Cornelius Hauptmann

Recorded in 1992 at the Ludwigsburger Schlosstheater, this release from Art Haus Musik features a performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's two-act opera Die Zauberflote. The production stars Deon Van Der Walt as Tamino and Ulrike Sonntag as Pamina and includes music by The Ludwigcburger Festspiele

This performance of Mozart's Great Mass in C minor, which remained an unfinished torso, is reverent and highly dramatic. It was filmed 4-6 April 1990 in the beautiful Baroque Basilica of Waldsassen in Bavaria: a few kilometers from the Czech border. It was filmed just a few months after the Iron Curtain had fallen, a mere 6 months before Bernstein's death on 14 October 1990. His painful, labored breathing is evident during this performance. It is a sad reminder of what is to come and it makes this performance, so other-worldly in many ways, particularly poignant. Bernstein conducts the splendid Chor und Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks.