Believe it or not, Schubert wrote operas despite having no hope of a professional performance, and a couple of them are really very good. Here they are, along with other interesting rarities.
Many thanks for recommending Bohm's version of the 9th symphony. I couldn't find a new CD but hunted down a secondhand one - a fantastic interpretation.
Thanks to this review I sourced copies of these two operas that I wasn't even aware existed on recording. I'm not sure what to expect from them but the cast alone seems to ensure a quality performance, and I can't imagine it won't at least make for an interesting listen.
I think Fierrabras (which autocorrect tried to change to Sierra brass) is the best of his operas. Alfonso's numbers go on and on. Maybe if he'd lived longer, he might have developed but it's hard to think of any successful opera composer who hadn't shown theatrical instinct and sure stage timing by age 31. Even Puccini and Strauss had, despite rotten librettos. The one exception is probably Janacek who didn't even attempt an opera until age 33. Wolf is another great lied composer who could create tiny dramas in song but his one opera doesn't work. Completely overshadowed by Falla's masterpiece on the same Corregidor subject.
