# Unknown Opera/Operetta



## Giorgio (Jul 7, 2011)

Hello,

I would like to know the title and the composer of the attached file.

The recording is from highlights of an opera/operetta in German - obviously post World War I and a Viennese relation of Milhaud's 'Le boeuf sur le toit'. The sample is from the end of the overture and is based on an aria sung by one of the principals. 

The original came from a Scotch 190 reel-to-reel recorded in the late 1950s. For any old timers out there, that's the purple stuff that pops if you look at it 

Recording the sample thus was a bit of an effort, and though it didn't need any help sounding awful, I went ahead and touched it up anyway.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

I'm going to give it a listen when I come home later today. For now, I'm just going to guess and say Lehar.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

The problem is, I'm not sure I'm willing to click on a file called unknown, posted here as the very first post of an unknown member. Who knows? It may contain a virus.


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## Meaghan (Jul 31, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> The problem is, I'm not sure I'm willing to click on a file called unknown, posted here as the very first post of an unknown member. Who knows? It may contain a virus.


I clicked on it yesterday (maybe I have better virus protection than you and trust it, or maybe I'm just less cautious and more foolish than you) and it was fine. All it did was play a bit of opera I didn't recognize. Computer still functions!


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> The problem is, I'm not sure I'm willing to click on a file called unknown, posted here as the very first post of an unknown member. Who knows? It may contain a virus.


It's completely fine. The sample is actually rather charming.

But I have no idea what it can be. The only late German operetta composer I know of is Lehar.


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> The problem is, I'm not sure I'm willing to click on a file called unknown, posted here as the very first post of an unknown member. Who knows? It may contain a virus.


mp3 files can't contain viruses, as they don't execute in the manner of an .exe, and as media players aren't designed to execute code they are harmless. Same for video files.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

rgz said:


> mp3 files can't contain viruses, as they don't execute in the manner of an .exe, and as media players aren't designed to execute code they are harmless. Same for video files.


 Oh, OK, then.


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## Giorgio (Jul 7, 2011)

*Mystery Solved!*

Good Evening Gentlemen,

First, let me apologize for the suspicious sounding (no pun intended) title of my attachment. I can assure everyone that the file is nothing more and nothing less than an MP3.

After a bit of research, I finally figured out that the highlights are from the opera Die Zaubergeige (The Magic Violin) by Werner Egk. The excerpts came from a 1955 Decca LP (DL 9825). The very recognizable voice of bass Gotlob Frick was key to unraveling the mystery.

v/r
G


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