A fourth Raff opera, Dame Kobold (https://www.raff.org/catalogue/catalogue_vocal.html#op.154), is due to be recorded in October, for release on a major label probably late next year. It's a comedy, based on Calderón's famous farce La Dama Duende and was his most successful foray into the medium, enjoying a respectable run when it was staged in Weimar in 1870. Of Raff's six operas, Benedetto Marcello has been available for a few years, Samson was released earlier this year and Die Eifersüchtigen comes out next next month, so the arrival of Dame Kobold on the shelves next year will leave only König Alfred and Die Parole to be recorded. Who'd ever have thought it?
Quite so. Amazing.
I really want to hear König Alfred, though...
Looking forward to this. I am not usually a big listener to overtures but Raff's Dame Kobold overture (Jarvi) is quite delightful. Any word on the projected cast?
Yes, but not that I can share in any detail at present I'm afraid: the studio recording will feature a Czech orchestra and the principals are all well-regarded German soloists in the early years of their careers. The conductor is a familiar name who has made many recordings in recent years for the label. I'll be going to the sessions and I hope to be able to share more after that.
Thanks for the update. And I hope things turn out well.
Quote from: Alan Howe on Tuesday 27 August 2024, 19:15Quite so. Amazing.
I really want to hear König Alfred, though...
On page 19 of the booklet for the new Naxos recording of Die Eifersüchtigen, there is a little promo for the Edition Nordstern series of Raff operas. Of the four available (Die Eifersüchtigen, Bendetto Marcello, Dame Kobold, Samson) three have been recorded and the other is on the way. Listed in preparation are Die Parole, Dornröschen (a fairytale oratorio), and König Alfred. Dare we hope as these become available recordings may follow? A few years ago the idea would have seemed implausible. Now, anything seems possible.
To the best of my knowledge, there are no definite plans to record any of those three works in the near future. That said, if we are lucky enough to see another recording of a major vocal work eventually, my money would be on Dornröschen (Sleeping Beauty). It was written around the same time as Samson and was lavishly praised by Liszt and other contemporaries for its innovation and beauty.
A quick report from the recording of Dame Kobold in Mariánské Lázně (Marienbad), which began this week and so far sounds very promising. The West Bohemian Symphony Orchestra are about 40 strong but make an excellent full sound in the Casino Hall's precise acoustic. First in the bag was the Overture, directed by conductor Dario Salvi, a familiar name to us, who clearly understands the pace Raff requires and is meticulous in observing the score's metronome marks..
That's also reflected in the full opera scenes recorded so far with the young cast, all of whom are making their commercial recording debuts, and making an impressive start of it. The romantic leads are Lara Rieken (Donna Angela, sop.) and Gustav Wenzel Most (Don Manuel, ten.), with Julia Surushkina (sop.) and Lukas Krimmel (bass bar.) as their servants Beatrice and Rodrigo and Matthias Lika (bar.) as Angela's over-protective brother, Don Juan. To my ears each of them sounds in fine voice and there's good differentiation between the voices. The choir has only a small part to play in Dame Kobold and their scenes will be recorded tomorrow.
On this showing, I'm confident that this recording will join that of Samson in being a first class showcase for Raff's operas. As a comedy, it's a very different work: light, lyrical and full of verve but, unlike Die Eifersüchtigen, with plenty of drama. It should be available on Naxos/Marco Polo sometime next year.
Excellent news - thanks, Mark. How's Marienbad? Sounds rather lovely...
It is. Very German still, even 106 years since the fall of Austria-Hungary.
I presume there's no German spoken there, though?
Smetana wouldn't have it any other way. And he says it's "Mariánské Lázně".
Quite so. As far as I know, the ethnic German population was expelled after WW2.
Indeed but, because the town is a spa, awash with German visitors taking the Kur, German is spoken everywhere and the Euro is universally accepted, even though Czechia retains its own currency. Fascinating, but not as fascinating as Raff's Dame Kobold, which is why I'm here after all!
And we look forward to further reports on the recording in due course. Thanks in advance.
Mr Thomas,
Thanks very much for your dedication and hard work on behalf of these neglected composers. Hope the recording earns your full satisfaction.
Thanks, Maury, but this time around I'm not the prime mover of the project. All credit must go to Volker Tosta of the publisher Edition Nordstern, who has taken the lead on this one.
So far so good. We'll see how the choir does today....
...and they turn out to be really very good. About 30 strong, well rehearsed, good control of dynamics and enunciation. Their German pronunciation, I'm told, is "good enough". So, a result. Hearing soloists, choir and orchestra at speed and at close quarters is really exciting!
Yes: from my one experience of following a recording project while it was being made, I can imagine how you must be feeling.
Thanks for the exciting update.
A final report - recording finishes today. So, what about the music? As sections are recorded piecemeal, not consecutively as they occur in the opera, it's not possible to get anything more than an impression of the work's character. Although the Overture doesn't share any of the opera's material, it's a very good guide to what one can expect. The whole piece absolutely fizzes, it's fast-paced with lots of comedic drama (Offenbach come to mind), it's awash with classic Raff melodies, although there are some stretches of the parlando that one finds to a greater extent in Benedetto Marcello and even more in Die Eifersüchtigen. The orchestration is gloriously inventive and the musical atmosphere immensely varied.
