The Magic Flute in Baden-Baden
2-15 July 2018

For the fifth year in a row the COE returns to the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus for Rolando Villazon’s prestigious Mozart opera cycle under the direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. It will be the sixth instalment of the award-winning series with Mozart’s popular and very last opera: The Magic Flute.

Tenor Rolando Villazon appears as Papageno, a role he will take on for the first time during his extensive career. His Papagena will be performed by Regula Mühlemann. They are joined by Albina Shagimuratova as the Queen of the Night, Franz-Josef Selig as Sarastro, Christiane Karg as Pamina, Klaus Florian Vogt as Tamino and Paul Schweinester as Monostatos and the RIAS Kammerchor.

“The very first chords of the Overture promise something out of the ordinary. Powerful and gentle are the sounds that fill the hall with this “magic flute” and make you listen carefully. Yannick Nézet-Séguin lets the Chamber Orchestra of Europe speak, whisper, sigh and cheer as the fast fugue of the overture begins. […]Aside from the precise and expressive Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the transparent, enormously focused RIAS chamber choir, this “Magic Flute” is a real treat thanks to the outstanding soloists.” – Badische Zeitung

“Clara Andrada breathed magic into her instrument [flute] from her central position in the formidable Chamber Orchestra of Europe for the concert performance of the Magic Flute at the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden.” – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

“Even the most experienced and knowledgeable music friends can’t imagine having ever heard a better orchestra in The Magic Flute as in this performance in Baden-Baden by the Chamber Orchestra of Europe under the brilliant and charismatic Yannick Nézet-Séguin.” – Klassik Begeistert

Ever since Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Rolano Villazon started to perform and record Mozart’s late operas in 2012 in close collaboration with Deutsche Grammophon and the Festspielhaus, they have been successful in bringing stellar casts to Baden-Baden. High-profile opera singers have included Diana Damrau, Thomas Quasthoff, Thomas Hampson, Sonya Yoncheva and Anne Sophie von Otter.

The Chamber Orchestra of Europe is the partnering orchestra in this long-term project. So far, Così fan tutte, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and Le Nozze di Figaro have been released on CD by Deutsche Grammophon. The latter won an ECHO Klassik Award in 2017 in the category of Best Opera Recording.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin said about the partnership with the COE for the Baden-Baden Mozart Series:

“It is obvious to implement such a long-term project with this Orchestra. For me, no one performs Mozart better, then the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.”

The concert performances of The Magic Flute coincide with the release of La Clemenza di Tito, following last year’s recorded performances. Rolando Villazon was joined by another stellar cast featuring Joyce DiDonato, Marina Rebeka, Regina Mühlemann and Tara Erraught. This next addition to the live recorded Mozart series was released by Deutsche Grammophon on 6 July.