Lehar: Overtures and Waltzes.

Lehar: Overtures and Waltzes. Michael Jurowski, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra. CPO 999 891-2.

Apart from The Merry Widow you don't hear much of the music of Franz Lehar (1870-1948) anymore, I suppose his brand of slightly schmaltzy romanticism has long since become pass6. And when an album like this one of the man's orchestral music does come along, it is inevitably compared to Willi Boskovsky's sprightly, mid-eighties recording for EMI. Fortunately, most of the material on conductor Michael Jurowski's new release is different from that included on the Boskovsky disc, so the new arrival makes an attractive complement to the older recording.

The only partial duplication is the music from The Merry Widow, with Boskovsky giving us a briefer synopsis and Jurowski the longer, more complete overture. In addition, Jurowski provides us with Altwiener Liebeswalzer (Old Viennese Love Waltz), Wilde Rosen (Wild Roses Waltz), Adria Walzer (Adriatic Waltz), and the Grutzner Waltz, plus the overtures to CloClo and Der Gottergatte (Divine Spouses). Each is played with sparkle and wit by an orchestra that apparently knows the music well is not ashamed to share it with the world.

CPO's big, lush sound, combined with the relatively large size of Jurowski's orchestra, appeared to me a bit overwhelming in the opening Merry Widow music, especially compared to the slightly smaller ensemble Boskovsky uses, but the ear adjusts. The sonics are decently spread out across the sound stage and project a good deal of warmth and resonance, if little depth. The result is fairly natural and realistic to the concert hall but may not win a lot of audiophile admirers.