CDs >

Beecham conducts Smetana

Label SOMM Number SOMM-BEECHAM 14 Composer Bedrich Smetana Artist Sir Thomas Beecham / Royal Opera House Chorus / London Philharmonic Orchestra / Richard Tauber Instruments opera Availablity In stock Price: £20.00 including VAT at 17.5% £17.02 shipped outside the European Union

Smetana - The Bartered Bride (sung in German) with the Chorus of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham.

This live recording was made on 1st May 1939 under difficult conditions, before the age of tape. No allowance could be made for cast movement on stage and there are some small passages missing. Nevertheless it is an important record of the occasion.

The cast for this historic performance included Hilde Konetzni, Richard Tauber, Fritz Krenn, Heinrich Tessmer and Mary Jarred. The circumstances surrounding the performance were highlighted by the pending war with Germany and the fact that Hitler had already marched into Czechoslovakia. Beecham had been prevented from conducting a performance by the Dresden Opera and it is telling in his response that the cast for the Smetana included Nazi, Jew, Teuton, Briton and Slav!

As the Daily Telegraph music critic Richard Capell wrote The principle of the performance seemed to be the moral, whether true or false, that art has no frontiers

This CD is released in collaboration with the Sir Thomas Beecham Trust in support of the Scholarship Fund.

Tracks on this CD

Smetana The Bartered Bride - Act I
1.	Overture
2.	Seht am Strauch die Knospen springen! (Chorus) - See how the buds are opening on the shrubs
3.	Sprich mein liebes Herz (Hans, Marie, Chorus) - Tell me, my dear heart
4.	Zum Tanze rufen sie mich (Marie, Hans) - They ask me to dance
5.	Gem ja will ich Dir vertrauen (Marie) - Oh yes, I would like to trust you
6.	Sage, was Dich von Haus fort (Marie, Hans) - Tell me what takes you away from home
7.	Mit der Mutter sank zu Grabe (Hans, Marie) - Mother took it to her grave
8.	Alles ist so gut wie richtig (Kezal, Kathinka, Kruschina) - Everything is nearly right
9.	Freilich! Den Tobias Micha kannt' ich (Kruschina, Kezal, Kathinka) - Of course, I knew Tobias Micha
10.	Gekommen wär' er mit mir wie gerne (Kezal, Kathinka, Kruschina) - He would have liked to come with me
11.	Seht, da Kommt sonder Ahnungn (Keal, Kathinka, Kruschina, Marie) - Look, here comes without foreboding
12.	Mit Hans bin ich vereint! (Marie, Kruschina, Kathinka, Kezal) - I am one with Hans
13.	Durch die Reihe hin zu fliegen! (Chorus) - Through the rows flying
Smetana The Bartered Bride - Act III
14.	He, Hans! Gesegnet, wer liebt und auch vertraut (Kezal, Marie, Hans) - Oh, Hans Blessed is the one who loves and also trusts
15.	Kommen wir gerne (Ensemble) - Come, let's go

Back to CDs

Customers who bought this also bought:

	Beecham conducts Offenbach CD of Sir Thomas Beecham conducting a performance sung in English of Offenbach's <b>The Tales of Hoffmann</b>
	A Century Of English Song, Volume 3 CD of songs by Gurney, Warlock and Quilter, performed by Sarah Leonard, soprano, Jonathan Veira, baritone and Malcolm Martineau, piano