I gave a warm welcome last year to the first CD of overtures Suppe overtures from Kuhn and the RPO ((CD) RD69307, 4/90). Its particular attraction lay in the freshness they brought to oft-played pieces with beautifully shaped slower sections building up to glorious climaxes. The most obvious attraction of this sequel CD is that the contents are anything but oft-played. Fatinitza is heard from time to time, and three others here (Die Irrfahrt um's Gluck, Wiener Jubel and Die Frau Meisterin) were included in EMI's Marriner collection ((CD) CDC7 54056-2, 10/90). But there are still three that are new to the catalogue—Donna Juanita, Das Modell and Der Gascogner. The second of these works was an operetta completed by others after Suppe's death, but apparently the Overture was among the few numbers that he himself completed. It sounds authentic enough, if not really in the top flight.
Once again the beauties of the playing and the shaping of the themes are readily evident, most obviously in the jaunty build-up and rousing conclusion of the familiar Fatinitza. Wiener Jubel, in its third recording in two years, proves again what a marvellous discovery it has been, but scarcely less good is Donna Juanita. This is a longer and generally more subdued overture, with a beautiful violin solo and delightful intertwining woodwind. Kuhn's command over the music is nowhere shown to better effect than in the major theme towards the end, which he alternately holds back and then moves on, to irresistible effect.
As before, not everything comes off altogether convincingly. The opening of Die Irrfahrt um's Gluck (dating from 1853, incidentally—the author of the booklet note confuses it with a completely different work of 35 years later) seems really too slow, as does the major theme (marked allegro moderato, assai dolciato) 2'45'' into Die Frau Meisterin. But these are small prices to pay for an altogether stimulating, irresistible collection.'