Daniel Behle reviews
R Strauss: Kramerspiegel, etc
Daniel Behle (tenor), Oliver Schnyder (piano) (Prospero)
Mozart: Così fan tutte
Royal Opera House/Semyon Bychkov; dir. Jan Philipp Gloger (London, 2018); Opus Arte (DVD)
Fun Sun Kim conducts Lehár's Der Graf von Luxemburg
With a handful of exceptions, the operetta repertoire is eschewed by the bigger UK companies. This new recording of Lehár’s The Count of Luxembourg – which debuted in Vienna in 1909, but is heard here in the composer’s second version (1937) – derives from live performances at the Frankfurt Opera (2015-16).
Mozart: Die Zauberflote
Anyone tempted to programme the remote-control to skip over the dialogue in this Zauberflöte will rue the day. For this is a total experience, perfectly tailored for private listening. René Jacobs thinks of it as a Hörspiel: it’s a play to be heard – and I don’t know a recorded Zauberflöte more thrillingly alive with fantasy, profoundly musical imagination, real magic, and real fun too.