This 1919 Singspiel by the little-known Eduard Künneke was recorded in 1936 in Berlin and is performed with love by a cast fully steeped in this type of sentimental operetta style. The work itself has a dopey libretto about a town without a church bell (it was stolen previously by marauding Turks), the priest’s generous gift to a needy couple of the money slated by the town for the bell, the town’s bitterness and revolting piety, and the happy ending that occurs when the poor couple comes back and the bell is put in place by a Deus ex machina in the form of the wealthy Baron Erwin. The high fat content of the text is somewhat offset by the perky music, some of which has enough charm to support itself. The cast sings colorfully (with Karl Hellmer a vivid Father Benedikt), with actors speaking the oh-so-crucial dialogue (about 45 of the work’s 118 minutes). If you are operetta-compulsive and have a tolerance for senseless fluff and the aural equivalent of Dirndls, this is for you. It isn’t for me. [7/11/2000]
