Composer: Bruch
Composition: Die Loreley
Performers: Soloists, Münchner Rundfunkorchester/Stefan Blunier
Catalogue Number: CPO CPO7770052 (3CD)

Bruch’s rarely performed and hitherto never recorded 1863 opera Die Loreley takes as its subject a mass of rock in the Rhine, a legendary site of maritime disasters. Loosely based on Clemens Brentano’s version of the Loreley legend, the opera follows Lenore and her attempts to take revenge on a lover who’s spurned her. Selling her soul to the spirits of the river and rock in exchange for an enchanting voice, she sets about luring away her wayward beau, Otto, on the eve of his wedding.