Jascha Horenstein Conducts Strauss, Wagner, Mahler, Et Al
$29.99
$22.99
CD
Vox
Jan 01, 1996
CDX2-5529
Straus: Der Tapfere Soldat (The Chocolate Soldier) / Kohler, Kranzle, Dickie, Stein, Borst, WDR
Capriccio
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$22.99
Jan 31, 2012
STRAUS Der Tapfere Soldat • Siegfried Köhler, cond; Caroline Stein (Nadina); Johannes Martin Kränzie (Bumerli); Martina Borst (Mascha); John Dickie (Alexius); Gertraud Wagner (Aurelia); Helmut Berger (Popoff); WDR RO; Händel Collegium Köln • CAPRICCIO C5089 (2 CDs: 88:06)
The irascible playwright and man of letters George Bernard Shaw seems to have had a gift for producing stories that were ripe for adaption as light musical comedy. Shaw did not live to see his Pygmalion turned by Lerner and Loewe into the megahit My Fair Lady and make superstars of Rex Harrison, Julie Andrews, and Audrey Hepburn. The British pundit (and one-time opera critic) was front and center, however, as his little antiwar drama Arms and the Man was turned by Oscar Straus and his Viennese librettists into the operetta Der Tapfere Soldat (The Valiant Soldier) and became an international hit. In fact, Shaw worried about his satirical play being turned into bad musical comedy. He agreed to let the story be used only if (1) none of his dialog or character names were used, (2) the operetta were to be advertised as a parody of his work, and (3) no remuneration was to be made. Never widely popular in the pre-World War I Germanic countries where soldiers were heroes and the military a revered institution, Der Tapfere Soldat went on to become a smash hit in New York in 1909 as the more aptly titled Chocolate Soldier, and then one year later scored another triumph right under Shaw’s nose in London. The old man publicly denigrated Straus’s popular operetta but lived to regret his lack of share in its box-office success.
The story involves a likeable young soldier in the Bulgarian army who, to avoid the fierce raging battle outside, climbs up the drainpipe and into the home of a mother, daughter, and another young friend, whose menfolk are also off at the war (actually, he drops right into the daughter’s bedroom). When threatened by his own gun by daughter Nadina, the soldier, Bumerli, laughs and tells her his cartridge case is full of chocolates; he has no bullets for his weapon. In spite of his not being the type of romantic hero she has been dreaming of, Nadina falls for her little chocolate soldier, as do the two other women. They hide him when soldiers come searching and provide him civilian clothes to aid his escape. Trouble comes when Nadina’s father and fiancé return with the regiment. Bumerli also turns up, ostensibly to return the clothes, but he is in love with Nadina. Outrage and hurt feelings ensue, but Alexius, Nadina’s intended, shows a marked preference for the young friend, Mascha. The typical operetta muddle is eventually sorted out and the parents are made happy when it turns out the chocolate soldier is the son of a wealthy Swiss businessman. So much for true love.
Straus wrote many catchy melodies for the early Viennese silver-age work, the most famous of which is Nadina’s solo “Komm, komm, Held meiner Traume” (Come, Come, Hero of My Dreams). Also popular was the humorous duet between the two leads, “Ach, du kleiner Praliné-Soldat” (Ah, You Little Praline Soldier). This recording was made for WDR radio in Cologne in 1993 and features clear, pure-voiced, light soprano Caroline Stein in the lead role of Nadina. She sings very well both alone and in ensemble and is much the best singer on the recording. Baritone Johannes Martin Kränzie sings Bumerli in a pleasant voice but has a noticeable wobble when he pushes his upper range. He blends in well in the ensembles, of which there are many in this light work. The second romantic couple of tenor John Dickie and mezzo Martina Borst sing well in this style of music, as do Mom and Dad, contralto Gertraud Wagner and bass-baritone Helmut Berger.
