Rgine Crespin, Helga Dernesch, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Jess Thomas, Jon Vickers, etc.Guldbrandsen - Detlef Roth - Alexander Meier-Drzenbach - Irne Theorin - Nila Parly - Mostly Opera - Vincent Vargas - Mike Ashman - Intermezzo - Eva Mrtson - Francesca Zambello - Mike Scott Rohan - Tom Borer - German A.Not only is there such a huge number from which to choose, but the combination of various elements in the performance of a Gesamtkunstwerk would apparently militate against anything so fail-safe or indeed banal as a definitive recommendation.Kirsten Flagstad, Ludwig Suthaus, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Certainty seems impossible, save for the question of the greatest recorded Wagner interpreter.
I shall contradict myself already, for this legendary recording must surely at the very least approach the definitive. Furtwnglers understanding of the Wagnerian melos and his long-range hearing ( Fernhren ) are unparalleled, even in this studio recording, the product of a practice he so detested. If ever there were a musical drama in which the orchestra comes so close to supplanting the singers entirely, it is Tristan; it is surely no coincidence that this Furtwngler recording has become his most celebrated, at least when it comes to Wagner. With Walter Legge as producer and the Philharmonia Orchestra at the top of its form, Furtwngler and his cast could hardly fail; nor do they. Kirsten Flagstads Isolde may miss some of the biting sarcasm that Birgit Nilsson would bring to the role, but there is a musical dignity that is purely Flagstads own. Ludwig Suthaus may not be Lauritz Melchior; yet his is a fine performance that puts to shame most of those since and any of those one might hear today. And then there is the young Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as Kurwenal. Martti Talvela, Hans Hotter, Jess Thomas, Gustav Neidlinger, Irene Dalis, Gerd Nienstedt, Gerhard Stolze, George London, Gundula Janowitz, Anja Silja. ![]() No one could ever forget his incandescent Beethoven Ninths.) Hans Knappertsbusch proved something of a fixture there until his death in 1965, above all in Parsifal. Various live recordings now exist; I cannot claim to have listened to them all, but one that has long meant a great deal to me is that from 1962.As with Furtwngler, albeit far from identically, the long line impresses most of all; indeed, Knappertsbusch can prove on occasion surprisingly casual with colouristic details. Yet any minor reservations pale into insignificance when one considers the masterly presentation the musico-dramatic flow seems so right that the word interpretation sounds almost presumptuous of Wagners final work. Inner strength and a sense of true spiritual depth are more than a substitute for more obviously dramatic accounts, such as that of Knas successor in Bayreuth, Pierre Boulez. Hans Hotter is a truly unforgettable Gurnemanz no Wagner collection could command respect without examples of his artistry and George London is hardly less impressive as Amfortas. There can be few better examples of the work of the legendary Wilhelm Pitzs Bayreuth chorus. Listen out too for Gundula Janowitz and Anja Silja, no less, as Flowermaidens. Thomas Stewart, Sndor Knya, Gundula Janowitz, Brigitte Fassbaender. It took an unpardonable length of time, in the face of contractual wrangles that would even have shamed the Rheingold Wotan, for Rafael Kubelks Meistersinger once again to see the light of Midsummer Day.Let us give thanks that it did, for this is a triumphant vindication for the supremely musical virtues of a much underrated Wagnerian, indeed a much underrated conductor. The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra did nothing finer than this for Kubelk and it did very many fine things indeed. There is such orchestral warmth from the opening prelude onwards that one can readily imagine oneself in Nuremberg in June. Thomas Stewart is a dependable Sachs, indeed in many respects rather more than that. Sndor Knya, another underrated artist, proves a properly ardent Walther and who could resist Janowitz as Eva, or indeed Brigitte Fassbaenders Magdalene.
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