Search - Leon Jessel, Willy Mattes, Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra :: Jessel: Schwarzwaldmädel

Another waltz dream...

Brett Farrell | Cape May, NJ USA | 01/09/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What an opera! It opens with a very beautiful march/prelude and then leads into a stunning waltz with an old choir master departing from his hymn playing on the Harmonium because of his young servant. They then meet young men of the city attempting to escape life in the city but city life follows them to the Black forest which is also the opera's translated name sake 'The black forest maiden'.

The whole piece is delightful with every number being as good or better then the one before. The recording also has a slight echo to it, a very very slight echo that almost makes the whole opera seem almost like a dream!

With this all star cast and Willy Mattes at the helm this production was bound to be a success.

This was Leon Jessel's only huge success. He would write other pieces that would keep his names alive but this is the only complete opera of his to hold acclaim.

His life was short lived however when he was brutally questioned by the Nazis in 1942. Their harsh treatment of him gave him phnemonia which killed him shortly after his release."