Suppé: Ouvertüren

Franz von Suppé is one of the most famous Austrian composers of the 19th century, alongside Johann Strauss (the Younger), who owes his fame above all to the supposedly "light muse". His catalogue of works lists just under three dozen operettas and plays with music, as well as countless comedies for spoken theatre that he embellished with musical numbers: the typical repertoire of the old Viennese suburban and popular theatres, which he imaginatively enriched as a musical director at the Theater in der Josefstadt, as "chief composer and conductor" at the Theater an der Wien, and later at other stages in the Danube metropolis. Although most of his stage works may have fallen into oblivion, his sparkling, lively, and captivating overtures are highly vivid and convey an idea of Suppé's compositional art, his imagination in creating earworm melodies, and his excellent craftsmanship. His overtures such as Die leichte Kavallerie, Dichter und Bauer, and Ein Morgen, ein Mittag, ein Abend in Wien are indispensable to the core repertoire of Viennese music, became worldwide successes above all in the era of the gramophone record, and are still regularly featured in the programmes of the Viennese New Year's concerts. As chief conductor of the Munich Radio Orchestra, Ivan Repuši? selected some of Suppé's most famous and popular overtures for his latest studio production, which was recorded in May 2018 and is now already being released by BR Klassik. The album also prepares the way for the composer's 200th birthday, which will be celebrated next year.