Johannes Brahms' Die schöne Magelone, Op. 33, is unique in his oeuvre. It is not quite a song cycle, for the 15 poems set by Brahms, out of 18 by poet Ludwig Tieck, include three different narrators. The poems come from a novella, itself based on an old French romance about a princess, Magelone, whose intended, Count Peter, strays from her during his travels and falls in love with a Muslim girl named Sulima. Brahms' songs thus resemble settings of songs from Shakespeare's plays. They take a little bit of context to make ...
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Johannes Brahms' Die schöne Magelone, Op. 33, is unique in his oeuvre. It is not quite a song cycle, for the 15 poems set by Brahms, out of 18 by poet Ludwig Tieck, include three different narrators. The poems come from a novella, itself based on an old French romance about a princess, Magelone, whose intended, Count Peter, strays from her during his travels and falls in love with a Muslim girl named Sulima. Brahms' songs thus resemble settings of songs from Shakespeare's plays. They take a little bit of context to make sense fully, and they're often presented with connecting narration (available online in German for this recording, but apparently not in English). Someone might profitably mount or record a semi-dramatic presentation of the work; it would not be the long-hoped-for Brahms opera, but it would be something of the sort. All this explains why the work is rarely performed, but all this said, the songs are quite listenable in themselves, and they interestingly show Brahms in a rare mode where...
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Add this copy of Johannes Brahms: Die Schone Magelone to cart. $15.27, new condition, Sold by Importcds rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Sunrise, FL, UNITED STATES, published 2017 by Sony Classical.
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Add this copy of Brahms: Die Schöne Magelone to cart. $26.72, new condition, Sold by Revaluation Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Exeter, DEVON, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2017 by Sony Music Classical.
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