Erkel: Hunyadi László

 Opera no 91

Erkel: Hunyadi László

Soloists

Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra

Domonkos Héja

I was very impressed by Erkel’s Bank Ban in last year’s project (https://andrew365newpieces.blogspot.com/2025/07/erkel.html) and said that I was looking forward to hearing more of his music. So I was glad today to listen to this second opera of his. It is less well known than the (comparatively) famous Bank Ban- it is mainly remembered today because Lillian Nordica made a very-well regarded aria from the opera in the earliest days of recording - I listened to that again after hearing this recording - it makes quite an impression.

The opera has everything that one wants and expects from a mid 19th century nationalist opera. Plenty of drama, with good tunes and local colour. Early Verdi is perhaps the most prominent influence but there are plenty of coloratura passages which sound more like Donizetti. The more overtly nationalist elements in the score do sound to my inexpert ear authentically Hungarian but more than once I was reminded of Johann Strauss - not the waltzes but some of the fast music. It is a reminder that Austria and Hungary are geographically close and of course were politically aligned during the 19th century. 

Auber: La Siréne

Opera no 87

Auber: La Sirène

Soloists

Orchestre des Frivolités Parisiennes

David Reiland

If you had to name one composer to sum up opera comique it would probably be Auber, He more or less made the genre his own and over a long period produced dozens of works. While few of these have retained anything other than a toe hold in the repertory the overtures to several of them became mainstays of light music concerts.

I’d not hear this opera before. My initial reaction was one of surprise - indeed I thought for a moment that I had put the wrong CD into the player. For all the world this sounded like quite solemn early German romantic music which might have come from the pen of Mendelssohn. But normal service was soon resumed  and the opera was full of the characterist verve and lyricism that we might expect from an Auber opera. He must have been able to turn out reams of this sort of music almost in his sleep, but every piece of his that I have heard has a freshness and liveliness which leaps of the page. It was mostly great fun, with some outrageous coloratura near the end, but there was also a really beautiful lyrical duet to remind us that Auber was not all about ‘rum-it-tum’. 

Flotow: Alessandro Stradella

Opera no 60

Flotow: Alessandro Stredella

Soloists

Bavarian Radio Orchestra and Chorus

Heinz Walberg

Flotow is known almost exclusively for Martha, although that opera has now itself virtually faded from view. Alessandro Stradella is the only other of his operas to have any lasting success - it was performed quite extensively in the decades after its first production.

I didn’t know what to expect. From the opening I imagined that we were going to get something in the German romantic tradition of Weber and early Wagner, with horns very much to the fore. But after a while it settled down into a rather lighter style which , like several of the operas in this part of the project, shows just how strong the influence of Singspiel still was in German at the time. But there was also more than an hint of Italian Buffo , particularly in the ensembles. The music was pleasant enough without being particularly memorable but some of the harmony was fairly crude and there were some awkward gear changes in places. So a real curiosity this time and I can’t imagine that this opera will ever be staged again.