Paganini

Product Description

Following His First Reading of the Libretto, Franz Lehar Himself Wrote of the Igniting Sparks Inspiring Him to Write His Paganini Operetta. Since This Inspirational Thriller's Premiere Took Place During the Night Prior to His Fifty-Third Birthday on 30 April 1923, the Composer Viewed His Work As a Birthday Present from Our Dear God. And Divine Providence Had a Second Present Ready for Leha R: An Encounter with Richard Tauber at the Salzburg Festival of 1924. Leha R Had Found the Interpreter Corresponding to the Ideal Always Nurtured in His Imagination and Tauber the Composer Capable of Rendering Audible His Special Qualities. This Live 'Paganini' Production from Munich in October 2009 Features the Chor Des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Muenchner Rundfunk Orchester, Conductor Ulf Schirmer and a Distinguished Cast of Vocal Soloists Including ?Kristiane Kaiser, Eva Liebau, Zoran Todorovich and Martin Zysset.

Review

"CPO's complete two-disc recording, including the spoken dialogue, comes from a 2009 Münchner Rundfunk­orchester performance under the sure hand of conductor Ulf Schirmer. Zoran Todorovich, a Serbian heldentenor, may not possess Tauber's magnificent tone, but he sings with plenty of brio and panache. His Princess, Kristiane Kaiser, is a full-voiced, elegant Mozartean. She sounds at home here, having already sung Lehár's Friederike and Smetana's Bartered Bride. The secondary comic leads, Martin Zysset and Eva Lieblau, are lighter in weight but just as firm of style. All of them handle the lengthy spoken dialogues (easily programmed out) with ease. It sounds like the singers are really enjoying themselves, and not at the expense of Lehár. They deliver their performances with conviction rather than camp." --Eric Meyers, Opera News, August 2015