Recording History
In 1909, Deutsche Grammophon released excerpts from Der Graf von Luxemburg on nine 78 rpm records, recorded by the original cast and conducted by Lehár himself. Since that time, there have been multiple recordings of the operetta (or its highlights) in its original German, as well as recordings of Russian, Spanish, Hungarian, English, and French versions. The English recording, conducted by Barry Wordsworth and released on the That's Entertainment label, was from the 1983 Sadler's Wells Opera production and features the original cast from those performances including Marilyn Hill Smith as Angèle and Neil Jenkins as René. Amongst the recordings of the French version are Decca's 1950s release with Gabriel Bacquier in the title role and EMI Pathé's 1960s highlights with Michel Dens as the Count.
Late 20th and early 21st century full length recordings of the Der Graf von Luxemburg in the original German include:
Franz Lehár: Der Graf von Luxemburg, Graunke Symphony Orchestra and Bavarian State Opera chorus
- Conductor: Willy Mattes
- Principal singers: Nicolai Gedda (René), Lucia Popp (Angèle), Renate Holm (Juliette), Willi Brokmeier (Armand), Kurt Böhme (Prince Basil), Gisela Litz (Countess Kokozow)
- Recording date: 1968
- Label: EMI 65375 (CD)
Franz Lehár: Der Graf von Luxemburg, Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra and Festival-Chor KlangBogen Wien
- Conductor: Alfred Eschwé
- Principal singers: Bo Skovhus (René), Juliane Banse (Angèle), Gabriele Bone (Juliette), Rainer Trost (Armand), Andreas Conrad (Prince Basil), Eva Maria Marold (Countess Kokozow)
- Recording date: 2005
- Label: CPO 7771942 (DVD)
Franz Lehár: Der Graf von Luxemburg, Festival Orchestra Mörbisch and Mörbisch Festival Choir
- Conductor: Rudolph Bibl
- Principal singers: Michael Suttner (René), Ruth Ingeborg Ohlmann (Angèle), Ana-Maria Labin (Juliette), Marko Kathol (Armand), Alfred Sramek (Prince Basil), Marika Lichter (Countess Kokozow)
- Recording date: 2006
- Label: Oehms, 570 (CD) ORF (DVD)
Read more about this topic: Der Graf Von Luxemburg
Famous quotes containing the words recording and/or history:
“He shall not die, by G—, cried my uncle Toby.
MThe ACCUSING SPIRIT which flew up to heaven’s chancery with the oath, blush’d as he gave it in;—and the RECORDING ANGEL as he wrote it down, dropp’d a tear upon the word, and blotted it out for ever.”
—Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)
“Every generation rewrites the past. In easy times history is more or less of an ornamental art, but in times of danger we are driven to the written record by a pressing need to find answers to the riddles of today.... In times of change and danger when there is a quicksand of fear under men’s reasoning, a sense of continuity with generations gone before can stretch like a lifeline across the scary present and get us past that idiot delusion of the exceptional Now that blocks good thinking.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)