Weber (2021)

This little (53-minutes-plus) album commemorates the 200th anniversary of the premiere of Carl Maria von Weber's Der Freischütz in 1821. This is not an event on the order of the Beethoven anniversary of 2020, but the opera, and indeed everything on this album, was a hit in premieres and remained in the mental repertory of most German listeners until relatively recently. There are performances of these works that place one more in the middle of operatic action than these clean, rather cool readings by conductor Christoph ... Read More

This little (53-minutes-plus) album commemorates the 200th anniversary of the premiere of Carl Maria von Weber's Der Freischütz in 1821. This is not an event on the order of the Beethoven anniversary of 2020, but the opera, and indeed everything on this album, was a hit in premieres and remained in the mental repertory of most German listeners until relatively recently. There are performances of these works that place one more in the middle of operatic action than these clean, rather cool readings by conductor Christoph Eschenbach, leading the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. However, this set of pieces, which works perfectly well as an introduction to Weber, has uniquely satisfying qualities. It was recorded at the Konzerthaus Berlin, formerly the Theater an Gendarmenmarkt, where Der Freischütz had its premiere. It would be hard to conceive of a venue more idiomatic to the music, and the players of the Konzerthausorchester have this music in their bones. Eschenbach opens with a somewhat less common item,... Read Less