As far as I am aware, this is the only recording of Der Tapfere Soldat in German. The Ohio Light Opera Company recorded it in English in the late ’90s on the Newport label, where it is still available. A 1958 recording of highlights in English on RCA features much the best voices led by mezzo Risë Stevens and baritone Robert Merrill. That recording is out of print but can be obtained as a facsimile CD-R from ArkivMusic. Capriccio sadly does not provide a libretto, but there is a more than adequate synopsis and some brief bios. If, like me, you want these operettas in their original language, this is the one to buy. It will provide you an hour and a half of very enjoyable, frothy light music. Recommended.
FANFARE: Bill White
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Oscar Straus (note the spelling of Straus – only one ‘s’ at its end) was born in Vienna on 6 March 1870 but was not related to the famous Strauss dynasty.
He began his career emulating the satirical Offenbach, with Die Lustigen Nibelungen (The Merry Nibelungs). Richard Traubner in his excellent book, Operetta, A Theatrical History, suggests that it was “too musically advanced for Viennese ears” and national-socialist pro-Wagnerians were not amused. Those who relish the idea of lampooning of The Ring might like to know that Capriccio have a one-CD Köln recording of Oscar Straus’s The Merry Nibelungs again conducted by Köhler (C5088). Noticing the great success of Lehár’s The Merry Widow, in 1905, Straus decided to capitulate to public taste and entered the comfortable dream world of sentimental Viennese operetta with his smash success - in Austria and Germany if not in America and England - of Ein Waltztraum (A Waltz Dream) of 1907.
Straus’s The Chocolate Soldier (German title: Der tapfere Soldat or Der Praliné-Soldat) followed in 1908. It was based on George Bernard Shaw's 1894 play, Arms and the Man and the libretto was by Rudolf Bernaur and Leopold Jacobson. G.B. himself was not at all keen on such an adaptation of his play which had been successful in its Viennese run and only accepted the situation provided that Straus’s operetta was promoted as an unauthorized parody of his play and that he received no royalties for it. A bad mistake - because the show was a big hit in London and New York - but not quite so in Europe because of political sensitivities surrounding the Balkans where the action of the story was set. Later, Shaw tried to recoup some of his financial losses when M-G-M approached him for the film rights for The Chocolate Soldier. Louis B. Mayer refused Shaw’s exorbitant demands and the film went ahead with a mix of Straus’s and other’s music but to a different plot based on Ferenc Molnár's play Testor . The 1941 film starred Nelson Eddy and Risë Stevens – although Jeanette MacDonald had originally been pencilled in to star with Eddy.
There’s a very good Wikipedia article on Straus’s The Chocolate Soldier that also details all the songs. Briefly the story is set in Bulgaria in 1885 during the war between Serbia and Bulgaria. Nadina, her friend Mascha and her mother are missing their menfolk away at the hostilities. Suddenly a soldier, handsome and charming bursts into her bedroom. He is Bumerli, a Swiss mercenary serving in the Serbian army. He is an ordinary soldier quite unlike her supposedly heroic fiancée Alexius. Bumerli carries chocolates in his pouch instead of ammunition! His charm captivates the ladies and as Act I closes all three are smitten. They all give him photographs of themselves inscribed with loving messages. He puts all three in his great coat and promptly forgets them. But he cannot forget Nadina. Six months later he returns for her but the three photographs are produced. Jealousy flare up between Nadina and Mascha, Bumerli is thought to be fickle and faithless and comic complications ensue. All is happily resolved at the end.
