheaply.

The society's recording has been made under the musical direction of Sir Thomas Beecham and it will he generally agreed that no better choice of director was possible. The work was carried out in Berlin and the excellent Philharmonic Orchestra of that city was engaged to co-operate. The five leading parts were allotted as follows

Pamina . . . . Tiana Lemnitz

Queen of Night .. Erna Berger

Tamino .. .. Helge Roswaenge

Papageno .. .. Gerhard Husch

Sarastro . . . . Wilhelm Strienz and the numerous minor parts assigned to artists of distinction.

The musical score has had to be divided into thirty-seven parts for recording purposes and it is unfortunate for those whose purses are not too full that some of these parts are rather small ; sides three and four, for example, give decidedly short measure. It is very evident, though, that unless breaks were to be made at unsuitable places or tempi ruined, these occasional doses of short measure were unavoidable.

Technically, the recordings leave little or nothing to be desired the former high standard is maintained. Voices are well-balanced against each other and against the orchestra and details are commendably clear.

I said last month that all complete recordings have their little weaknesses. Finding them in this work is no easy matter. Throughout the opera the performance maintains a high artistic level.

The Queen of Night requires a faultless coloratura technique combined with the vocal gifts of a dramatic soprano. This dual qualification makes it difficult to find really satisfactory artists for the part. Erna Berger is a success. There is a reasonable expression of maternal grief in Zum Leiden bin ich auserkoren and a very definite suggestion of fierce hate in her vigorous rendering of Der Hölle Rache, while in each case the trying coloratura is handled with skill. The one thing her singing makes it difficult to believe is that she is the mother of a grown-up daughter. This is perhaps an inevitable result of the music, but in this instance the contrast between the vocal timbres of Erna Berger and Tiana Lemnitz exaggerates the difficulty. Berger has a light, bright, ringing tone ; that of Lemnitz is mellow. The reversal of these timbres would seem to be called for. I have but one fault to find with Pamina. Her Ach, ich Jiihl's is lovely as singing, but this expression of grief is so long-drawn-out that it becomes tedious. A speeding up of fifteen to twenty per cent, would have improved it, I am certain.

Of the male artists, Gerhard Husch stands out as an admirable Papagcno, giving due weight to the meaning of every phrase he utters and maintaining a uniformly high vocal standard. Not quite so uniform is the standard reached by the Tamino of Helge Roswaenge, for at times in loud passages he is no better than the average German tenor and sings with effort ; for the most part, though, he sings artistically and in pleasing fashion. The singing of Wilhelm Strienz has been compared with that of Plançon. Certainly he can sing with wonderful smoothness and the lower range of his voice is a splendid sonorous bass ; as the scale is ascended the full-blooded bass changes somewhat and eventually becomes baritone or bass-baritone at least, that is how it seems to me. His singing does not characterise the wise and saintly Sarastro very clearly ; the explanation of this may perhaps lie in the fact that Strienz is still a young man. His 0 Isis und Osiris is finely sung ; so, too, is In diesen heil'gen Ha/len, though here he is a shade emphatic and dramatic where such emphasis is hardly needed.

The excellence of the duets and ensembles is very gratifying and calls for praise not only for the major principals, but for the artists who undertook the parts of the three ladies, the three boys, the men in armour, etc.

That The Magic Flute is extremely popular is evident from the large number of advance orders received for this recording of it. Those who have an affection for the work need have no hesitation in subscribing for these records. The latest issue of The Mozart Society is a worthy recording of a worthy performance and one that does credit to all concerned in its production.

H. F. V. L.