# Östman Mozart Operas



## tempo (Nov 8, 2012)

Any love for this set?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mozart-Nozz...&qid=1403459369&sr=1-5&keywords=ostman+mozart

I like it a lot! Why on Earth is it out of print?!


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## Yashin (Jul 22, 2011)

Hi Don Giovanni on VHS was excellent. Would love to see it on DVD


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

I was late to the *Östman* Mozart party, but now that I've heard the three I know about (_Cosi, Giovanni, Figaro_), I only wish he'd recorded all of the seven major works.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

SanAntone said:


> I was late to the *Östman* Mozart party, but now that I've heard the three I know about (_Cosi, Giovanni, Figaro_), I only wish he'd recorded all of the seven major works.


He also recorded an excellent Magic Flute.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

wkasimer said:


> He also recorded an excellent Magic Flute.


I missed it because I couldn't find it as an individual recording, but in the boxset "The Great Operas": _Le Nozze_, _Giovanni_, _Cosi_, and there it was, _Zauberflote_.

Thanks!


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## Josquin13 (Nov 7, 2017)

SanAntone said:


> I was late to the *Östman* Mozart party, but now that I've heard the three I know about (_Cosi, Giovanni, Figaro_), I only wish he'd recorded all of the seven major works.


SanAntone,

Between 1981-91, Arnold Östman made videotaped recordings of eight Mozart operas staged at the Drottingholm Palace Court Theater, using casts of lesser known Swedish singers (at the time). The Drottingholm productions were unique in that they employed actual, authentic 18th century stage sets & machinery that had been discovered intact and in surprisingly good condition at the Palace theater. Östman and his orchestra wear 18th century costumes & wigs, and play on period instruments. The productions are a lot of fun. I recall that I especially enjoyed their Don Giovanni, which is interesting to see in a more intimate setting than a big opera house. The operas were initially released on VHS by Arthaus Musik, Euroarts, Kultur Video, Image Entertainment, and Virgin Video. However, they were also later available on DVD, too, but are likely out of print now (or mostly so). The Drottingholm stage productions were of Le nozze di Figaro, Cosi fan tutte, La clemenza di Tito, La finta giardiniera, Die Zauberflöte, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Idomeneo, and as noted, Don Giovanni.

In conjunction with these stage productions, Östman also made CD recordings of four Mozart operas for the L'Oiseau-Lyre label (now owned by Decca) between 1985-90, replacing the lesser known Swedish casts with more internationally recognized 'star' singers--such as Arleen Auger, Barbara Bonney, Rachel Yakar, Tom Krause, Håkan Hagegård, Della Jones, Alicia Nafé, Gilles Cachemaille, Bryn Terfel, etc. The L'Oiseau-lyre Mozart operas were of Cosi fan tutte, Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Die Zauberflöte, as already mentioned.

(By the way, if the authentic 18th century stage scenery & machinery are of interest to you, or anyone else, the film director Ingmar Bergman had it precisely reproduced for his film of The Magic Flute. Evidently, the Drottingholm Theater wouldn't allow Bergman to shoot his film inside the actual theater because they were worried the sets would get damaged by his crew. So, Bergman had the interior of the Drottingholm theater and its 18th century sets painstakingly reproduced inside a Stockholm film studio. While the exterior shots were made outside the actual theater.)


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Josquin13 said:


> SanAntone,
> 
> Between 1981-91, Arnold Östman made videotaped recordings of eight Mozart operas staged at the Drottingholm Palace Court Theater, using casts of lesser known Swedish singers (at the time). The Drottingholm productions were unique in that they employed actual, authentic 18th century stage sets & machinery that had been discovered intact and in surprisingly good condition at the Palace theater. Östman and his orchestra wear 18th century costumes & wigs, and play on period instruments. The productions are a lot of fun. I recall that I especially enjoyed their Don Giovanni, which is interesting to see in a more intimate setting than a big opera house. The operas were initially released on VHS by Arthaus Musik, Euroarts, Kultur Video, Image Entertainment, and Virgin Video. However, they were also later available on DVD, too, but are likely out of print now (or mostly so). The Drottingholm stage productions were of Le nozze di Figaro, Cosi fan tutte, La clemenza di Tito, La finta giardiniera, Die Zauberflöte, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Idomeneo, and as noted, Don Giovanni.
> 
> ...


That is all very interesting information, Josquin13 - I will try to find some of those DVDs. Thanks.


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