The big hit of the show is the well-known and popular waltz song, ‘Komm, komm, Held meiner Träum’ (‘Come, come hero of my dreams’). Here it is sung most beguilingly by sweet-voiced Caroline Stein as Nadina. She is singing about her Alexius in Act I, her fiancée and imagined hero, who turns out to be nothing of the kind. The lower tenor timbre of Kränzle makes Bumerli sound just that little bit too mature for Nadina. However the charm of their duet ‘Weill’s Leben suss und herzlich ist’ (‘Because life is sweet and beautiful’) cannot be diminished. Much of the music comprises ensemble writing - quartets, quintets, and sextets and soloists with choir. The Act I ensemble song with comic material for the soldiers searching for Bumerli and an interpolated stirring patriotic song lustily sung by Nadina is a highlight – so, too, is the following charming waltz-song trio for Nadina, Mascha and Aurelia They sing ‘Tiralala’ as all besotted, they dream of their Chocolate soldier. This number has some lovely orchestral felicities in the strings and woodwinds. Kränzle’s wistful Act II song ‘If one can, as one wants’ has an introduction that echoes the ‘Tiralala’. Kränzle has another charming if argumentative duet ‘Es war einmal ein Fräulein’ (‘There was once a maiden’) with Nadina before Act II’s exuberant finale closes with a ringing reprise of the big number, ‘Komm, komm, Held meiner Träum’ (‘Come, come hero of my dreams’). Conductor, Köhler consistently delivers telling sentimental and witty accompaniments to all the numbers. Mention should be made of the delicious irony of the orchestral accompaniments to the waspish numbers of Act II like the bickering between Nadina and Bumerli in ‘Pardon, pardon pardon! Ich steig ja nur auf den Balkon’ (Pardon, I rise only on the balcony)
A charming recording of a delightful operetta.
Ian Lace, MusicWeb International
Straus: Der Tapfere Soldat (The Chocolate Soldier) / Kohler, Kranzle, Dickie, Stein, Borst, WDR
$22.99
CD
Capriccio
Jan 31, 2012
C5089
The Story Of Johann Strauss
Vox
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$19.99
$14.99
Jan 01, 1993
Includes work(s) by Johann Strauss Jr..
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The Story Of Johann Strauss
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$14.99
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Vox
Jan 01, 1993
MMD 8514
Midori Live At Carnegie Hall
Sony Masterworks
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$11.99
Apr 23, 1991
Live at Carnegie Hall
Midori Live At Carnegie Hall
$11.99
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Sony Masterworks
Apr 23, 1991
SK46742
J. Strauss Jr. Edition Vol 37 / Christian Pollack, Et Al
Marco Polo
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$19.99
Jun 20, 1994
STRAUSS II, J.: Edition - Vol. 37
J. Strauss Jr. Edition Vol 37 / Christian Pollack, Et Al
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Marco Polo
Jun 20, 1994
8223237
Richard Strauss: Salzburger Liederabende
Orfeo
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$26.99
Nov 11, 2014
This 2CD collection of more than 200 selections taken from various song recitals given 1956-2010 is released in celebration of the 150th birthday of Richard Strauss. + No less than 18 exceptional Strauss singers perform here, listed below in the order they are heard in this edition: Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Lisa Della Casa, Irmgard Seefried, Nicolai Gedda, Christa Ludwig, Hermann Prey, Leontyne Price, Peter Schreier, Edita Gruberova, Jessye Norman, Edith Mathis, Marjana Lipovšek, Heinz Zednik, Frederica von Stade, Francisco Araiza, Thomas Hampson, Diana Damrau and Michael Volle. + The songs range from famous early songs such as Die Nacht and Zueignung via excerpts from the rarely heard Krämerspiegel to late settings of poems by Friedrich Rückert.
