Fritz Wunderlich; Ingeborg Hallstein; Naan Pöld; Hertha Töpper; Jean Cook; Karl Christian Kohn; Max
Release Date: 04 November 2022
Label: Orfeo
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 3
Barcode: 4011790476032
Composer/Series: Georg Friedrich Händel
Description
Re-release of C476983. This 1962 production of Xerxes was based on Rudolf Steglich’s 1958 edition, which closely follows the autograph score housed in the British Museum and uses a new German translation. The roles of Xerxes and Arsamenes, originally written for castrato sopranos, are here taken by tenor voices.
As regards the orchestral direction, Rafael Kubelík favours a reserved, rather than overblown, string sound and adopts discreet vibrato, Baroque terraced dynamics and tempo relationships that avoid extremes. For today’s listeners, therefore, his interpretation falls midway between the productions based on Oskar Hagen’s arrangement, which largely reflected a romantic interpretation of the Baroque, and the current period-sonority versions.
The star cast features Fritz Wunderlich, Naan Pöld, Hertha Töpper, Jean Cook, Ingeborg Hallstein, Carl Christian Kohn and Max Pröbstl, demonstrating how high the standards of opera production were at the time.
Dunja Vejzovic; Martin Egel; Werner Hollweg; Reid Bunger; Olga Sandu; Wolfgang Witte; Robert Riener
Fritz Wunderlich; Ingeborg Hallstein; Naan Pöld; Hertha Töpper; Jean Cook; Karl Christian Kohn; Max
Szerying/Br So/Kubelik
Müller-Schott/Schuch
London/Bavarian Radio So
Helen Donath, Regensburger Domspatzen, Munich Radio Orchestra, Kurt Eichhorn
Helen Donath, Janet Perry, Alexander Malta, Nikolaus Hillebrand, Paul Hansen, Claes H. Ahnsjo, Raim
Gielen/Orf Vienna Rso
