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Title: Johann Strauss II, Blindekuh and the other operettas Post by: Albion on April 27, 2020, 11:48:20 am With the very welcome Naxos release of Strauss's Blindekuh (1878), the number of his operettas complete on disc continues to expand - a great chance to explore the little-known works apart from the usual (magnificent) suspects Die Fledermaus, Eine Nacht in Venedig and Der Zigeunerbaron. I have tried to compile a list of recommendations for the more obscure scores below (highlighted in bold), omitting the three works already mentioned:
Indigo und die vierzig Rauber [Indigo and the Forty Thieves] (1871) - no complete recording at present Der Carneval in Rom [Carnival in Rome] (1873) - CPO 777 405-2 Die Fledermaus [The Bat] (1874) - various Cagliostro in Wien [Cagliostro in Vienna] (1875) - no complete recording at present Prinz Methusalem [Prince Methusalem] (1877) - CPO 777 747-2 Blindekuh [Blind-Man's Buff] (1878) - Naxos 8.660434-35 Das Spitzentuch der Konigin [The Queen's Lace Handkerchief] (1880) - CPO 777 406-2 Der lustige Krieg [The Merry War] (1881) - no complete recording at present (I think an ORF broadcast was available at some point) Eine Nacht in Venedig [A Night in Venice] (1883) - various Der Zigeunerbaron [The Gypsy Baron] (1885) - various Simplicius (1887) - originally EMI Classics 7243 5 57009 2 6, now in a 10-disc Warner box 9846642 Furstin Ninetta [Princess Ninetta] (1893) - Naxos 8.660227-28 Jabuka (1894) - Naxos 8.660216-17 Waldmeister [Woodruff] (1895) - no complete recording at present although the website of the Johann Strauss Society of Great Britain states that "Johann Strauss's operetta Waldmeister is being recorded in January 2020 for release in 2021" Die Gottin der Vernunft [The Goddess of Reason] (1897) - Naxos 8.660280-81 Please feel free to offer corrections (additional performances may be available on Youtube for example) as well as personal recommendations for the three more well-known works... :) Title: Re: Johann Strauss II, Blindekuh and the other operettas Post by: Grandenorm on April 27, 2020, 08:08:45 pm Very useful, John. Many thanks. There is some lovely music here.
Title: Re: Johann Strauss II, Blindekuh and the other operettas Post by: Albion on April 28, 2020, 10:13:50 am There is some lovely music here. Indeed there is! I remember when I was collecting the Marco Polo Edition being particularly excited when a volume contained a dance arrangement from one of the more unfamiliar operettas (there are an average of five from each work, usually a splendid waltz, a quadrille, a French polka, a polka-mazurka and a quick polka). The performances were always good although sometimes the tempi adopted for the quadrilles might be questioned... Back in the 1980s it was impossible to predict that so much Johann Strauss I, Johann Strauss II, Josef Strauss, Eduard Strauss, Carl Michael Ziehrer, etc. would be recorded. :) |