Weber: Euryanthe
Sheet Music

SKU: NX.NI7969

By BBC Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Beryl Hatt, Bryan Balkwill, Frans Vroons, Joan Sutherland, Kurt Bohme, Lloyd Strauss-Smith, Marianne Schech, and Otakar Kraus. By Carl Maria von Weber and Helmina von Chezy. Classical, Opera. Classical. Listening CD. Prima Voce Editions #NI7969. Published by Prima Voce Editions (NX.NI7969).

UPC: 710357796920. Conducted by Fritz Stiedry.

Despite the (mainly traditional) cuts, this 1955 BBC broadcast is treasurable. Not only does it feature Joan Sutherland's touchingly pure and limpid Euryanthe - a role she only sang this once - but it also extends the small discography of Frans Vroons, in a lyric-heroic role which could have been written for him. Marianne Schech and Otakar Kraus are matchless villains, Kurt Bohme a comfortable King. Yet perhaps the performance's prime virtue is the candescent conducting of Fritz Stiedry. His visionary readings of the familiar Overture and the desolate Prelude to Act 3 are heightened by unusually good broadcast sound, captured by the late Richard Itter on state-of-the-art equipment. This thrilling Euryanthe fully vindicates Weber's - and Chezy's -achievement.

About Listening CDs

Listening CDs are traditional music recordings. Listening CDs make a great educational supplement - hear exceptional professionals play the music you're learning! Or, just enjoy listening to the music you love.