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Happy birthday Mozart! Q: Have a favorite Papageno type? Favorite Singer?

Papageno is often called "jolly Papageno" but the character is interpreted different ways. He's the only complex character in The Magic Flute.

My nominees for

Best melancholy Papageno - Simon Keenlyside

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-Qq-DeEXhw

Best feisty Papageno - Christian Gerhaher

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J28YyBeAfg

Best jolly Papageno - William Workman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcZu9PsBEDg

259 AND GOIN' STRONG WOLFY!

Update:

Trivia: If the dialog in the Keenlyside clip seems a bit strange, it's because German has a pronoun that can't be translated.

"[pronoun] are you?" (translated "who")

"What a question! I'm a man, like you!"

1 Answer

Relevance
  • Thank you for mentioning Mozart's birthday, even if I am two days late and forgot to decorate. My favorite Papageno goes back some years, I would have been a tiny toddler when this recording came out, but I do like Walter Berry:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqtPHFiHV8c

    He transitions between the goofy bits and the serious bits seemingly without effort.

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