LEHAR: Das Land des Lachelns.(Brief Article)

LEHAR: Das Land des Lachelns [] Dietrich, Rothenberger; Andeers, Dolz, Therkatz, Pilgram; Cologne Radio Orchestra and Chorus, Marszalek. 1950. German libretto only. MYTO 004. H049 (Qualiton, dat.)

Possessor of one of the most glorious tenor voices of the twentieth century, Peter Anders (1908-54) has never been accorded the historical status of such greats as Caruso, Bjoerling or Gigli. Perhaps this is due to the fact that most of his work was confined to Germany and Austria. Like many musicians who came to prominence under the Third Reich, he had some trouble jump-starting an international career in the years immediately following World War II. He also lacked the backing of major U.S. record companies. The world was just beginning to wake up to him -- he had sung Bacchus at Edinburgh and Walther yon Stolzing at Covent Garden -- when he was killed in an auto accident at the age of forty-six. By then, he was already scheduled to sing Tristan at Bayreuth.

The former light-lyric tenor had grown quite naturally into such weightier roles, showing absolutely no signs of strain. But Anders's roots had been in operetta, and the only one of these that continued to remain in his repertoire, even as the voice expanded, was Franz Lehar's exquisite Das Land des Lachelns. When he sang the role of Prince SouChong in Darmstadt near the beginning of his career, in 1934, a local critic noted, "It is probably no exaggeration to say that this young tenor leaves all other operetta tenors ...