King and Charcoal Burner (Král a uhlív), opera, B. 21/B. 42/B. 151 (Op. 14)
How many recordings of Dvorák's Král a Uhlír -- King and Charcoal Burner -- does anyone need? How many could anyone have? The work's only previous digital recording was a serviceable if uninspiring and drastically cut reading with Josef Chaloupka leading the Prague National Theatre Orchestra released in 1989 by Supraphon, and except among the hardest of hardcore Dvorák fans, it barely dented the international market. This live and much livelier 2005 recording with Gerd Albrecht leading the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln ...
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How many recordings of Dvorák's Král a Uhlír -- King and Charcoal Burner -- does anyone need? How many could anyone have? The work's only previous digital recording was a serviceable if uninspiring and drastically cut reading with Josef Chaloupka leading the Prague National Theatre Orchestra released in 1989 by Supraphon, and except among the hardest of hardcore Dvorák fans, it barely dented the international market. This live and much livelier 2005 recording with Gerd Albrecht leading the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln released on Orfeo in 2006 should do much better because it is much better: better performed, better conducted, better recorded, and, most importantly, nearly uncut.For those not already familiar with Dvorák's second and almost unpronounceable opera, Král a Uhlír is a Czech nationalist comedy version of the hallowed Romantic opera genre: the ruler who longs to embrace the simple but contented life of his people -- think Glinka's A Life for the Tsar or Lortzing's Zar and Zimmerman, or Paris...
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