Yvonne Kenny, Michael Roider, Mojca Erdmann, Karl Michael Ebner, Slovak Philharmonic Choir and Radio Symphony Orchestra - Kalman: Csardasfurstin (Die) (The Gypsy Princess) (2005) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist

CD1
01. Die Csardasfurstin (The Gypsy Princess): Vorspiel
02. Die Csardasfurstin (The Gypsy Princess): Act I: Lied: Heia, heia, in den Bergen ist mein Heimatland (Sylva, Boni, Feri and Chorus)
03. Die Csardasfurstin (The Gypsy Princess): Act I: Marsch: Alle sind wir Sunder (Boni, Feri, 8 men)
04. Die Csardasfurstin (The Gypsy Princess): Act I: Duett: Sylva, ich will nur dich (Sylva, Edwin)
05. Die Csardasfurstin (The Gypsy Princess): Act I: Lied: Aus ist's mit der Liebe (Boni, 8 women)
06. Die Csardasfurstin (The Gypsy Princess): Act I: Lied: O, jag' dem Gluck nicht nach (Sylva, Edwin, Boni, Feri)
07. Die Csardasfurstin (The Gypsy Princess): Act I: Finale I: Ich, Edwin Ronald
08. Die Csardasfurstin (The Gypsy Princess): Act II: Entr'akt
09. Die Csardasfurstin (The Gypsy Princess): Act II: Tanzwalzer: Erstrahlen die Lichter (Chorus)
10. Die Csardasfurstin (The Gypsy Princess): Act II: Schwalbenduett: Ich warte auf das grosse Wunder (Stasi, Edwin)
11. Die Csardasfurstin (The Gypsy Princess): Act II: Duett: Heller Jubel (Sylva, Edwin)

CD2
01. Die Csardasfurstin (The Gypsy Princess): Act II: Quartett: Liebchen, mich reisst es (Sylva, Stasi, Edwin, Boni)
02. Die Csardasfurstin (The Gypsy Princess): Act II: Duett: Madel, guck (Stasi, Boni)
03. Die Csardasfurstin (The Gypsy Princess): Act II: Duett: Tanzen mochte ich (Sylva, Edwin)
04. Die Csardasfurstin (The Gypsy Princess): Act II: Finale II: Das Gluck wohnt uberall
05. Die Csardasfurstin (The Gypsy Princess): Act III: Intermezzo
06. Die Csardasfurstin (The Gypsy Princess): Act III: Terzett: Nimm, Zigeuner, deine Geige (Sylva, Boni, Feri)
07. Die Csardasfurstin (The Gypsy Princess): Act III: Duett-Reminiszenz: Madel, guck (Stasi, Boni)
08. Die Csardasfurstin (The Gypsy Princess): Act III: Schlussgesang: Tausend kleine Engel (Sylva, Stasi, Edwin, Boni)
09. Der Zigeunerprimas, "Sari": Der Ziguenerprimas: Dorfkinder
10. Der Zigeunerprimas, "Sari": Der Zigeunerprimas: Vive le roi
11. Die Faschingsfee: Die Faschingsfee: Hollaho, hollaho, wir kommen zurecht
12. Das Hollandweibchen (A Little Dutch Girl): Das Hollandweibchen: Lockend soll ertonen Dir ein feurig Lied
13. Der Teufelsreiter: Der Teufelsreiter: Grand Palotas de la Reine


The English title of Kálmán's most celebrated operetta is a misnomer. The heroine is a princess not of gypsies but (as the German title, DieCsárdásfürstin, indicates) of the csárdás; she's a Budapest cabaret-singer in love with a young aristocrat. Its score shows Kálmán at his most fluent, with a succession of gloriously tuneful hit numbers that mix spicy Hungarian rhythms with the more graceful strains of the Viennese waltz.
Individual numbers have often been committed to disc, but complete recordings have been much less frequent. Yet to appreciate the overall structure of Kálmán's operetta scores you really need to hear his elaborately constructed act finales, in which musical reprises are interspersed with passages of dialogue and melodrama.
Apart from sensibly reducing the opening orchestral flourishes from three to one, Bonynge typically gives us total fidelity to what Kálmán actually wrote. He brings out to the full Kálmán's highly charged rhythms, every detail of the exotic orchestration, and the contrasts of mood between the fiery big numbers and the moments of melancholy and sadness in the Acts 1 and 2 finales. Among a wholly admirable cast, Yvonne Kenny provides the vocal strength, fire and beauty required by the title role. A wonderful bargain.

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