Overtures (Complete), Vol. 1 [Incls 'Der Teufel als Hydraulicus' & 'Die Freunde von Salamanka']

Revered for his incomparable Lieder , Franz Schubert was also an avid opera-goer who yearned, largely in vain, for success as a composer of stage works. This disc features several of his less familiar early overtures, from Der Spiegelritter and Der Teufel als Hydraulicus (circa 1811/2) and his first completed opera, the Medieval fantasy Des Teufels Lustschloß (1813/4), to the Overture in B flat (1816). It is hard to believe that such accomplished and effective music was the work of a teenager.