Humperdinck: Der Blaue Vogel (Concert Version Ed. S. Tast) Classical Orchestral & Concertos Capriccio

Humperdinck: Der Blaue Vogel (Concert Version Ed. S. Tast)

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C5 0506

Humperdinck: Der Blaue Vogel (Concert Version Ed. S. Tast)

Label Catalogue Number:
C5506

Running Time: 01:27:34

Release Date: October 2022
Originally recorded in 2021

Genre:
Classical
Orchestral & Concertos

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About

In 1908, Maurice Maeterlinck wrote his play The Blue Bird (L’Oiseau bleu). Having proved a good source of operatic subjects before (Pelléas et Mélisande, Ariane et Barbe-Bleue), it is no surprise that composers jumped at the opportunity to write music to this latest. The French composer Albert Wolff made an opera of it that, though premiered at the MET, has since been forgotten. But even before that, in 1912, Max Reinhardt put it on as an adapted Christmas play in Berlin and he had none less than Engelbert Humperdinck write the incidental music to it. The music was never published until Steffen Tast found the score and salvaged it for us to hear. A sweet story and sweeter still music by Humperdinck newly discovered? Why, that’s in and of itself as though it was Christmas!

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Reviews

***** Coup de cœur

Exceptional Album

Yannick Millon – Classica magazine (France) – July/August 2023

“… Ravishing music in superb performance.”

Em Marshall-Luck – Spirited Magazine 2023 (Issue 23) – June 2023

“…Tetzlaff is enchanting in his narration and really draws one into the story; Tast leads the Berlin Radio Symphony and Chorus with a sure hand that never becomes heavy or cloying. Capriccio had the good sense to include a second CD that contains an orchestral suite drawn from the score if you don’t want to listen to the narration… The sound is rich and clear, easily transporting one to a fairy tale world where anything is possible.”

David Reynolds – American Record Guide – March/April 2023

“… richly atmospheric orchestral score …” ****

Jeremy Pound – BBC Music Christmas magazine (Brief Notes section) – Christmas 2022

“… The fairy-tale subject inspired Humperdinck to write a truly beautiful music. The texts were reworked for this recording by narrator Juri Tezlaff and conductor Steffen Tast. Tetzlaff tells the story very sensitively and forces one to listen. Steffen Tast conducts the orchestra and choir with no less inspiration, resulting in a quite charming Christmas story that will delight young and old alike. A 2nd CD features Seven Symphonic Pictures from the incidental music, the most beautiful pieces of this score without the accompanying narration.” *****

Remy Franck – Pizzicato.lu – 26 October 2022

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