Lehar Merry

Franz Lehár was known as “the last waltz king”, so it’s not surprising that his works in the medium bear similarities to those of the Strausses, qualities most readily heard in the suave, luxuriously appointed Wild Roses (or “Valse Boston”). However, Lehár also was a strongly original voice whose harmonic and textural experiments resulted in the striking Debussyian whole-tone scales toward the end of Altwiener Liebeswalzer (“Old Vienna Love Waltz”), or the Wagnerian snarling horns at the start of the Grützner Waltz.

Franz Lehár was known as “the last waltz king”, so it’s not surprising that his works in the medium bear similarities to those of the Strausses, qualities most readily heard in the suave, luxuriously appointed Wild Roses (or “Valse Boston”). However, Lehár also was a strongly original voice whose harmonic and textural experiments resulted in the striking Debussyian whole-tone scales toward the end of Altwiener Liebeswalzer (“Old Vienna Love Waltz”), or the Wagnerian snarling horns at the start of the Grützner Waltz.

The great Renée Fleming stars as the beguiling femme fatale who captivates all Paris in Lehár’s enchanting operetta, seen in a new staging by Broadway virtuoso director and choreographer Susan Stroman (The Producers, Oklahoma!, Contact). Stroman and her design team of Julian Crouch (Satyagraha, The Enchanted Island) and costume designer William Ivey Long (Cinderella, Grey Gardens, Hairspray) have created an art-nouveau setting that climaxes with singing and dancing grisettes at the legendary Maxim’s. Nathan Gunn co-stars as Danilo and Kelli O’Hara is Valencienne. Sir Andrew Davis conducts.

The Lehar hits are a predictable overture/waltz selection, but the performances by Janos Sandor and the Budapest Philharmonic are ideal, ablaze with color and striking rhythmic elasticity (the Budapest rubato is more daring than the Viennese). Sandor programs the standalone concert-waltz masterpiece GOLD UND SILBER as well as rarer selections from FRASQUITA and EVA, and in the PAGANINI extract there's a stellar violin solo played by Istvan Tamas. These performances are so wholly within the authentic Lehar idiom that I rank them alongside the reference standards conducted by Paulik, Boskovsky and Lehar himself. Sandor (1933-2010), it turns out, was born to do this.

Franz Lehar - Fata Morgana: Suites, Dances, Intermezzi
Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin / Michail Jurowski
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 248 MB | Full Artwork: 67 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Geffen # 060251714264 | Country/Year: Germany 2003
Genre: Classical | Style: Late Romantic, Early 20th Century, Operetta, Waltz

"…Lehár also was a strongly original voice whose harmonic and textural experiments resulted in the striking Debussyian whole-tone scales toward the end of Altwiener Liebeswalzer ("Old Vienna Love Waltz"), or the Wagnerian snarling horns at the start of the Grützner Waltz. (…) All pieces receive expert and enthusiastic performances by the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra under Michail Jurowski, and CPO's warm, vibrant, and fully-present sound enhances a thoroughly enjoyable program." ~classicstoday.com

Lotfi Mansouri's spectacular last production as General Director of San Francisco Opera with Yvonne Kenny making her debut in the title role, new dialogue specially commissioned from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Wendy Wasserstein, and an original ballet to set the scene Chez Maxim's, bringing fresh insight into Lehár's classic operetta.