This recorded performance of Max von Schillings' opera Mona Lisa on CPO came hand in hand with a 1994 revival in the city of Kiel, where the composer had conducted a successful run of it starring his fiancée Barbara Kemp some 70 years earlier. Sessions for the album, which were made in long takes in order to preserve the "live" feel of the performances, were held during the day and the performances at night. This must have been an exhausting grind for the cast, but if so, they don't show any evidence of fatigue in the ...
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This recorded performance of Max von Schillings' opera Mona Lisa on CPO came hand in hand with a 1994 revival in the city of Kiel, where the composer had conducted a successful run of it starring his fiancée Barbara Kemp some 70 years earlier. Sessions for the album, which were made in long takes in order to preserve the "live" feel of the performances, were held during the day and the performances at night. This must have been an exhausting grind for the cast, but if so, they don't show any evidence of fatigue in the recording. Mona Lisa is a rare opera, but not a wholly new one to recordings -- a 1953 "historical" recording under Leopold Hager with Inge Borkh in the title role has been floating around for some time. Nevertheless, this CPO recording under Klauspeter Seibel is easily the best game in town. Though it is unlikely any of the singers' names will ring a bell, all of them do an outstanding job, as do the chorus and Kiel Philharmonic Orchestra, of making Schillings' operatic masterwork come...
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