Alberto Franchetti (1860-1942) : Germania Text by Luigi Illica Phoenix Edition 802 Capriccio 93518 Carlo Ventre, Lise Lindstrom, Markus Brück, Bruno Caproni & Ante Jerkunica Choir and Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin Renato Palumbo Live from the Deutsche Oper Berlin, 2006. DVD Video : Region: 0 - Format: NTSC

At the turn of the 19th century the Italian composer Alberto Franchetti was rated one of the foremost Italian composers and a composer who was to ensure the continuation of Meyerbeer´s Great Opera tradition into the Modern era. Germania was premiered in 1902 and turned out to be the one of Franchetti’s most famous works. It is unusual that an Italian composer in the early twentieth century chose to write an opera based on a chapter of German history from the early nineteenth century. Franchetti was an Italian Jew who had become enamored of Germany and its culture, and this opera dramatizes an incident in the 19th-century struggle for German independence. After the First World War the opera sadly lapsed into obscurity. Released on Capriccio in 2007, Phoenix Edition is pleased to present a re-issue of the world première of this opera on DVD. This live recording re-discovers an opera which has been unperformed since 1908. The performance was highly acclaimed, praised for the first-rate production, the staging of Kirsten Harms and musical leadership of Renato Palumbo, to the strong cast led by Lise Lindstrom and the remarkable Uruguayan tenor Carlo Ventre