Sunday Afternoon at the Opera - Strauss: Waldmeister

Sunday Afternoon at the Opera host Keith Brown writes:

Mention the word "operetta" and automatically we all think Viennese operetta, especially the music of "The Waltz King", Johann Strauss II, and his immortal Die Fledermaus, or maybe also "The Gypsy Baron"--works of the Golden Age of Viennese operetta in the second half of the nineteenth century. Strauss wrote a dozen operettas, actually, and recordings of these lesser known Viennese light operatic works have gone over the air on this program over the years, especially on Sundays in August.

Waldmeister (1895) premiered at Vienna's prestigious Theater an der Wien and was a considerable success. Composer Johannes Brahms and the eminent music critic Eduard Hanslick attended on opening night. Both of them admired this operetta. Numbers from the score were extracted and turned into popular dance tunes. In the twentieth century the work was broadcast from Berlin during the pre-Nazi era of the Weimar Republic. The plotline of Waldmeister bears some resemblance to Fledermaus. The world premiere recording of Waldmeister (ie. "Forest Master") was made in Sofia, Bulgaria for release through Naxos Records in 2021. Dario Salvi leads the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, with a cast of eight vocal soloists.