Friends may be interested to hear that Goldmark's opera Merlin is due out shortly:
http://www.mdt.co.uk/MDTSite/product//PH09044.htm (http://www.mdt.co.uk/MDTSite/product//PH09044.htm)
Thanks, Alan, this sounds yummy. Hope the recording/performance does the work justice. I've always had a soft spot for 'The Queen of Sheba' and yearned for 'The Cricket on the Hearth' (wouldn't that make a nice Christmas alternative to the endless 'Hansel and Gretel's?)
Can't wait.
David
The Queen of Sheba is my absolute favourite unsung opera. Wonderful - and the Hungaroton recording of it is wonderful too.
To my mind, Merlin is just as good as The Queen of Sheba. Goldmark was clearly good at these Wagnerian operatic extravaganzas. I have a radio recording of the Trier production in 1997 and for me it's real wallow territory. Great news that it's coming out as a commercial recording.
Some extracts are now available at jpc (http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/SESSIONID/8dfbc077578a05336aa7239b147eb510/classic/detail/-/art/Karl-Goldmark-Merlin/hnum/3675439).
It's a highly dramatic opera - but with a fatal weakness: no big tunes. For this reason alone it's inferior to The Queen of Sheba IMHO. However, it may be more original...
What timing. I got my copy Thursday, and listened to Merlin last evening, and parts again this morning. Great opera? No, but enjoyable nonetheless. Goldmark was certainly a composer of his era, and the music shows it. Alan identifies the problem: no big tunes to stick in the head. And an opera of this length needs it. Still, it's well orchestrated, and a good way to spend an evening. It's in the stack of 2nd rate operas with Schwanda, Queen of Sheba, The Dead City, and other interesting operas. I'm just glad to have been able to hear it. Next request is Cricket on the Hearth.