SIMON MAYR (1763-1845): Le due duchesse.

Description: Mayr nurtured a fascination with the chivalric stories of medieval England. This 1814 opera semiseria with buffa elements, is set during the reign of the 10th-century King Edgar. Huntsmen’s and Knights’ choruses and troubadour-like songs give great vivacity to a score that is both lyrical and dramatic. Mayr’s compound of Viennese Classicism and Italianate melodic beauty, allied to his ambitious writing and a skillful libretto, produced an important and influential opera couched in his own unmistakable idiom. 2 CDs. Italian-German libretto available online. Eun-Hye Choi, Tina Marie Herbert (sopranos), Young-Jun Ahn, Markus Schäfer (tenors), Jaegyeong Jo (bass), Simon Mayr Chorus and Members of the Bavarian State Opera Chorus, Concerto de Bassus; Franz Hauk.