Johann Strauss the Younger wrote over seventeen stage
works although only two are regularly performed today. This set naturally
includes those together with the two best known of the remainder. There
is also a fascinating curiosity in the shape of
Simplicius. Apart
from the latter - a live recording (although this is not obvious) from
Zürich in 1999, the recordings here date from the 1960s and 1970s.
All include dialogue, usually shortened and recorded at a higher level
than the music, but sufficient to provide a break between musical numbers
without boring the listener.
The best of the set by far in terms of performance is
Die Fledermaus.
It is wholly idiomatic, with the whole very distinguished cast seeming
to enjoy themselves the whole time. Opinions do vary as to the suitability
of Fischer-Dieskau’s Falke, but for me his care over words and his
memorably touching start to “Brüderlein und schwesterlein”
more than make up for some occasional over-emphases. Brigitte Fassbaender’s
Orlovsky is another vivid characterisation, and the rest of a starry cast
including Nicolai Gedda, Anneliese Rothenberger and Renate Holm all know
exactly how to project music which can easily sound routine or exaggerated
in other hands. Willi Boskovsky also avoids routine and exaggeration and
the result is a fresh and enjoyable performance.
Boskovsky’s relaxed and idiomatic conducting also ensures success
in
Wiener Blut, a pastiche put together from his earlier music
by Adolf Müller Jr. with Strauss’s approval just before the
composer’s death. The arrangements of earlier music are not wholly
convincing but sung and played with such affection this does not seem
to matter. Again the whole cast is steeped in the idiom and sing with
charm and individuality.
The performances of the two works conducted by Franz Allers I find much
less satisfactory. The conductor is best known for his work on Broadway.
It is clear, right from the first bars of the two works he conducts, that
he is determined to inject the kind of energy usually essential there.
This certainly makes one listen, but the results are hard-driven, charmless
and dislikeable, at least to me. The distinguished casts do their best
under these difficult conditions but the fundamental character of the
works is missed. It is perhaps worth pointing out also that the editions
used for these and for most of the works here cut or alter Strauss’s
scores to some degree.
Eine Nacht in Venedig is given in the radically
altered version by Korngold and Marischka and
Der Zigeunerbaron
uses the standard Cranz edition but inflicts numerous cuts on it. As anyone
who has heard the very full and newly edited version conducted by
Nikolaus
Harnoncourt will know, the Cranz edition is in any event very different
to the original work. To be fair, however, this applies to most recordings
of these works and I suspect that most admirers of these operettas are
unlikely to choose a recording on the basis of the edition used.
In contrast to the other four works
Simplicius has no rivals in
the CD catalogue, and indeed it languished unperformed for many years
before it was revived in a new edition in Zurich. Its setting in the Thirty
Years War and its convoluted and uninvolving plot work against its success
yet musically it has much to offer. I have not seen it on stage nor the
DVD of the same production heard here so that I am unclear as to whether
its intriguing mixture of the Strauss of his other operettas with sections
more redolent of Lortzing or Weber works well in actual performance. It
is nonetheless well worth hearing, especially when the cast includes such
fine singers as Piotr Beczala and Michael Volle and when the conducting
is as assured as it is here. I suspect however that more pleasure may
be gained from the
DVD
where the plot should become much clearer.
Overall then this set is very much a mixed bag, with two real successes,
one fascinating curiosity and two that regrettably fail to capture the
character of the works concerned. No texts or translations are included
although there is a brief essay in which Andrew Lamb manages to convey
the essence of each operetta in a remarkably short space. Overall it
is certainly a convenient way to gather a selection of Strauss’s
operettas or to fill gaps in your collection but a more consistent standard
of performance would make it much more attractive.
John Sheppard
Casts and other details
Die Fledermaus
Eisenstein - Nicolai Gedda (tenor); Rosalinda - Anneliese Rothenberger
(soprano); Adele - Renate Holm (soprano); Prince Orlovsky - Brigitte
Fassbaender (mezzo); Alfred - Adolf Dallapozza (tenor); Dr Falke - Dietrich
Fischer-Dieskau (baritone); Frank - Walter Berry (baritone); Chor der
Wiener Staatsoper in der Volksoper; Wiener Symphoniker/Willi Boskovsky.
rec. Schwech, Hof, Vienna, 26 Nov-3 Dec 1971 [42:15+68:07]
Eine Nacht in Venedig
Guido - Nicolai Gedda (tenor); Constania - Anneliese Rotherberger (soprano);
Annina - Rita Streich (soprano); Caramello - Cesare Curzi (tenor); Pappacoda
- Hans Günther Grimm (baritone); Ciboletta - Christine Görner
(soprano); Enrico Piselli - Hermann Prey (baritone); Chor der Bayerischen
Rundfunks; Symphonie-Orchestre Graunke/Franz Allers. rec. Bürgerbräu,
Munich, 10-16 Nov 1967. [47:55+47:27]
Der Zigeunerbaron
Count Hormonay - Hermann Prey (baritone); Count Carnero - Wolfgang Anheisser
(baritone); Barinkay - Nicolai Gedda (tenor); Zsupán - Kurt Böhme
(bass); Arsena - Rita Streich (soprano); Mirabella - Gisela Litz (alto);
Czipra - Biserka Cvejić (mezzo); Saffi - Grace Bumbry (mezzo);
Chor der Bayerischen Rundfunks; Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Franz
Allers. rec. 5-14 July 1969, Bürgerbräu, Munich. [54:40+46:57]
Simplicius
The Hermit - Michael Volle (baritone); Simplicius - Martin Zysset (tenor);
General von Vlissen - Rolf Haunstein (baritone); Hildegard - Elizabeth
Magnuson (soprano); Armin - Piotr Beczala (tenor); Melchior - Oliver
Widner (baritone); Schnappslotte - Louise Martini (mezzo); Tilly - Martina
Janková (soprano); Chor, Kinderchor und Orchester der Oper Zürich/Franz
Welser-Möst. rec. Opernhaus Zürich, 2, 4, 6 November 1999
Wiener Blut
Prince Ypsheim Gindelbach - Klaus Hirte (baritone); Balduin - Nicolai
Gedda (tenor); Gabriele - Anneliese Rothenberger (soprano); Franziska
Cagliari - Renate Holm (soprano); Kagler - Hans Putz (bass); Pepi Pleininger
- Gabrielle Fuchs (soprano); Josef - Heinz Zednik (tenor); Chor der
Kölner Oper; Winder Schrammein; Philharmonia Hungarica/Willi Boskovsky.
no details given of recording place or date
