Fritz 19

A Fritz Kreisler recording can always be recognized by the violinist's beefy, baritonal sonority, inimitable portamento, and communicative warmth. Most of the repertoire here consists of the short, encore pieces that prevailed in the era of 78rpm records, many penned or arranged by Kreisler, who was always on the lookout for memorable tunes.

After Il Fortunato inganno and La Zingara, the Martina Franca Festival has revived another neglected masterpiece by Donizetti, Pietro il Grande o sia il Falegname di Livonia. First staged in Venice in 1819, this work met with good success and was performed until 1827. The silence that followed is justifiable only on account of the enormous success reaped by works such as Elisir d'amore, Don Pasquale and Lucia di Lammermoor, for in Pietro il Grande there is no lack of inspiration and Donizetti's creativity is, quite the opposite, generous and surprising.

Vocalist Fritz Wunderlich's legacy is an impressive quantity of recordings, from popular music to Operetta, German and Italian operas and German Lied, additionally he sang baroque and spiritual works.
This is glorious compilation of Mr. Wunderlich's astounding recordings. To my knowledge, this 10 CD box set has not been available in America. Here, as never before, we find most of the recordings being made when he was 26 years old! I highly recommend purchasing this for your collection!