William Jenks wrote:

>Can anyone recommend a nice version sung in English translation? I know
>that's anathema to a lot of folks, but he's interested in the story as well
>as the music, and not old enough to appreciate either German or translated
>liner notes.

How very wonderful that he is interested at so young an age.  The English
National Opera has a series of recordings on the Chandos Label.  I am not
sure if they have gotten to Magic Flute yet, but they do have several other
operas in English.  That would be a place to start.  If that fails, I might
suggest that you look into the Classical Kids series on BMG records.  There
are several wonderful children's discs which place modern-day children into
adventures with the great composers.  There is a great deal of music on
each disc as well.  These are wonderful ways to introduce children to
music.  Some of the titles are: Beethoven Lives Upstairs, Mr. Bach Comes
to Call, Mozart's Magic Fantasy, Tchailovsky Discovers America, Vivaldi's
Ring of Mystery and so on.  Highly recommended.

Kevin Sutton