Customer Reviews

Keiser - Croesus / Röschmann, Trekel, Güra, Häger, Pushee, Jacobs

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

An absolute first rate production of a first rate baroque opera unveiled from obscurity after almost three centuries. A must buy for all discriminating lovers and scholars of musical drama. Rene Jacobs' masterful shaping of the period instrument orchestra is perfect from the very first note of the overture to the final chorus. The powerfully poetic libretto is treated by the great master composer from the Hamburg opera era of the early 18th Century, Reinhard Keiser. The singing by a brilliant cast could not be better. I have seen this history-making production live in Berlin, and the spacious sets and visceral period stage effects combined with all of the above helped to place a permanent milestone in my memory. You will never regret this purchase!

I am in total agreement with reviewer Holmes' review. It is a pity that following Keiser's death in 1739 almost all of his work was lost. I purchased this work because I had read somewhere that Keiser was Handel's teacher, and this work was produced by Rene Jacobs. Therefore I knew it would be a hit. This is superb music sung by absolutely great singers including one of my very favorites, Dorothea Roschmann. Anyone who is a lover of Baroque opera should have this work in his or her collection.

This is my first exposure to the music of Reinhard Keiser and I am impressed. I love Baroque opera, Handel and Vivaldi in particular, and if you do too you owe it to yourself to purchase this very reasonably priced example of exquisite and heartfelt music. Though the arias tend to be brief the music is so infectious that you hardly care. Since most operas are in Italian it's also nice to hear the German language sung as a welcome change of pace. And the singing is top-notch. The conductor Rene Jacobs seems to turn everything he touches into gold and this opera is no exception. If you're a fan of Baroque vocal music purchase this set of three CDs NOW!

From time to time, René Jacobs seems to outdo himself and he brings a work so vividly to life that the result is simply awesome. He did it with Monteverdi's Il ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria, Telemann's Orpheus, Cavalli's La Calisto and Giasone, Handel's Flavio and Rinaldo and Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro. Of course, many will be only too aware of the fact that René Jacobs is an inveterate fiddler and meddler with scores and, yes, there has been some invasion of Keiser's score here. However, the results are so impressive that these "muck abouts" are hardly worth commenting upon.

The cast of this recording is first class: Dorothea Röschmann, Werner Güra and Roman Trekel shine in particular, but all the cast is strong. Nice to see the famous Australian countertenor, Graham Pushee, in the cast, too. The RIAS-Kammerchor and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin make great noises. The period instrument orchestra is radiant throughout this recording. Keiser was a first class composer and I only hope more conductors are tempted to record his music in future. I can understand why Handel plundered and plagiarised Reinhard Keiser's music so often and so shamelessly.

This is a perfect recording of a Baroque opera. If you have any interest in Baroque opera at all, please consider this marvellous recording.

Just one word about the cover. We see a beautiful colour photograph from the stage production of this work. The whole package is excellent, apart from HARMONIA MUNDI's pointless "blurb" (a quote from a review) on the back cover, and this is how music like this should be presented.

With "Croesus" Renè Jacobs creates another masterful and delightful recording of an important Baroque opera, written by a wonderful but now forgotten composer. Reinhard Keiser directed and composed for the influential Hamburg public opera house from 1696 until 1707, and in his career is credited with writing about 80 operas, most of which are now lost. "Croesus" was one of his most influential and popular works. It was from Keiser that Handel got his chance to make a big splash with his first Italian opera ("Almira") in Hamburg, and after hearing this recording listeners will immediately detect the tremendous influence that Keiser had on the young Saxon. (Handel later borrowed many Keiser melodies and ideas for his own works). While the recitatives and arias are sung in German, the numerous arias, duets and ensembles (forty-four on 3 discs!) are a rich fusion of the Italian da capo style with the German preference for drama over vocal fireworks. Several arias are accompanied by horns as well as strings and woodwinds, a device Handel would later use to great effect in operas like "Rinaldo" and "Radamisto." Listeners will understand why Christopher Hogwood, in his 1984 biography of Handel, described Keiser as the "most gifted opera composer in Germany" because of his "sensitive flow of drama." Unlike operas in the Italian style, Keiser's music and arias are much more firmly matched to the action, and the arias emphasize feeling and emotion over vocal agility. The arias themselves are quite beautiful and melodic, and vary in length between a minute and a half and five or so minutes. Thankfully, the recording engineers separated the recitatives and arias on different tracks so that you can hear only the arias if you wish. Modern listeners who are put-off by Baroque opera because of counter-tenors in the leading roles and wild vocal improvisations will find much more to like in this recording. The male lead character is a baritone (sung by Roman Trekel), and Dorothea Roschmann sings the female lead ("Elmira") with deep and loving sensitivity... both singers are allowed to shine under Jacob's masterful direction. There is only one counter-tenor role: it is sung by the veteran Graham Pushee, and his voice fits well within Keiser's dramatic emphasis. There are numerous tenor, soprano, and baritone roles in the opera as well, all sung by gifted artists. There is not one weak or irritating voice in the lot! Another sparkling gem on this recording is the incidental music: the exciting overture (lots or horns and timpani here!), several ballets (the ballet of the soldiers is especially nice), and the use of almost modern-like use of the orchestra to provide sounds effects for the action. The opening of the second act features birds singing outside of a peasant hut, which are then slowly and gradually joined by the violins and recorders accompanying their songs, followed by a charming duet sung by a peasant woman and her husband which builds upon the previous melodies. Highly recommended, and a fantastic addition to anyone's collection!

I am a lover of Baroque Opera, particularly from the Italian School. If Keiser's opera wasn't sung in German, I would swear that I was listening to an 18th Century Italian Opera. The singers are uniformally wonderful and most of the arias are tuneful and catchy. A few of the arias are real standouts, and some of the orchestration is quite advanced for the period.

Although I would not include this work as one of my all time favorites, it is definitely worth hearing!