Hindemith: Mathis der Maler (Mathis the Painter);

This is Paul Hindemith's great opera, from which he has extracted his famous symphony. Mathis der Maler, or Mathis the Painter (1939), is a work that's languished in the wake of the post-WWII generation's disapproval of Hindemith's music theories in general and his music in particular. But this generation has the better sense to recognize good music despite a composer's ethnicity. This is a clear operatic masterpiece, but it's not constructed in the grand manner of Italian or German operas. It's rather a set of tableaus that have the power of oratorio. Excellent beyond description. --Paul Cook