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Leo Blech: Alpenkönig und Menschenfeind

(The Alpine King and the Misanthrope) Opera
Collett · Saemundsson · Opernchor Aachen · Sinfonieorchester Aachen · CHRISTOPHER WARD

2CD-Set · C5478 PC: 22 UPC: 845221054780

Around 1902 Leo Blech nabbed the subject of the “original romantic-comic magic” play by Viennese theater manager/actor/playwright Ferdinand Raimund, had it streamlined, and turned it into his fifth opera. A cantankerous misanthrope terrorizes family and servants with his paranoid mistrust. He’s only cured when faced with his own behavior courtesy of supernatural role reversal. Highbrow opera meets folksy farce with unexpectedly gorgeous, splendidly orchestrated music somewhere between Wagner and Humperdinck. The premiere at the Dresden Court Theater was a sensational success. Then all of Blech’s music was banned and once the Nazi horror was over, it never came back. Now you can hear what we missed.

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