Das Schone Milchmadchen CD

Joseph Johann Baptist Woelfl was not only one of the most remarkable European pianists, as the Journal de Paris gushed in 1801. He was a creative luminary whose muses burned the candle at both ends, similar to his elder and fellow Salzburgian Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. A veritable world-class travelling pianist, he was equally unstoppable as a composer until the strain finally took it's toll in London in 1812. During his short life, musical works of all types and genres poured forth from him - including seven mostly light-hearted operas, the second of which now introduces the audience to the theatre composer Woelfl. Das schone Milchmadchen oder der Guckkasten (The Beautiful Milkmaid or the Peep-box), which premiered in Vienna in 1797, involves the machinations of a nobleman who cunningly attempts to woo the title character, even though she has long been in love with and betrothed to another; for all his scheming, he is soundly beaten before the happy ending. This is the stuff that successful operettas are made of. Woelfl, this remarkable European composer, effortlessly carries this amusing story to it's conclusion on the wings of delightful song.