MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


CD REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger


Buy through MusicWeb from £14.60 postage paid.
You may prefer to pay by Sterling cheque or Euro notes to avoid PayPal. Contact for details

Musicweb Purchase button

Franz von SUPPÉ (1819-1895)
Die Schöne Galathée (The Beautiful Galathea) - a mythological satire in one Act (1865)
Jörg Dürmüller (tenor) … Pygmalion;
Marianne Beate Killand (mezzo) … Ganymede;
Klaus Häger (baritone) … Mydas;
Eleonore Marguerre (soprano) … Galathea;
Christian Brückner … Narrator
ChorWerkRuhr, Capella Coloniensis/Bruno Weil
rec. Kulturzentrum, Herne, Germany, 13-14 November 2005
Notes in German, English, French.
CAPRICCIO 60134 [71:22]



The sparkling overture contains two lovely melodies that are deftly woven into an impressive stand-alone piece of which any composer would be proud. Why this never became one of the popular overtures of its day like Zampa and The Crown of Diamonds I cannot understand. It is by far superior to Suppé’s best known, yet immaturely heavy, Poet and Peasant overture written 19 years earlier. By the 1860s Austria had been captivated by the French style of operetta and in particular by works that had come from the pen of Jacques Offenbach. Suppé set out to impress his fellow Austrians and deliberately challenged Offenbach with this operetta, and for it produced his finest music. The trio, “Hinaus! Au weh!” [tk 9] where Pygmalion (a sculptor) orders out his rich patron after stealing a forbidden look at the beautiful statue, Galathea is a superb example of excellent composition. One can detect more than a passing hint of Offenbach’s style in this and the later, “Hellim Glas” [tk 19].

In this live performance, the soloists provide us with a good standard of singing. I particularly like Marianne Beate Killand when she charms us with the Offenbachian “Wir Greichen” [tk 15] and her silky mellowness. Eleonore Marguerre is a pleasantly lyrical and pure-toned soprano. As Galathée, she handles her portrayal with delicacy and in the delightful romance “Was sagst du?” [tk 13] adds poignancy to widely flowing phrases. Here, and in the opening chorus [tk 3], Bruno Weil conducts with much care and sensitivity, and teases out of the score some nice subtleties. Pygmalion (Jörg Dürmüller) is a strong yet light tenor who shines and contrasts well with the others in the score’s rich ensembles. Mydas (Klaus Häger) is not given a lot of opportunity to display a wide spectrum of voice, but from his ariette, “Meinem Vater Gordios” he contributes well.

The issue of this recording brings back memories of a rare British staging of this operetta at the Buxton Festival in 1999, with its haunting opening chorus, charming ensembles and vivacious stage activity. As with Weber’s equally short Oberon, it is a mistake to include German narration in an international recording. With worldwide sales expected, one surely cannot satisfy more than 25% of its potential buyers. This said, I consider that the lines of dialogue are delivered with impact and immediacy. I should add that no disturbances from the audience are evident in the recording.

Microphone cover for the singers is not always ideal, as found with Mydas’s ariette, “Meinem Vater Gordios” [tk 5] where the singer is recessed. The orchestra on the other hand is perfectly balanced throughout with a warm acoustic and a melodramatic pizzicato richly delivered. Good notes and full lyrics are provided in the three languages.

Raymond J Walker



 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.