Kinderchor des Staatstheaters am Gärtnerplatz - Strauss: Feuersnot, Op. 50, TrV 203 (2015)

Just in time for the 150th anniversary of Richard Strauss's birth, a concert performance of his second opera, the rarely performed "singing poem" Feuersnot (1901), conducted by Ulf Schirmer, is being released.
The satirist Ernst von Wolzogen, who wrote the libretto for this "Bavarian burlesque," founded the first literary cabaret in Berlin, the Huberbrettl, a satirical allusion to Nietzsche's "Superman." And in a certain sense, Strauss's music is also satirical: it can well be called a parody of Wagner, a farewell to all pomp and pathos.
The plot of the comic tells about the handsome Kunrad, who has some magical abilities, but too hastily runs up to the mayor's daughter Dimuta and kisses her in public. To avenge the insult, she plays a humiliating joke on him. He strikes back, using his limited magic to keep the city from starting a fire for light and warmth. The townspeople stop gossiping about the girl's reputation and beg her to accept his advances. When she does this, the couple and everyone else get excited
There are several reasons why this opera is not so well known: This is a one-act opera, the duration of which is only 90 minutes, but it requires a huge orchestra, a large choir with many songs and a children's choir. At the beginning of the 20th century, the libretto was considered shockingly obscene (which shouldn't matter much today). It also contains some "jokes" that may not make much sense today if you don't know the history of the work. But it's a charming, good-natured score, in the spirit of the student scenes from The Meistersingers or some of Humperdinck's operas.