LORTZING Der Waffenschmied (Highlights) / Christoph Stepp | Deutsche Grammophon

With this upcoming album featuring the first complete digital release of a historic 1963 studio recording of Albert Lortzing’s comic opera Der Waffenschmied, DG celebrates the 225th anniversary of the composer’s birth and the 175th anniversary of his death. 

Lortzing’s libretto for Der Waffenschmied (The Armourer, 1846) draws on the play Lovers and Rivals in One and the Same Person, a title that neatly encapsulates the plot while also carrying a finely pointed social observation: the impoverished nobility must ingratiate itself with the bourgeoisie, who in turn prove morally superior. 

Count Konrad von Liebenau courts Marie, the daughter of the armourer Stadinger, both disguised as a journeyman smith and in his true identity as the Count himself. Stadinger rejects the nobleman, while Marie has fallen in love with the “journeyman.” After a succession of misunderstandings, jealousies and intrigues, Konrad’s true identity is finally revealed: Count and journeyman are one and the same person. Stadinger relents and gives the union his blessing. 

This recording brings together some of the era’s most distinguished singers. Gundula Janowitz, Thomas Stewart and Josef Greindl lead an outstanding cast, while the Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the RIAS Kammerchor vividly evoke the bustling atmosphere of the armourer’s workshop. 

Listen to a pre-release track, the Ouverture from Der Waffenschmied. The full album is released digitally on 7 August.