Die Entfuhrung as dem Serail 1958 - Bonus: excerpts with Teresa Stich-Randall Milan 1953

This is a fine, lively performance in startlingly good sound for its time (1958). The Milan orchestra plays with spirit and a fair degree of precision and there are excellent contributions from Hefliger, Frick and Strich-Randall and the less wellknown- Rosl Schwaiger, a pert and characterful Blonde, and Herbert Handt as Pedrillo. I love Stich-Randall's voice, though it has to be said that a couple of times, most uncharacteristically, she is below the very high notes the part of Konstanze demands. I can live with this, but some may not be able to! Peter Maag became a noted Mozart conductor and you can see why here - the score is managed with great assurance, tempi are well judged in relation to each other and there is both sparkle and lyricism. In short, it is a very good version of this marvellosu opera. As an attractive bonus, we have Stich-Randall, Emmy Loose, Petre Munteanu and Mario Carlin in some excerpts from the same opera, recorded five years earlier in Milan, and sung in Italian.