EUGEN D'ALBERT (1864-1932): Der Golem.
Catalogue Number: 12M004
Label: MD&G
Reference: 937 1637-6
Format: CD
Price: $39.98
Description: If you're expecting a creepy, expressionistic horror-film atmosphere given the subject matter, you'll get it in this 1926 work, D'Albert's next-to-last completed opera. Dark and highly chromatic yet with hints of throw-back Wagnerian romanticism, it serves the story well (the rabbi's foster-daughter teaches the Golem to speak and wants to marry it; the rabbi's understandable horror and refusal triggers the creature's destructive fury) and one can understand why it was a popular hit in the "decadent" Weimar Republic. 2 CDs. German libretto. Mark Morouse (baritone), Alfred Reiter (bass), Tansel Akzeybek (tenor), Ingeborg Greiner (soprano), Chorus of Theater Bonn, Beethoven Orchestra Bonn; Stefan Blunier. SACD hybrid.