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Anyone storing up ideas for a parlor game of "What's the Silliest Opera Plot Ever Conceived?" should take note of Strauss' 1927 collaboration with Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Die Ägyptische Helena. The plot picks up after Homer wisely lets things rest, with Menelaus' and Helen's ship ride home after the Trojan War. The story involves various potions for forgetting and remembering, and Menelaus' intent to kill Helen, which he never gets around to, although he does murder someone else, but it doesn't matter because the couple ends up happy by the finale. And who could forget an opera whose major character is The Omniscient Mussel? It's easy to see why the librettist originally conceived of it as a comedy, and perplexing that he decided to make it into a serious romantic opera. Not surprisingly, the libretto didn't elicit the composer's most sublime outpourings. There's a lot of lyrical meandering and there are many rapturous or anguished outbursts, but there's not much memorable or substantial for the listener to hang onto. It's hard to make all of this sound like anything meaningful or genuinely moving, and Joseph Keilberth, leading the Bavarian State Opera Orchestra and Chorus, does his darndest, but to little ultimate effect. The set is valuable primarily as a record of Leonie Rysanek's warm and radiant singing. The sound of the live 1956 performance is murky and distant, and the orchestra sometimes overpowers the voices.
© TiVo
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Richard Strauss, Composer, MainArtist - Annelies Kupper, FeaturedArtist - Joseph Keilberth, Conductor - Ira Malaniuk, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2006 Opera d'Oro (P) 2006 Opera d'Oro
Richard Strauss, Composer, MainArtist - Joseph Keilberth, Conductor - Bernd Aldenhoff, FeaturedArtist - Leonie Rysanek, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2006 Opera d'Oro (P) 2006 Opera d'Oro
Richard Strauss, Composer, MainArtist - Annelies Kupper, FeaturedArtist - Joseph Keilberth, Conductor - Ira Malaniuk, FeaturedArtist - Bernd Aldenhoff, FeaturedArtist - Leonie Rysanek, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2006 Opera d'Oro (P) 2006 Opera d'Oro
Richard Strauss, Composer, MainArtist - Annelies Kupper, FeaturedArtist - Joseph Keilberth, Conductor - Ira Malaniuk, FeaturedArtist - Leonie Rysanek, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2006 Opera d'Oro (P) 2006 Opera d'Oro
Richard Strauss, Composer, MainArtist - Annelies Kupper, FeaturedArtist - Joseph Keilberth, Conductor - Bernd Aldenhoff, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2006 Opera d'Oro (P) 2006 Opera d'Oro
Richard Strauss, Composer, MainArtist - Joseph Keilberth, Conductor - Bernd Aldenhoff, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2006 Opera d'Oro (P) 2006 Opera d'Oro
Richard Strauss, Composer, MainArtist - Annelies Kupper, FeaturedArtist - Joseph Keilberth, Conductor - Bernd Aldenhoff, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2006 Opera d'Oro (P) 2006 Opera d'Oro
Richard Strauss, Composer, MainArtist - Annelies Kupper, FeaturedArtist - Joseph Keilberth, Conductor - Bernd Aldenhoff, FeaturedArtist - Leonie Rysanek, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2006 Opera d'Oro (P) 2006 Opera d'Oro
DISC 2
Richard Strauss, Composer, MainArtist - Joseph Keilberth, Conductor - Leonie Rysanek, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2006 Opera d'Oro (P) 2006 Opera d'Oro
Richard Strauss, Composer, MainArtist - Joseph Keilberth, Conductor - Bernd Aldenhoff, FeaturedArtist - Leonie Rysanek, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2006 Opera d'Oro (P) 2006 Opera d'Oro
Richard Strauss, Composer, MainArtist - Joseph Keilberth, Conductor - Hermann Uhde, FeaturedArtist - Richard Holm, FeaturedArtist - Bernd Aldenhoff, FeaturedArtist - Leonie Rysanek, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2006 Opera d'Oro (P) 2006 Opera d'Oro
Richard Strauss, Composer, MainArtist - Joseph Keilberth, Conductor - Bernd Aldenhoff, FeaturedArtist - Leonie Rysanek, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2006 Opera d'Oro (P) 2006 Opera d'Oro
Richard Strauss, Composer, MainArtist - Annelies Kupper, FeaturedArtist - Joseph Keilberth, Conductor - Leonie Rysanek, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2006 Opera d'Oro (P) 2006 Opera d'Oro
Richard Strauss, Composer, MainArtist - Annelies Kupper, FeaturedArtist - Joseph Keilberth, Conductor - Hermann Uhde, FeaturedArtist - Leonie Rysanek, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2006 Opera d'Oro (P) 2006 Opera d'Oro
Richard Strauss, Composer, MainArtist - Annelies Kupper, FeaturedArtist - Joseph Keilberth, Conductor - Hermann Uhde, FeaturedArtist - Bernd Aldenhoff, FeaturedArtist - Leonie Rysanek, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2006 Opera d'Oro (P) 2006 Opera d'Oro
Richard Strauss, Composer, MainArtist - Annelies Kupper, FeaturedArtist - Joseph Keilberth, Conductor - Bernd Aldenhoff, FeaturedArtist - Leonie Rysanek, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2006 Opera d'Oro (P) 2006 Opera d'Oro
Richard Strauss, Composer, MainArtist - Annelies Kupper, FeaturedArtist - Joseph Keilberth, Conductor - Hermann Uhde, FeaturedArtist - Bernd Aldenhoff, FeaturedArtist - Leonie Rysanek, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2006 Opera d'Oro (P) 2006 Opera d'Oro
Album review
Anyone storing up ideas for a parlor game of "What's the Silliest Opera Plot Ever Conceived?" should take note of Strauss' 1927 collaboration with Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Die Ägyptische Helena. The plot picks up after Homer wisely lets things rest, with Menelaus' and Helen's ship ride home after the Trojan War. The story involves various potions for forgetting and remembering, and Menelaus' intent to kill Helen, which he never gets around to, although he does murder someone else, but it doesn't matter because the couple ends up happy by the finale. And who could forget an opera whose major character is The Omniscient Mussel? It's easy to see why the librettist originally conceived of it as a comedy, and perplexing that he decided to make it into a serious romantic opera. Not surprisingly, the libretto didn't elicit the composer's most sublime outpourings. There's a lot of lyrical meandering and there are many rapturous or anguished outbursts, but there's not much memorable or substantial for the listener to hang onto. It's hard to make all of this sound like anything meaningful or genuinely moving, and Joseph Keilberth, leading the Bavarian State Opera Orchestra and Chorus, does his darndest, but to little ultimate effect. The set is valuable primarily as a record of Leonie Rysanek's warm and radiant singing. The sound of the live 1956 performance is murky and distant, and the orchestra sometimes overpowers the voices.
© TiVo
About the album
- 2 disc(s) - 17 track(s)
- Total length: 02:16:33
- Main artists: Richard Strauss
- Composer: Richard Strauss
- Label: Opera d'Oro
- Genre: Classical Opera
(C) 2006 Opera d'Oro (P) 2006 Opera d'Oro
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