Horneman Aladdin

[Alan Howe]

No, not just the (splendid and exciting) overture, but the whole opera - forthcoming from Dacapo:
http://www.agoraclassica.com/reviews/magazine/3/7

[Mark Thomas]

This recording is now scheduled for release by DaCapo on 6 May this year, but available on streaming services now. More details here.

[Alan Howe]

Excerpts here:
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9322630--c-f-e-horneman-aladdin

[Alan Howe]

I'd be very suprised if this didn't turn out to be the operatic discovery of the year. It's wonderfully well played and conducted - and the title role is beautifully sung by the excellent young (not yet 30 year-old!) Danish tenor, Bror Magnus Tødenes.

[tpaloj]

...until the premieres of Raff's Samson and Eifersüchtigen later this year, I'm sure you meant to say, Alan?  That said, this really is a great performance and well worth listening more than once!

[Alan Howe]

I'd forgotten about Raff's Samson. Will it be out this year, though?

[Mark Thomas]

No, neither it nor the hoped-for (but not yet confirmed) recording of Die Eifersüchtigen will be out until next year.

[Alan Howe]

A clear run for Aladdin this year, then?

[Mark Thomas]

There's still seven months to go, don't write off the rest of the year just yet.

[Alan Howe]

Indeed. It'd be great to encounter another unsung opera.

[Justin]

The wedding scene in Act III, Scene 25 where they all sing "Besegl den Pagt" is absolutely brilliant choral work. Horneman's greatest strength as evident in Aladdin is his writing for the chorus, where he has a system comprised of 10 different singing lines.

I'm amazed by how someone could imagine and compose such beautiful music, making all the different pieces fit seamlessly. Perhaps I am just musicially illiterate, but it makes all the more sense to me why this opera brought Horneman much trouble for nearly forty years. The overture was premiered in 1865, and the final opera revision wasn't until 1902.

In my opinion, it is refreshing to hear music that is meant for beauty and sereneness, without the need for dramatic effect everywhere. Perhaps this doesn't please some people but it is a nice change of pace. The greatest Danish opera that I have heard.

[Maury]

Thanks for alerting me to this composer. I'm enjoying his String Quartet 1 via utube at the moment and the snippets I heard of Aladdin seem promising. Speaking for myself I didn't come to this site expecting great unknown symphonies as that is a very specialized talent. Chamber music is a much more level playing field and even good operas can get pushed off the stage because of the relatively small repertoire the opera audience wants to go to. So I'm happy already with 2 new discoveries of Emilie Mayer and C F Horneman.