Interested in operas that have rarely if ever traveled beyond their linguistic or ethnic homeland? You may well be delighted to get to know this Romantic-era work by the Swedish…
Author: Ralph Locke
Heinrich Marschner’s Once-Famous Hans Heiling Gets a Fine New Recording
Heinrich Marschner (1795-1861) was one of many nineteenth-century composers in the German-speaking lands who tried to create a tradition of serious German opera, distinct from tradition of Singspiel (mostly light…
A Superb World-Premiere Recording of Leonardo (not da) Vinci’s Didone abbandonata (1726) from the Florence May Festival
This is one of three Leonardo Vinci recordings that I’ve had the privilege of reviewing in recent years. The other two were Siroe re di Persia (from the renowned Teatro…
Martinů’s The Greek Passion (1954-57): as relevant as ever
In 1954-57 Bohuslav Martinů composed The Greek Passion, an opera about Greek refugees seeking a bit of land in a nearby (likewise Greek) village where they might work and live,…
World-Premiere Recording, under Richard Bonynge, of Alfred Cellier’s Once-Beloved 1886 Operetta Dorothy
Alfred Cellier is a largely forgotten figure today, but his Dorothy (1886), a “pastoral comedy opera in three acts,” ran for 931 performances, thanks in part to an excellent cast.…
Rossini’s Maometto II, in its Full Original Naples Version, Comes to Life Thanks to Flexible Young Singers at the “Rossini in Wildbad” Festival
I have written with enthusiasm about numerous recordings from the Rossini festival that is held each summer – well, except 2020 – in Wildbad (in Germany’s Black Forest region). One…
Hérold’s Le pré aux clercs (1832), a Missing Link between Rossini and Offenbach, Done to Perfection
Good rule of thumb: if one or two arias from a forgotten opera have continued to be performed and recorded, and the overture as well, then the whole work is…
Gounod’s Early Mastery in Opera and Sacred Music: World-premiere recordings of scenes and choral works
This is the sixth volume in the “Prix de Rome” series of CD sets produced by the admirable Center for French Romantic Music, a research organization located in the Palazzetto…
A First-Rate Serious Opera by Rossini with Pre-Echoes of The Barber of Seville
Another good-to-superb recording of a little-known Rossini opera, thanks to the Rossini in Wildbad festival. The recording blends three concert performances from July 2017 and features Silvia Dalla Benetta as…
A Third Catarina Cornaro Opera: Not Halévy or Donizetti but Franz Lachner, and It’s Good!
Opera lovers may think they have never heard any music by Franz (or Franz Paul) Lachner. But, if they’ve enjoyed Cherubini’s Medea, they almost surely have heard – and been…