Richard Strauss: Salzburger Liederabende
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Orfeo
Nov 11, 2014
ORF-C894142I
Richard Strauss: Die Schweigsame Frau (Salzburg 08.08.1959)
Andromeda
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$10.99
Jan 01, 2012
Classical Music
Richard Strauss: Die Schweigsame Frau (Salzburg 08.08.1959)
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Andromeda
Jan 01, 2012
ANDRCD9099
Strauss: Don Juan, Death and Transfiguration, Till Eulenspiegel / Honeck, Pittsburgh Symphony
Reference Recordings
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Nov 19, 2013
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Strauss: Don Juan, Death and Transfiguration, Till Eulenspiegel / Honeck, Pittsburgh Symphony
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Reference Recordings
Nov 19, 2013
FR-707SACD
Strauss: Don Juan; Ein Heldenleben
BR Klassik
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Jan 13, 2015
In these live recordings from 2011 and 2014 respectively, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and its longtime chief conductor Mariss Jansons present, in their second release of works by Richard Strauss, two of the composer’s "heroic" tone poems. With "Don Juan", the young and aspiring Strauss proved to be a prematurely consummate master of the symphonic poem genre. "Ein Heldenleben" ("A Hero's Life"), written at the turn of the 20th c., ranks as one of the great touchstones for a symphony orchestra – and with its extensive solo violin part, for a concertmaster too.
Strauss: Don Juan; Ein Heldenleben
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BR Klassik
Jan 13, 2015
900127
Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie & Tod und Verklarung / Jansons, Bavarian Radio Symphony
BR Klassik
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Jan 06, 2017
***This is the 100th Release of the BR-KLASSIK Label!***
At the age of just fifteen, the budding composer Richard Strauss (1864-1949) lost his way during a summer hike on the Heimgarten in the Bavarian Alps, and ended up in a thunderstorm. The next day, he fantasized about the experience on the piano. - Twenty years later, that memory had matured into a concept describing a one-day hike in the form of a symphonic poem, and in 1915 – a further fifteen years later – Strauss finally completed his masterpiece. The hike begins in the darkness before dawn, and after sunrise the ascent goes through a forest, past a stream and a waterfall, through meadows and pastures, and up to a glacier. The hiker then loses his way, and after several risky moments arrives at the summit, where he also experiences a vision. The weather then suddenly worsens, and the descent is accompanied by heavy rain and fierce thunderstorms. The eventful day - summarized in just sixty minutes of music - ends with a sunset, and darkness returns. "An Alpine Symphony" is probably Strauss' most famous symphonic poem. Its content is easily understandable, and the work became especially well-known for its gigantic orchestra. The music is far from heavy-handed, however, with many of the passages orchestrated like chamber music. Like a kind of greeting from the Bavarian Alps, as it were, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks and its chief conductor Mariss Jansons have placed this masterpiece, and the music of Richard Strauss in general, on the programme of their forthcoming tour of Asia in late 2016. The live recording of “Alpine Symphony” concerts planned for October 2016 in Munich’s Philharmonie im Gasteig is enhanced on this latest release from BR-KLASSIK by the addition of Strauss’ symphonic poem "Death and Transfiguration", first performed in 1890; the recording here is of concerts performed in Munich in February 2014. – We thus have two very recent interpretations of two of this great German composer’s most important tone poems on one release.
Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie & Tod und Verklarung / Jansons, Bavarian Radio Symphony
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BR Klassik
Jan 06, 2017
900148
Strauss: Lieder / Soile Isokoski
Ondine
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$18.99
Jan 31, 2012
This CD features Finnish star soprano Soile Isokoski and her longstanding duo partner Marita Viitasalo, piano, with a selection of Lieder by Richard Strauss. Soile Isokoski is hailed as one of the finest singers in the world whose recordings have been praised as top-choice and garnered the highest distinctions at the BBC Music Magazine Awards, Gramophone Awards and MIDEM Classical Awards.
Strauss: Lieder / Soile Isokoski
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Ondine
Jan 31, 2012
ODE 1187-2
Salome
MYTO Historical
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Jun 04, 2011
Richard Strauss: Salome, Op. 54, TrV 215 (Live)
Salome
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MYTO Historical
Jun 04, 2011
MYTO00282
Strauss: Three Hymns; Opera Arias / Isokoski, Kamu, Helsinki Philharmonic
Ondine
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$14.99
Sep 25, 2012
Ondine is pleased to announce the new release of legendary Strauss-singer Soile Isokoski. A multiple award-winner, her recording of Strauss Four Last Songs won a Gramophone Award in 2002. The rarely recorded Three Hymns are coupled with opera arias from Ariadne auf Naxos, Der Rosenkavalier and Capriccio. All of those arias are part of Soile Isokoski's standard repertoire, performing those roles regularly at opera houses like Vienna State Opera, Covent Garden, and Milan’s La Scala.
