Schumann's Genoveva

[Sean]

This is thin stuff, beautiful or otherwise, similar to his Paradise und Peri & Scenes from Faust 1840s works- how the composer of some of the most intricate and fascinating piano music and greatest lieder could have such little feel for large scale vocal writing I'm not sure: some sort of clash with the German temperament?

[Superhorn]

 I'm not sure I agree with you about this. I'm familiar with Genoveva from the Masur/Leipzig recording on LP from many years ago, later on CD on Berlin Classics, and more recently,Harnoncourt on Teldec with the Chamber orchestra of Europe.
  It may not be as exciting on purely theatrical terms as say, Tosca, but it's still a pretty wonderful opera, and Schumann lavished some of his finest music on it. I have not seen the DVD version,also with Harnoncourt conducting, but would very much like to. This is not an opera which deserves oblivion by any means.
  Any one who loves Schumann's music should hear it, and opera fans in general,too.

[Sean]

I've had the Harnoncourt on loan and certainly feel the scale isn't justified either by the amount or quality of content, exquisite though it may be; the piece scarcely fits into the Weber-Lortzing-Marschner-Wagner tradition...