One of Fritz Wunderlich’s (1930–1966) most fascinating qualities was his incredible range of musical skills. He was probably Germany’s greatest tenor who could perform virtually anything in the repertoire for high male voice – from Schlager music to arias from J.S. Bach's Passions; from Mozart to music of the 20th century; from the greatest tenor hits of all times to unknown gems. His musicality and his seriousness as an artist turned everything he sang into something extraordinary.

The same can be said for his performances of operettas, lighter versions of grander opera. Operetta certainly enjoyed a heyday, and even today it still has its fans. Operettas have a high standard as far as the quality of entertainment is concerned, enjoying a higher standard than some opera seria of the Baroque period that were generally composed in a formulaic manner.

Operetta had its “Golden Age” in the second half of the 19th century, in Paris, where the Franco-German composer Jacques Offenbach (1819–1880) established “modern” operetta and took it to extremes in quite an intellectually stimulating and witty manner. Johann Strauss II (1825–1899) naturally became the king of operetta in Vienna.

This double-CD features recordings produced in the studio Kaiserslautern prior to November 1965. Although in the early days of his career Wunderlich's vocal skills had not yet been fully developed, his unique qualities are heard here at their best – the distinctive voice with the silver core and the golden gleam.

Contents:

CD 1
Franz Lehár
1. Allein, wieder allein
2. Freunde, das Leben ist lebenswert
Emmerich Kálmán
3. Wenn es Abend wird – Grüss mir mein Wien
4. Holdes berauschendes Bild
5. Schön ist der Tag
6. Du bist die Frau
Leo Fall
7. O Rose von Stambul
Jean Gilbert
8. Wenn die Füsschen sich heben
9. Niemals kann Liebe ganz vergehn
10. Wer kann dafür
11. Mädels gibt es auf der Welt
12. Liebe und Glück, kehrt nicht zurück
Hans May
13. Ein Lied geht um die Welt

CD 2
Ralph Erwin
1. Ich küsse ihr Hand, Madame
Robert Stolz
2. Mädi, mein kleines Määdi
3. Zum ersten Mal allein
4. Einmal hat mir zur Frühlingszeit das Glück gelacht
5. Erst hab ich ihr Komplimente gemacht
6. Arrivederci, bella Italia
7. Zwei sind verliebt
Walter Triebel
8. Es gibt eine Frau, die man Schicksal ist
9. Der Zauber liegt nur ganz allein
10. Pfälzer Wein – Melodienfolge
Nico Dostal
11. Wie tanzen dort die Paare
12. Es ist doch äusserst interessant
13. Ihr schönen Frauen, wer kann an euch vorübergeh’n
Richard Tauber
14. Du bist die Welt für mich
Charles Emmerich Kálmán
15. Kleiner Cowboy
16. Wann kommt die eine
17. Du allein schenkst mir Leben
18. Ich träume nur von Liebe