Once again, Carl Orff's Der Mond, but this time in its first commercial recording* (which was the one I got to know the work with in my teens), conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch.

Moved on today to
Die Kluge from this set. This opera, composed in 1941-42 (some 5 years after
Der Mond), is a rather different affair from its predecessor. The orchestration is much heavier, there's longer stretches of spoken text, and the story does not have the simple charm of
Der Mond. The recording, from 1956, is OK, but once again the presence of the acclaimed
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf borders, for me at least, on torture --even in this brief rôle! I dislike her tone, I dislike her way with the words (
Orff's folksy --and, let's face it, rather poor-- libretto isn't
Beim Schlafengehen, for crying out loud!). This "clever woman" is simply
antipática and obnoxious...

. But it's not only the lead singer, the opera itself is much less inspired than
Der Mond. Yes, there's a nice little interlude near the end, but e.g. the opening 5 minute aria in which the clever woman's father (
Gottlob Frick in this recording) repeats what seems like a hundred times "Oh, if I had only believed my daughter!" is unbearable. A boring and crude work, that I find completely devoid of any charm (as opposed to
Der Mond).
