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Franz Lehár: Schön ist die Welt

Franz Lehár: Schön ist die Welt in Bloomington, MN
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The 1930 operetta
Schön ist die Welt
by
Franz Lehár
was a substantial reworking of a 1914 work called
Endlich allein
, with the plot retaining only its main detail of an Alpine snowstorm that strands its two principals in a hut. The music served yet a third plot, this one completely rewritten, in a 1957 German film musical. The operetta heard here must have seemed curiously anachronistic in the increasingly troubled world of the time with its element of arranged noble marriage. Yet
Lehár
, in late career by this time, clearly kept up with new developments. His orchestra has a lot to do; it is not clear whether he knew the music of
Jerome Kern
, but that is what comes to mind. The second act introduction and duet is pretty elaborate harmonically, and
's gift for great tunes did not fail him. Consider "Herzogin Marie" from the first act or the duet "In der kleinen Bar" from the third. This
CPO
recording is primarily aimed at German speakers; the booklet includes no text, and there is spoken dialogue that has been omitted in earlier recordings of this work but seems important to the experience. The singers from conductor
Marius Burkert
's circle at the Bad Ischl Festival in Austria have a fine grasp of
's idiom, and operetta enthusiasts, especially German-speaking ones, will find an offbeat item here. ~ James Manheim
Schön ist die Welt
by
Franz Lehár
was a substantial reworking of a 1914 work called
Endlich allein
, with the plot retaining only its main detail of an Alpine snowstorm that strands its two principals in a hut. The music served yet a third plot, this one completely rewritten, in a 1957 German film musical. The operetta heard here must have seemed curiously anachronistic in the increasingly troubled world of the time with its element of arranged noble marriage. Yet
Lehár
, in late career by this time, clearly kept up with new developments. His orchestra has a lot to do; it is not clear whether he knew the music of
Jerome Kern
, but that is what comes to mind. The second act introduction and duet is pretty elaborate harmonically, and
's gift for great tunes did not fail him. Consider "Herzogin Marie" from the first act or the duet "In der kleinen Bar" from the third. This
CPO
recording is primarily aimed at German speakers; the booklet includes no text, and there is spoken dialogue that has been omitted in earlier recordings of this work but seems important to the experience. The singers from conductor
Marius Burkert
's circle at the Bad Ischl Festival in Austria have a fine grasp of
's idiom, and operetta enthusiasts, especially German-speaking ones, will find an offbeat item here. ~ James Manheim