Document

  1986
    December 1986
        Opera
                J. Strauss II Die Fledermaus.

J. Strauss II Die Fledermaus. Hermann Prey (bar/ Eisenstein); Julia Varady (sop/ Rosalinde); Lucia Popp (sop/ Adele); Rene Kollo (ten/ Alfred); Ivan Rebroff (bass/ mez/ Orlovsky); Bernd Weikl (bar/ Falke); Benno Kusche (bar/ Frank); Ferry Gruber (ten/ Blind); Franz Muxeneder (bass/ Frosch); Evi List (sop/ Ida); Nikolai Lugowol (bar/ Ivan); Bavarian State Orchestra; Bavarian State Opera Chorus / Carlos Kleiber.

DG (Full price) (CD) 415 646-2GH2 (two discs, nas: 107 minutes). From 2707 088 (10/76). Notes, text and translation included.

Ten years after it soriginal release there is still no recording of Die Fledermaus that, for me, matches this one for the compelling freshness of its conductor's interpretation—the attention to every nuance of the score and the ability to bring out some new detail, all allied to extreme precision of vocal and instrumental ensemble. The ladies, too, as so often seems to be the case in recordings of Die Fledermaus, are quite superlatively good, with ideally characterized and projected singing. If the men are generally less outstandingly good, one can have no more than minor quibbles with the Eisenstein of Hermann Prey or the Alfred of Rene Kollo. But ten years on I find myself no better able to accept Ivan Rebroff singing the role of Orlovsky falsetto, any more than I am able to comprehend DG's decision to entrust the role to him. Some, I know, find that his contribution quite ruins the whole set, but others may find it tolerable enough for the glories to be found elsewhere on the recording.

DG have remastered the set to make it sound as though it were recorded only yesterday; but they have left me puzzled by the break between discs, which occurs during the Act 2 finale. If a split into such uneven lengths is to be made, why not have it between Acts 1 and 2?

AML



		Ten years after it soriginal release there is still no recording of Die Fledermaus that, for me, matches this one for the compelling freshness of its conductor's interpretation—the attention to every nuance of the score and the ability to bring out some new detail, all allied to extreme precision of vocal and instrumental ensemble. The ladies, too, as so often seems to be the case in recordings of Die Fledermaus, are quite superlatively good, with ideally characterized and projected singing. If the men are generally less outstandingly good, one can have no more than minor quibbles with the Eisenstein of Hermann Prey or the Alfred of Rene Kollo. But ten years on I find myself no better able to accept Ivan Rebroff singing the role of Orlovsky falsetto, any more than I am able to comprehend DG's decision to entrust the role to him. Some, I know, find that his contribution quite ruins the whole set, but others may find it tolerable enough for the glories to be found elsewhere on the recording.



		DG have remastered the set to make it sound as though it were recorded only yesterday; but they have left me puzzled by the break between discs, which occurs during the Act 2 finale. If a split into such uneven lengths is to be made, why not have it between Acts 1 and 2?