The second volume in this series (Volume1is on 8.574005) continues to explore little-known examples of Auber’s elegant and refined operatic music. Julie was his first...

The second volume in this series (Volume1is on 8.574005) continues to explore little-known examples of Auber’s elegant and refined operatic music. Julie was his first stage work, its fantasia-like beauty foreshadowing the operas, opéras-comiques and lyric dramas to come. Striking melodies and haunting episodes abound in these overtures and entr’actes, and there is restrained yet fragrant Iberian color in the overture to Léocadie. The Violin Concerto is lightly scored and gentle, with a tarantella-like finale full of folk vitality.

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REVIEW:

This disc concentrates on Auber's early career between 1805 and 1829, going back to his first opera, Julie, ou L’Erreur d’un moment, where the orchestral scoring could be just for an enlarged string quartet. At the other end of the spectrum, in Fiorella from 1826, he was in competition with Rossini and requires a much more fulsome orchestra. We then move into the world of serious opera in 1824 with Leocadie. The Violin Concerto poses no major problems for Marketa Cepicka, a ‘song-like’ quality in the first two movements concluded by a suitably frolicking dance finale. The playing of the Czech orchestra is first rate for the Scottish/Italian conductor, Dario Salvi, the musicologist who is unearthing these long forgotten scores.

– David's Review Corner (David Denton)