Released in April 2026 | Label: Naxos
Raff: Dame Kobold
Joachim Raff (composer), Paul Reber (librettist)
Dario Salvi, conductor
West Bohemian Symphony Orchestra (Západočeský symfonický orchestr)
Choir of the City of Ústí nad Labem
Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik (D) - Nominee
Top 10 Best Selling Albums (Naxos) June 2026
Joachim Raff moved in circles that included Franz Liszt and Robert Schumann, and he ultimately became one of the best-known German composers of his day. Of Raff’s six stage works Dame Kobold (‘The Phantom Lady’) was the first of a series of comic operas that anticipated later trends, moving away from Wagnerian pathos and looking back to the levity of Rossini. Admired for its utterly gorgeous musical setting, the opera is notable for a disarmingly simple yet fast-paced plot, bewitching solos and elegantly flowing melodies, and a deftly responsive marriage of language and music.
Reviews
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Rondo Magazin
★★★★ “The seasoned Naxos-based conductor Dario Salvi has recorded this sparkling work with the Ústí nad Labem Theatre Choir and the spirited West Bohemian Symphony Orchestra. It begins with the lively overture, which is sometimes played at request concerts.” [Original in German]
Manuel Brug - April 2026
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Pizzicato
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Oper!
“Now, conductor Dario Salvi—together with the chorus of the Ústí nad Labem City Theatre and the West Bohemian Symphony Orchestra—is making a fresh attempt to restore the work's standing, succeeding right from the opening notes of the overture. The performance is spirited and humorous, allowing elegant melodies to unfold fully while striking the right tempo for the chaotic scenes.” [Original in German]
Uwe Friedrich - June 2026
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Opera Lounge
“Raff composed the three acts with the agility of a virtuoso comedy of errors, which conductor Dario Salvi and the West Bohemian Symphony Orchestra perform with such relish that the 110 minutes fly by.” [Original in German]
Rolf Fath - May 2026
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Online Merker
“The recording impresses with the brisk, fluid conducting of Dario Salvi , a conductor and musicologist frequently engaged by Naxos , the formidable sound quality, and the cast of male protagonists… […]. The initiative of conductor Dario Salvi , to make this musically sparkling, sentimentally impish and highly enjoyable comic opera accessible to a wider audience again with the forces of the choir of the theater of the North Bohemian city of Ústí nad Labem and the West Bohemian Symphony Orchestra, is truly commendable. “ [Original in German]
Dr. Ingobert Waltenberger, April 2026
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Gramophone
“Nothing here to shake the world, it’s true, but there’s no denying the warmth, the melodic invention and the bustling verve with which Raff sweeps his comedy to its happy ending. Under Dario Salvi, the Czech orchestra and chorus perform with zest. It’s not what you’d call a luxurious sound, though the playing makes up in character what it occasionally lacks in finesse.”
Richard Bratby - August 2026
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Music Web International
“Dario Salvi’s leadership is for the most part pretty carefully negotiated. Mostly the orchestral contribution comes across as uninspired – that is, until the dance music of Act Three, in which Salvi and the players suddenly seem to come to life and play with noticeably more animation.”
Mike Parr - July 2026
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Marie-celine.com
Conductor Dario Salvi is well-known to the Naxos label. He has conducted numerous recordings of Auber 's works , including the famous Violin Concerto . He possesses a very eclectic repertoire. His energetic and precise conducting breathes new life into Dame Kobold . He brings out the very essence of Raff's score . Chorus and orchestra are perfectly in tune under his direction”
March 2026
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Couacs.info
The comic opera Dame Kobold, published by Naxos, dates from 1869. The libretto is based on a swashbuckling comedy by Pedro Calderón de la Barca. The plot unfolds in Madrid and follows the adventures of Donna Angela who, to escape the stifling watch of her brother Don Juan, uses a secret passage to haunt the room of their guest, Don Manuel, disguising herself as a mischievous spirit… It's a truly charming work. Highly recommended! [Original in French]
April 2026