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Strauss: Three Hymns; Opera Arias / Isokoski, Kamu, Helsinki Philharmonic
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Ondine
Sep 25, 2012
ODE 1202-2
STRAUSS, R.: Orchestral Songs, Vol. 2
Chandos
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$16.99
Feb 01, 1993
Classical Music
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STRAUSS, R.: Orchestral Songs, Vol. 2
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Chandos
Feb 01, 1993
CHAN 9159
Salome
Walhall Eternity Series
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$10.99
Jan 01, 2007
Classical Music
Salome
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Walhall Eternity Series
Jan 01, 2007
WLCD0201
Capriccio / Ursuleac Schock
Walhall Eternity Series
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Jan 01, 2004
Classical Music
Capriccio / Ursuleac Schock
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Walhall Eternity Series
Jan 01, 2004
WLCD0032
The Royal Opera Collection [DVD]
Opus Arte
Available as
DVD
$139.99
$104.99
Oct 22, 2021
This 18-opera collection displays the scope of The Royal Opera's work. From the sumptuous beauty of Richard Eyre's La traviata and the picturesque realism of John Copley's La bohème to the psychological intensity of David McVicar's Salome and Kasper Holten's Król Roger, the impressive collection spans more than two hundred years of great operatic works from the classical period to the present day. Featuring some of the company's most popular guest artists, including Renée Fleming, Jonas Kaufmann, Joseph Calleja and Diana Damrau, and conductors including The Royal Opera's Music Director Antonio Pappano, The Royal Opera Collection is a dazzling tour of operatic treasures by Mozart, Verdi, Bizet, Wagner, Mascagni, Leoncavallo, Puccini, Richard Strauss, Szymanowski, Britten and George Benjamin. This title is a re-packaging of The Royal Opera Collection (OA1244BD) at budget price, including the same content and booklet as the original release (which will be discontinued).
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The Royal Opera Collection [DVD]
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Opus Arte
Oct 22, 2021
OA 1337BD
Die Fledermaus (Sung In English)
MYTO Historical
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$10.99
Apr 01, 2009
Strauss: Die Fledermaus (1951)
Die Fledermaus (Sung In English)
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MYTO Historical
Apr 01, 2009
MYTO00253
Suter: Sämtliche Streichquartette
Musiques Suisses
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$20.99
Feb 25, 2014
Swiss composer Hermann Suter's works reflects that of the German late-Romantics of his era, including Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler, many of whom he conducted when posted in Basel. Suter's three great string quartets document different stations of his musical awareness, thereby revealing much of his artistic personality and of his intellectual world the Beethoven Quartet, founded in 2006 in Beethoven's home town of Bonn, is today based in Basel.
Suter: Sämtliche Streichquartette
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Musiques Suisses
Feb 25, 2014
MGB6279
HERBERT VON KARAJAN & BERLINER
Dynamic
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Jan 01, 2011
Japanese television captures Herbert Von Karajan as he leads the Berlin Philharmonic in his first Japanese concert performed at the NHK Hall, Tokyo on November 3rd 1957. In November 1957, while the Berliner Philharmoniker were on tour in Japan, Karajan proposed some of the best works in his repertoire, starting with the Prelude to Die Meistersinger by Wagner and continuing with Richard Strauss' Don Juan and Beethoven's Fifth Symphony - the "symphony" par excellence which he had on November 1954 for EMI with the Philharmonia Orchestra. The pieces include: Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, Act I: Prelude, Don Juan, Op. 20, TrV 156 and Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67. Starring Herbert von Karajan. Language: English
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