Josef Bayer was for thirty years the head of ballet in Vienna, during which time he composed over twenty one-act ballets, many other dance scenes and divertissements, and numerous operettas and light music for other venues. Die Puppenfee (‘The Fairy Doll’) was the most successful ballet of its time in Vienna and to this day holds its place in the schedules of the Vienna State Opera, having been performed there over eight hundred times. Owing something to Delibes’ Coppélia and, in turn, an inspiration for Respighi’s La boutique fantasque, Die Puppenfee is full of delightful tunes and fetching orchestral effects, as the toys come to life in a midnight spectacle. Here, it is coupled with the world première recording of the prelude and two scenes from Sonne und Erde, a ballet based on the four seasons.