Urspruch comic opera from Naxos

[Alan Howe]

Straight onto my wants list goes Anton Urspruch's comic opera The Most Impossible Thing of All (1897):
http://www.mdt.co.uk/urspruch-anton-das-unmoglichste-von-ensemble-israel-yinon-naxos-3cds.html

[petershott@btinternet.com]

I read some silly fellow somewhere on the web earlier today lamenting that he felt the glory days of Naxos were over. What utter piffle given releases such as this!

[britishcomposer]

I wonder wether they re-recorded the problematic passages or did some technical tricks. I remember Israel Yinon's interview while presenting the recorded performance at Deutschlandradio. He chose only a few scenes for broadcasting because the orchestra wasn't quite top-standard.

[eschiss1]

This is the same recording, I take it, that is or used to be in our downloads section? I'm glad it's being commercially released- Urspruch's music deserves wider distribution, I think.

[Alan Howe]

Note: it's on three CDs!

[eschiss1]

Seeing or being reminded of the English translation of the opera's title, by the way, I hope Urspruch will forgive me if I can't resist a chuckle, not meant at his expense- I expect it was wholly intended.

[BerlinExpat]

The broadcast version was cut, but Alan's link to MDT states "the first performance of the original, uncut version of the opera".
Three cheers for Naxos whether or not some bits are below standard. As a matter of fact Deutschlandradio Kultur do cut or trim operas other than the Ring that are too long for their Saturday evening opera slot. Of Siegfried Wagner's Der Schmied von Marieneburg, only selected scenes were transmitted. Recently Adam's Le chalet was transmitted from Bad Wildbad but the original (critical edition version) of Rossini's Guillaume Tell, not, because at five hours, it was too long! I'm confident Naxos will release that next year in their Rossini Bad Wildbad series and I guess that will be on four CDs.

[Alan Howe]

I'm not sure how good this recording is going to be - anyway, here are some audio excerpts:
http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Anton-Urspruch-Das-Unm%F6glichste-von-Allem/hnum/2770988

[Mark Thomas]

It'll have to go on the list, of course. In many respects Urspruch is an enjoyable and rewarding composer but this comic opera takes up three CDs, and I suspect that it'll illustrate what I feel to be his one big fault - his major works just go on too long and way outstay their welcome. Certainly that's the case with the Symphony and the Piano Concerto. We'll see, and I'll be happy to eat my words if necessary.

[Alan Howe]

I really like both the Symphony and PC, despite their length. Wish cpo would bring them out...

[Alan Howe]

I'm not sure about this opera: it's actually probably not my cup of tea (I'm rather allergic to German comic operas) and the whole thing sounds rather provincially done in this performance - scrawny-sounding orchestra, some second-rate singing, boxy, yet boomy recording, etc. However, I am convinced that Urspruch is a composer worth persevering with, so I shall have to set this aside for some serious (!) listening...

[Mark Thomas]

Hmmm, my copy has yet to arrive, but it already sounds as if it is going to live down to my expectations.

[Mark Thomas]

Oh dear. I can bear out what Alan says about the quality of the recording, playing and singing - they're all some way off Naxos' usually high standard. Not as poor as some Bongiovanni releases, but they don't make for a relaxing listen. As for the music, well, I wrote earlier that I'd eat my words if it didn't bear out my feeling that Urspruch's major fault was prolixity. My digestion is safe, however, as the work does indeed ramble on and on. Melodically it has some quite fetching moments, but many of its scenes go on far too long (despite often moderate to fast tempi), and Act II seems interminable. Urspruch's instinct for orchestral colour is unerringly good and his vocal lines are often grateful for the singers, but the work is beset by repetition. Although the opera isn't without drama, things, musically at least, don't seem to go anywhere most of the time and the impression one has is of a lot of musical and dramatic noodling. I've probably been too hard on Urspruch, and I'll readily admit to sitting down to listen in a mood of "go on then, convince me". Maybe a top notch performance, and some judicious editing, would result in a more convincing listen, but there was little in its 2¾ hours which made me sit up and take notice for more than a couple of minutes at a time.

[Alan Howe]

'fraid it's now gone to the bottom of my current listening pile. Reminds me of the dictum (not necessarily applicable in this case) that not all unsung music is worth the effort of excavation. Trouble is, one doesn't necessarily know before one digs...

[eschiss1]

Agreed.  (Just don't change the name of the group to "Please add (just) the following three composers to the repertoire" - well, speaking more generally and not personally one knows jaded explorers with that attitude too )