Search - Markus Kohler, Franz Lehar, Johannes Goritzki :: Lehár: Der Sterngucker [Hybrid SACD]

Lehar at his most romantic!

Brett Farrell | Cape May, NJ USA | 06/29/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"`Der Sterngucker' is Lehar's most romantic sounding operetta. It reminds me musically of `Fruhling' but it is more sweepingly beautiful. Right from the very beginning you want to get up and waltz around the room and your desire to do so never stops until well after the CD has stopped. Every piece is lush and gorgeous and takes you back to Weimar Germany (At least the romantic vision of it anyway).

It is sad that this was not very popular when it was first released because it is one of my favorite Lehar operettas. It's the story of man and his failed romantic adventures. The music is always stunning, even the two re-admitted songs scored only with piano. Every piece sparkles and I know that I often write that a piece sparkles but any good operetta must sparkle. It must the musical definition of a glimmering star or else it would certainly not posses the necessary qualities of operetta. Too serious and it's an opera, to comical and it's opera-bouffe. It must sparkle and be charming and make you gently sway in time to it. Der Sterngucker never fails in any of those accounts. It is continuously brilliant.

This recording is top notch as to be expected of CPO and the singers are the best. I could not imagine anybody doing it better. Its recorded with out dialogue and as a bonus the overture to Lehar's one act `Rosenstock und Edelweiss' is included at the end. Perhaps one day CPO will release this Operetta in total. With their love of Lehar I would not be surprised.

I highly recommend this album to any one who is a Lehar admirer, operetta fan, or just wants to get a taste of bygone Weimar Germany.

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