Needs Audiophile Amplifier
Leslie Richford | Selsingen, Lower Saxony | 10/29/2004
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Seven overtures from the first half of the nineteenth century and one (Humperdinck's 'Königskinder') from half a century later is the programme of this 1988 CD from Bratislava in Slovakia. The first three, all by Carl Maria von Weber, are, for me, by far the most interesting. Their evocative horns and their conjuring up of mystery, hunting scenes and the world of the fairies ('Oberon') is both musically convincing and at the same time a demonstration of how far music had progressed in the quarter of a century since the all too early death of Mozart. The overtures by Marschner, Nicolai and Lortzing are all entertaining in their way and contain more or less obvious reminiscences of Weber's work; the Humperdinck seems a little out of place and has a definitely more 'modern' feeling about it.
Alfred Walter and the CSR Symphony Orchestra give a fairly spirited performance, in which the strings sometimes sound a little overstretched. I have owned this CD for some years now, but it was only after I obtained my present hifi equipment that I began to hear the quality of this music: the recorded sound is not brilliant (the listener being some way from the 'stage') and benefits no end from a powerful, audiophile amplifier. It would be interesting to hear this music in historical performance practice on period instruments."
Track Listings (8) - Disc #1
