The Merry Widow Arrives On 2-Disc Esoteric Hybrid SACD!
This album represents the sublime essence and sophistication of Lehár recorded by Herbert von Karajan with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO) at their prime. At long last, listeners can experience all the tracks of “Die Lustige Witwe” (The Merry Widow), in the ultimate sound quality of Esoteric's remastering via Super Audio CD/CD hybrid technology.
DG's First Operetta
As a label specializing in western classical music, Deutsche Grammophon (DG) took up the challenge of recording these popular operettas for the first time. Exceptional vocalists and orchestra flourish in these recordings with its beautiful sound, down to the finer points of a ‘live’ stage performance. These albums feature stunning acoustics that makes the listeners experience the depth of even the stage atmosphere and presence of the performers. ESOTERIC presents the world’s first re-mastered version of “The Merry Widow.”
The Recording Session
“The Merry Widow” was recorded in studio sessions that took place purely for the purpose of recording. It was very rare for Karajan to make a recording of an opera independently of a live performance because live opera performances and recordings were invariably carried out in conjunction at that time (Karajan never conducted this opera on an actual stage). René Kollo and Elizabeth Harwood were appointed as the two leading characters of this operetta. René Kollo was becoming prominent as a Wagnerian tenor vocalist at that time and sang in the role of Walther for Karajan’s 1970 recording of “Die Meistersinger von Nümberg” in Dresden prior to this recording. On the other hand, Elizabeth Harwood, the English soprano vocalist who was favored by Karajan, sang in the role of Musetta in the complete album of “La Bohème.” Besides these two, other roles were assigned to Karajan’s preferred vocalists including Teresa Stratas, Zoltan Kelemen (who sang in the role of Alberich in all tracks of Karajan’s “The Ring of Nibelung”), Werner Hollweg (tenor vocalist in Haydn’s “The Seasons”), Donald Grobe, and Werner Krenn. Together with these distinguished vocalists and the choir of Deutsche Opera Berlin, lead by the eminent choir director Walter Hagen-Groll, Karajan produced an operetta of ultimate sophisticated splendor.
Live on Stage vs Live Recording
In a live operetta performance on stage, there is often more prominence put on the stage performance and audience reaction rather than the finer points of singing and orchestra parts. But, in this album, the singing and orchestra parts were recreated meticulously so that the opulence of the music was manifest to listeners for the first time. The original DG recording has been regarded highly since its release as a most creditable masterpiece both in name and real terms as the first operetta recording ever made by DG who had had no prior experience with operettas since its founding. All the tracks of “The Merry Widow” were recorded over seven days in sessions that took place at the Jesus Christ Church in Berlin from 1972 to 1973. This album was one of the last recordings made at this church by Karajan and the BPO since their recording venue was moved to Berliner Philharmonic (BPO’s home concert hall) after March 1973.
The Hall
The Jesus Christ Church, located in the quiet suburb of Dahlem, served as broadcasting and recording venue after World War II because of its superb acoustics. DG produced many masterpieces at this church following the recordings made by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler and Ferenc Fricsay. DG’s distinguished tone meister Gunter Hermans, who had an in-depth knowledge of this church’s acoustics, was in charge of recording “The Merry Widow.” The famous opera director August Everding, who was an attendant at Hamburg State Opera at that time, was in charge of directing the dialogs of the performers. This masterpiece album was released on CD from the earliest days of digital recordings. This time, however, ESOTERIC has issued a Direct Stream Digital (DSD) re-mastering from a high sound quality master, allowing listeners to appreciate the sophisticated world of Lehár via a crystal clear and fresh sound even after all these years.
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