Mayr: Rediscovered
Label: Opera Rara Catalog: ORR244 Format: CD Between 1794 and 1824, Bavarian-born Johann Simon Mayr (1763-1845) composed over sixty operas. Admired for his fusion of Italianate melody with Germanic harmony and instrumentation, he is a consummate craftsman whose music explores the psychology of his characters with deeply satisfying thoughtfulness - as this absorbing selection of excerpts attests. Best remembered for his 1813 Medea in Corinto (ORC 11), much of his output enjoyed great success and was widely heard in its day. From 1803, Giovanni Simone (as he preferred to call himself) held the post of "maestro di cappella" at Bergamo's great Romanesque basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore (where one of his pupils was Gaetano Donizetti). Notable for his purity of melody and a careful use of instruments chosen for their timbre and color, Mayr was also praised by Louis Spohr for having "if not so much imagination as Rossini, yet, certainly, more knowledge and aesthetic feeling." Prepare to be moved and surprised! Price: $21.98 |