Das Land des Lächelns

Lehár Das Land des Lächelns operetta to libretto by Ludwig Herzer. Directed 2017 by Andreas Homoki at the Opernhaus Zürich. Stars Piotr Beczala (Prince Sou-Chong), Julia Kleiter (Lisa), Rebeca Olvera (Mi), Spencer Long (Count Gustav von Pottenstein), Cheyne Davidson (Tschang), and Martin Zysset (Chief Eunuch). Fabio Luisi conducts the Philharmonia Zürich and the Chor der Oper Zürich (Chorus Master Ernst Raffelsberger). Set and lighting design by Klaus Grüberg; costume design by Silke Willrett; dramaturgy by Kathrin Brunner. Directed for TV by Michael Beyer; produced by Paul Smaczny. Sung in German. Released 2018, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

We don’t cover operettas as outside the scope of this website. But this is included in a box set from Accentus that also has 3 operas we do cover. There are several (mixed) reviews about this title that you can easily find on the Internet if you are interested in the Accentus box.

Here’s a trailer from Opernhaus Zürich:

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Here's news about high-definition video disc ("HDVD") recordings of opera, ballet, classical music, plays, fine-art documentaries, and paintings. In the journal below are independent (and hard-to-find critical) reports on hundreds of HDVDs. Pick the best titles for your excelsisphere.

Feb 25. We have just completed one of our most ambitious reviews: Einstein on the Beach opera, the surreal 4 and 1/2 hour cult legend. Kudos, encomiums, and accolades to Opus Arte for giving us this authoritative and weirdly fascinating recording, which we grade A+. Absorbing and learning Einstein is uniquely challenging. We try to help out by providing aids not included in the keepcase materials: an accurate libretto and a list of segments in the opera with correct Opus Arte time stamps. Good luck!

We have some other good grades with an A for the recent Met The Pearl Fishers (Les pêcheurs de perles) and a B- for an earlier The Pearl Fishers from Naples. Also, we recently gave an A- for the new Don Quixote from the Vienna State Ballet.