Festival Orchestra Mörbisch, Rudolf Bibl - Strauss: Nacht in Venedig (2002)

This recording of Johann Strauss II's Eine Nacht in Venedig is a part of a series of operettas presented by Seefestspiele Mörbisch, or, in English, The Mörbisch Lake Festival, on the Oehms Classics label. Although an opera historically considered as "a failure," Eine Nacht in Venedig has nonetheless racked up an impressive number of recordings. Unfortunately, this performance by Seefestspiele Mörbisch is not one of the better ones. It starts well enough, with a sparkling account of the overture provided by the Festival Orchestra Mörbisch under Rudolph Bibl and some fine, enthusiastic singing, particularly from baritone Christian Baumgärtel as the Duke's Barber. At the end of the Quartet "Alle maskiert," however, things go painfully awry when one of the sopranos grabs for a high note and misses it in a shocking moment one simply can't believe was left in the recording as finished. From that point on, it's all downhill. While the cast bravely puts on the best face it can under the circumstances -- and does succeed in bringing things through to a professional, if not particularly inspired close -- the remainder of the recording is plagued with little flaws. Some swallowed notes here, some sour intonation in the orchestra there, occasionally bad ensemble dynamics among the soloists elsewhere, the chorus making a sheepish entrance somewhere else, and so on.
This recording was made at the same time as five other operettas. When one tries to cram as much into a session as was done here, with the object being to complete and market several different products simultaneously, one is bound to produce with a weak sister. And that is what Oehms Classics' recording of Eine Nacht in Venedig is, a sub-standard recording the quality of which is not even at the moderate level of the others in the Seefestspiele Mörbisch series. While it may be the least expensive recording of Eine Nacht in Venedig available, take caution; while it comes short of being a "train wreck," it comes perilously close to what some particularly jaded opera fanciers refer to as a "party record."