Johann Simon Mayr: Fedra

Mayr (Composer), Schaller (Conductor), Staatsheaters Braunschweig (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Staatsheaters Braunschweig
• Conductor: Schaller
• Composer: Mayr
• Audio CD (June 30, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Oehms
• ASIN: B0021JLRC8
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #416,702 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Fedra, opera: Sinfonia

2. Fedra, opera: Ah di Trezène

3. Fedra, opera: Cari amici! Il fato, udite

4. Fedra, opera: Dagli occhi piove

5. Fedra, opera: Per quell' Adon, che amasti

6. Fedra, opera: D'Atide in sen gli affanni tuoi

7. Fedra, opera: Compagno, amico, addio

8. Fedra, opera: Assistetelo, o Dei

9. Fedra, opera: M'attendi, o padre

10. Fedra, opera: Sappi che sotto

See all 14 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Fedra, opera: Ai patri lari

2. Fedra, opera: Sereno è il cielo

3. Fedra, opera: Del tuo duolo

4. Fedra, opera: Sol che Ippolito parli

5. Fedra, opera: Io conosco

6. Fedra, opera: Fra due rivali affetti

7. Fedra, opera: Ebben, Tesèo... scegliesti?

8. Fedra, opera: Questo è l'acciar

9. Fedra, opera: Conosci tu questo ferro?

10. Fedra, opera: Soffrirei senza lagnarmi

See all 15 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Get It For The Work, June 30, 2009

By 

James S. Eisenberg - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Johann Simon Mayr: Fedra (Audio CD)

This is a fine opera. It is both noble in language and highly entertaining. Mayr clearly always thought about the meaning of the texts he was setting and despite adherence to most of the "convenienze" (one thinks most immediately of a 'travesti' hero) , this is a convincing operatic drama. Mayr's orchestral harmonies and choral writing are rich and rewarding. The title character is the best drawn in the opera, and her psychological twists and turns are convincing and surprisingly modern. Complex characters with a nasty edge, such as Phaedra, Medea, and Athaliah seemed to bring out the best in the composer. Speaking of Athaliah, Mayr's ATALIA (1822) shares a final scene with FEDRA. Although the harmonization and orchestration is different the three principal melodies that form the final scenes of Fedra and Atalia are identical ! (It is a pity that the fine performance of ATALIA on the Guild label, starring the sensational American Mezzo Rebecca Martin is lost in some kind of legal limbo.)
Now to the performance. Capucine Chiaudani in the title role is very uneven. If you go to You Tube , you will find really fine performances of scenes from OTELLO and TOSCA from her. What is wrong here is that the part lies uncomfortably low. It is really a mezzo-soprano role, and although she makes a conscientious effort with the coloratura, this is clearly not her 'fach'. Much of the singing here is very strained, but she is an appropriately strong dramatic presence,
The rest of the cast makes a more rounded impression. Luckily, the two other large roles, Teseo and Ippolito are superbly handled by Tomasz Zagorski and Rebecca Nelsen respectively. The smaller roles are very strongly cast.
Gerd Schaller is the excellent conductor. He keeps things moving but also provides lovely detailing.
The sound recording is excellent, although there are a lot of extraneous stage noises in this live performance.(Applause omitted.)
There is a libretto in Italian only.
Although not really relevant to the recording, the photos of the stage production in the booklet and on the cover look like the very worst sort of deconstructionist drivel. Apparently this is the way things are in the German opera houses these days. The staging looks awfully ugly !

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Real Winner, December 15, 2011

By 

John Cragg (Delta(greater Vancouver), B.C Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Johann Simon Mayr: Fedra (Audio CD)

Fedra was Mayr's penultimate opera. It is a fascinating work, marked by a wide assortment of differently paced pieces, from the majestic to (almost) patter pieces. There is a lot of imagination and innovation his writing. Though he has come a long way from his classical roots and now is clearly part of early romantic music, Mayr remains remarkable for the comparatively rich orchestration and pronounced use of the orchestra, especially the wood winds, as part of the drama rather than just accompaniment. Mayr clearly continued to learn from his contemporaries and incorporates some of their best tricks in his music, but he also seems to have been a solid influence on many of his contemporaries, so that a passage you might suppose is derived from another composer suggests on comparing dates that Mayr is the influence rather than the influenced. It seems to me indicative that the score of this opera was found in Verdi's estate. Overall, this is exciting, fascinating music that repays repeated listening richly; it is not just of academic interest. It is full of tunes and motifs that run through one's head long after the end of the last disc. This is first-class music and deserves to be much better known.

The present production is very solid. One suspects that Mayr wrote the title role for a remarkable soprano (or mezzo) with a very wide range, and Capucine Chiaudani is rather tasked by some of the music. She has a rather harsh voice, but that is entirely appropriate (though quite counter to the bel canto aesthetic that was already in vogue when the opera was written) since Phaedra is not a very sympathetic character. The orchestra and chorus are more than adequate and the recording is very good for a live performance -- given away by some stage noises. The booklet contains the libretto in italian, but it does have a synopsis in English, not linked to the tracks.

Listening to this production, I am struck again about how sad it is that Mayr's works are not in the repertoires of leading opera companies