Standout moments are a pair of scatty, fast duets shared by the sopranos and a gorgious Gounod-esque waltz aria for Angela (beautifully sung by 23 year old Lara Rieken), Manuel's Act I aria and Act III romance, and most of all a meltingly lyrical trio for Angela, Manuel and Rodrigo - the list could go on. All are Raff as I guarantee you've never heard him. The two roles of Rodrigo and Juan have fewer headline moments, but are very characterfully drawn - the former impressionable and superstitious, and Juan overbearing and gruff. Maestro Salvi directs the recording with real authority and an obvious understanding of what Raff wants.
Overall, my impression of Dame Kobold is that it's a really fun and gloriously lyrical piece which will show us a completely new side to Raff's musical character - the contrast with Samson couldn't be greater, but it's as impressive an achievement in it's own way. I might come to regret being so relentlessly positive, but it's difficult to think how it's recording premiere could be bettered.
When I return home I'll see if I can post some videos or sound clips from the recording.
This is standard recording style for tv, so shouldn't necessarily be a problem :)
It's not a problem for the recording process of course - it's standard practice - but it makes it difficult to gain an overall impression of the artistic whole if you're hearing unconnected takes over three days.
Makes sense, yes. :)
Here's a YouTube playlist (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN0F6bhre2Y&list=PLkuTsGumxCu4t55H2x2Rfte-qF6av_Rm8&pp=gAQBiAQB) with a collection of very rough videos of last week's recording sessions of Dame Kobold. They're of various takes from seven of the numbers. In most, probably all, cases not the take which will be used in the final recording. I hope they give an an idea of the style of the opera, the quality of Raff's writing, and also what the recording sessions were like. The sound quality of the finished recording will be very much better, of course.
The seven videos are:
The Dance Divertissement No.2 (https://youtu.be/YN0F6bhre2Y)
Donna Angela's waltz aria (https://youtu.be/iRKgZ4qTDrk)
A trio for soprano, tenor & bass (https://youtu.be/T6AdzKxgU3U)
The first duet for the two sopranos (https://youtu.be/rRq2_SDdPzQ)
The second duet for the two sopranos (https://youtu.be/RUFxgOEd1X0)
Don Miguel's Romanze (https://youtu.be/WUh3NvXhyQY)
The trio for tenor, baritone and bass (https://youtu.be/qxJc9_fBZeM)
Many thanks, Mark. Some marvellous music here - and very well sung by these young soloists, by the sound of it. Have you any idea when the recording will be released?
The master tape should be with Naxos by mid December and Naxos' usual lead time, depending on what they've already in their release schedule, is 9-10 months, so my guess us around this time next year.
Yes, I was delighted with the quality of the soloists, all 30 or under. They all deserve to do well, but one to watch, I think, is Lara Rieken, only 23. There are several videos of her on YouTube and she's a singer of real presence and ability.
I was too optimistic when predicting the release date of Dame Kobold. I understand it won't be until April next year.
Quote from: Mark Thomas on Monday 30 June 2025, 16:18I understand it won't be until April next year
Well worth the wait, though.
Hear, hear! A splendid prospect, judging by the excerpts.
(https://www.raff.org/otherpix/Raff_Dame_Kobold.png)
Naxos 8.660619-20 - due out on 10 April 2026.
Excerpt from the overture from this recording:
https://soundcloud.com/naxosmusicgroup/866061920-cd1-track01-excerpt (https://soundcloud.com/naxosmusicgroup/866061920-cd1-track01-excerpt)
I remember when none of Raff's operas were recorded and many were unpublished except in (un-messy) manuscripts. Feels like this is most of them now, and I feel like applauding...
Audio excerpts from each track here (https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9844223--raff-dame-kobold-op-154).
How wonderful. Utterly delightful.
I finally released my copy from the shrink-wrapped prison that it's been languishing in since its arrival and treated myself to an operatic matinee, libretto in hand (or, more accurately, on screen). This is a wonderful release, with excellent performances all around captured in full-bodied but transparent sound. The orchestral details are clear and the voices are pleasantly integrated into the sound picture without being unnaturally prominent.
Reading the notes I was struck by Raff's awareness of the cost of an operatic production, producing a budget-pleasing work that requires only a minimal cast and recyclable scenery. The only caveat? The weak libretto, which, if not much worse than the typical opera buffa, feels as recycled as the scenery Raff conceived. It's utterly generic, with only the character names changed and new music provided. I once joked that it would be funny if writers used generic titles in the same way as composers of absolute music (Horror Novel #9, by Stephen King; Naturalist Drama #3, by Henrik Ibsen); here we have what could have been called Raff's Comic Opera #1.
The weak libretto, however, is something shared by many an opera, so it's the sort of defect we almost take for granted. Raff, to his credit, has clothed it with delightful music and Naxos has given it to us in excellent performances with great sound. It's a winner.