Notes and Editorial Reviews
Soldaten (or Soldiers) by Manfred Gurlitt (1890-1973), a three-act opera in a decidedly conservative vein (more Wagner and Strauss than Schoenberg and Berg), was composed in the late 1920s as a protest against the predations of the officer class of the ruling aristocracy--and by extension, the Nazis, who were on the rise at the time. This opera and one other cost Gurlitt his citizenship, forcing him into exile (but he went to Japan, of all places, and spent World War II there). The opera, here rendered in a heart-warming performance, is an easy-going affair of recitatives, chaconnes, and thematically charged laments to evoke sympathy for those reduced to poverty by the soldier class of Germany. The roles require no vocal gymnastics, nor are
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there any dry, spoken passages with no underscoring music. Gurlitt knew how to move a story along melodically, allowing no element to get lost in grandiosity (à la Wagner). Soldaten is understated, with fine performances by Michael Burt as Herr Wesener and Michelle Breedt as Frau Wesener, parents who try to keep their daughter Marie, played by Claudia Barainsky, out of trouble with a predatory paramour, Desportes, played by Thomas Harper. Gurlitt might have been a minor voice in German opera in this century, but his music definitely deserves significantly more than ordinary attention.
--Paul Cook, ClassicsToday.com Read less
Works on This Recording
1.
Soldaten by Manfred Gurlitt
Performer:
Thomas Mohr (Baritone),
Katherina Müller (),
Claudia Barainsky (),
Michelle Breedt (Mezzo Soprano),
Thomas Harper (Tenor),
Michael Burt (Bass)
Conductor:
Gerd Albrecht
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Berlin Radio Chorus,
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1928; Berlin, Germany
Language: German
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