Hof-Capelle Carlsruhe - Molters Miniatur-Opern & Kammermusik vom Karlsruher Hof

The court music establishment in Karlsruhe was in some respects rather special: for reasons of cost, the court did not engage any expensive foreign soloists, such as castrati for the solo parts, and instead deployed up to 40 orchestral musicians in addition to a 70-strong girls� choir, which is likely to have overlapped with the legendary Blumenm�dchen, a group of young ladies-in-waiting who were notoriously engaged by Carl Wilhelm for his entertainment. There were surely some talented vocalists among these members, but the ability to master and embellish such challenging pieces as the arias of miniature operas requires extensive vocal training.