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Finally A Complete Leo Fall Operetta!

lleard | Philadelphia, PA USA | 10/04/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The silver age of operetta produced three great composers in this genre: Lehar, Kalman and Fall. While Lehar and Kalman have become standard fare, poor Fall is practically unknown to most people. His major works were hailed to be as good if not better in some cases, than his peers. He has always been one of my favorite composers of operetta. At one time there were highlights recordings of his works made in the fifties and sixties on LP, but they are now long gone.



We finally have a complete recording of one of his hit shows: Die Kaiserin (1915). The recording stars Anny Schlemm, a well known operetta and Mozart singer of the fifties and sixties. The tenor here is one I am not familiar with, though he is very good, Franz Fehringer. The score has terrific waltzes "Da Tanzen Schritt fur Schritt" being my favorite. Also there is the sentimental and lovely "Du, mein Schonbrunn" and the a delightful duet for the comic couple "Wollen Sie mein Begeiter sein."



This recording was made at a time when dialogue was done by actors. The sound difference from music to dialogue is uneven, with dialogue being somewhat louder than the music. The producers have very kindly inserted chapter stops for music and dialogue so you can leap from one great song to another, or sit back and enjoy the full experience. I should add that the liner notes are in German only.



A treat is the second disc filler of excerpts from Fall's Die fidele bauer. The recording of Die Kaiserin was made in 1953 and Die Fidele bauer in 1954.



Let us hope this is the first of many Leo Fall issues. We need complete recordings of Die Dollarprinzessin; Madame Pompadour and my favorite of them all Die Rose von Stambul before we can have a true picture of this neglected composer.

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