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Franz von SUPPÉ (1819-1895) Die Schöne Galathée (The Beautiful Galathea)
- a mythological satire in one Act(1865)
Jörg Dürmüller (tenor) … Pygmalion;
Marianne Beate Killand (mezzo) … Ganymede;
Klaus Häger (baritone) … Mydas;
Eleonore Marguerre (soprano) … Galathea;
Christian Brückner … Narrator
ChorWerkRuhr, Capella Coloniensis/Bruno Weil
rec. Kulturzentrum, Herne, Germany, 13-14 November 2005
Notes in German, English, French. CAPRICCIO
60134 [71:22]
The sparkling overture contains two lovely
melodies that are deftly woven into an impressive stand-alone
piece of which any composer would be proud. Why this never
became one of the popular overtures of its day like Zampa and The
Crown of Diamonds I cannot understand. It is by far superior
to Suppé’s best known, yet immaturely
heavy, Poet and Peasant overture written 19 years
earlier. By the 1860s Austria had been captivated by the
French style of operetta and in particular by works that
had come from the pen of Jacques Offenbach. Suppé set
out to impress his fellow Austrians and deliberately challenged
Offenbach with this operetta, and for it produced his finest
music. The trio, “Hinaus! Au weh!” [tk 9]
where Pygmalion (a sculptor) orders out his rich patron after
stealing a
forbidden look at the beautiful statue, Galathea is
a superb example of excellent composition. One can detect
more than a passing hint of Offenbach’s style in this and
the later, “Hellim Glas” [tk 19].
In this live performance, the soloists provide
us with a good standard of singing. I particularly like Marianne Beate Killand when she charms us
with the Offenbachian “Wir Greichen” [tk 15]
and her silky mellowness. Eleonore Marguerre is
a pleasantly lyrical and pure-toned soprano. As Galathée,
she handles her portrayal with delicacy and in the delightful
romance “Was sagst du?” [tk 13] adds poignancy to widely flowing phrases. Here, and
in the opening chorus [tk 3], Bruno
Weil conducts with much care and sensitivity, and teases
out of the score some nice subtleties. Pygmalion (Jörg Dürmüller)
is a strong yet light tenor who shines and contrasts well
with the others in the score’s rich ensembles. Mydas (Klaus
Häger) is not given a lot of opportunity to display a wide
spectrum of voice, but from his ariette, “Meinem Vater Gordios” he
contributes well.
The issue of this recording brings back memories
of a rare British staging of this operetta at the Buxton
Festival in 1999, with its haunting opening chorus, charming
ensembles and vivacious stage activity. As with Weber’s equally
short Oberon, it is a mistake to include German narration
in an international recording. With worldwide sales expected,
one surely cannot satisfy more than 25% of its potential
buyers. This said, I consider that the lines of dialogue
are delivered with impact and immediacy. I should add that
no disturbances from the audience are evident in the recording.
Microphone cover for the singers is not always
ideal, as found with Mydas’s ariette, “Meinem Vater Gordios” [tk 5] where the singer is recessed. The orchestra on the
other hand is perfectly balanced throughout with a warm acoustic
and a melodramatic pizzicato richly delivered. Good notes and full lyrics are
provided in the three languages.
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