This new version of Strauss’s ribald 1901 comedy follows CPO’s fine recording of Intermezzo, which was released last year to mark the 150th anniversary of his birth. Like its predecessor, it derives from a Bavarian Radio production, and it uses the same conductor, Ulf Schirmer, and redeploys many of the same singers. Markus Eiche and Simone Schneider, exemplary as the feuding Storchs of the earlier set, are now cast, equally superbly, as the high-minded sorcerer Kunrad and the spirited burgomaster’s daughter Diemut, whose affair has to withstand both her wilful temperament and the hypocritical prudery of the local bourgeoisie before it can achieve its proper consummation. Unlike many interpreters, Schirmer is low-key and thoughtful, avoiding simplistic bawdry and admirably suggesting that the lovers’ sentimental education is as much about tenderness as what happens in the sack. The minor roles are variably sung, though Lars Woldt is suitably prissy as Diemut’s father and Wolfgang Schwinghammer has fun as a superstitious, busybody innkeeper.
