Great Comedy Overtures [TrackList follows]- Royal Scottish Nat. Orch./ Lance Friedel – Naxos audio-only Blu-ray

by | Aug 3, 2015 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

Great Comedy Overtures [TrackList follows]- Royal Scottish Nat. Orch./ Lance Friedel – Naxos NBD0043, 79:41 [4/14/15] *****:

This is the hi-res surround version of what Gary Lemco already reviewed as the original CD back in May. Never mind the various operas and operettas – this is all a very up, tuneful collection in brilliant orchestrations and well performed and recorded. Most of the overtures run seven or eight minutes. Henry Wood Hall in Glasgow was the recording venue. The opening overture to Herold’s Zampa is extremely dramatic, and it was great to hear a really good performance of the light-hearted Donna Diana Overture, which had been the theme of the afternoon program on the classical station where I got started in the radio business.

I can’t believe anyone wouldn’t prefer the excellent fidelity of even the stereo tracks on this audio-only Blu-ray to the 44.1/16 sonics of the CD version. Perhaps not quite as good as an SACD, but plays on any Blu-ray deck, and not more expensive in this case.

TrackList:

HEROLD: Overture to Zampa; NICOLAI: Overture to The Merry Wives of Windsor; WOLF-FERRARI: Overture to Il segreto di Susanna; THOMAS: Overture to Mignon; REZNICEK: Overture to Donna Diana; FLOTOW: Overture to Martha; AUBER: Overture to Fra Diavolo; LORTZING: Overture to Zar und Zimmermann; CIMAROSA: Overture to Il matrimonio segreto; ADAM: Overture to Si j’etais roi; CORNELIUS: Overture to Der Barbier von Bagdad

—John Sunier

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