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Wagner Operas Favorite Recordings - Page 3

post #31 of 145
7/11/05 at 5:50pm
Thread Starter 
Who is conducting the thing? I have found only that Domingo is singing Tristan.

I don't know if this one will be worth it for me. It is sure to be full-price, and I already have some fantastic Tristans. I think recording technology has gotten so good we have made a full circle: it is better to record live operas (not to mention cheaper) than it is to stage them in a studio.

I refuse to accept the end of audio operas until a DSD-recorded hybrid SACD Ring cycle is released. While I loath the conductor, perhaps DG will use Thielemann's Bayreuth effort next summer to stage such a project.
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post #32 of 145
7/30/05 at 2:21am
I can't believe how much I love the Solti Lohengrin!

Talk about an all-star cast - Domingo, Norman, Fischer-Dieskau...

Solti really knew his Wagner. Act III here could be the best Wagner recording I've heard. This opera gets more and more to the top of my playlist.

Anyone else have this?
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post #33 of 145
7/30/05 at 2:35am
Thread Starter 
Solti was probably the greatest Wagnerian of the second half of the 20th century. Of his works, only the '76 Hollander can be said to be less than excellent (it was merely good). He made his name on Der Ring and then transformed that into a series of very good to excellent recordings. I would have liked for him to have done a digital Ring with the best of the 80s, but alas, it was not to be.
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post #34 of 145
7/30/05 at 5:31am
The interesting thing about Wagner's operas is that the greatest performers (Kristin Flagstad, Lotte Lehmann, Frederick Schorr, and Lauritz Melchior) all reached their peak long before the introduction of stereo. The fifties had some pretty good singers (Birgit Nilsson, Hans Hotter, Wolfgang Windgassen, etc.) but with the possible exception of Jon Vickers, Rita Hunter and Alberto Remedios, I can't think of any that even approached the level of the 1930s.

The single best Wagner performance on record was Bruno Walter's first act of Die Walkure recorded in 1935 with Lauritz Melchior as Siegmund and Lotte Lehmann as Sieglinde. I'm a huge Wagner fan, and when I put together my rig to restore 78s, the first thing I sought out was a pristine scroll pressing of this set. I sweat bullets to make my transfer the best ever... and a lot of people who have bought it seem to agree.

I've got a free download of my transfer of Lehmann singing Die Manner Sippe on my website. You can access it at...

http://www.vintageip.com/records/VIP-OP-1002Trk12.mp3

There's a recording of Melchior's Hymn To Venus from Tannhauser at...

http://www.vintageip.com/records/VIP...01BonusTrk.mp3

No singers since come close to these performances. And it's not just the perfection of the voices... the acting is phenominal. This stuff is instant goosebumps!

See ya
Steve
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post #35 of 145
7/30/05 at 5:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Doc Sarvis
I've been listening to the Goodall a lot lately, and I just wanted to recommend it agian. If you can stand the broad tempi, the details of the orchestration really shine through. The third act of Walkure is nothing short of amazing.
I attended the Seattle Ring cycle in the early 80s, and Remedios was scheduled as Siegfried. The Brunnhilde they had booked got sick, and the only other person in the world who was able to sing it on such short notice was Rita Hunter. (A great surprise!) The third act of Siegfried was even more amazing than on Goodall's LP. Remedios was a powerhouse... no sign at all of weakness at the end. Absolutely amazing.

See ya
Steve
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post #36 of 145
7/30/05 at 5:58am
Moving my mention of Wagner over in the Beethoven thread here...

I can't count the number of Rings I have any more... If I do, I get lonesome for all the money I used to have.

Solti, Knappertsbusch, Furtwangler x 2, Goodall, Seattle Ring, Barenboim (video), Boulez (video), Haitink, Janowski, Bohm, I'm sure I'm forgetting some.

In any case, the best deal in Wagner is Mike Richter's Opera Encyclopedia CD-ROMs. Each one has complete live operas in MP3 format. He has a 1962 Ring from the Teatro Colon that is great...

Conductor Heinz Wallberg
Wotan / Der Wanderer Hans Hotter
Brünnhilde Birgit Nilsson
Siegfried Hans Hopf
Siegmund / Loge Fritz Uhl
Sieglinde / Gutrune Gré Brouwenstijn
Fricka / Waltraute (Götterdämmerung) Ursula Boese
Alberich Alois Pernerstorfer
Mime Herold Kraus
Hunding / Fasolt / Hagen Arnold van Mill
Fafner Jorge Algorta

The best part is that it costs $10.

Check it out...
http://www.mrichter.com/ae/ae.htm


For another $10 you get all this...

Die FeenEdward DownesJohn Mitchinson, Paul Hudson ; April Cantelo

Das LiebesverbotEdward DownesRaimund Herincx, Alexander Young, Ian Caley, Neil Jenkins

Rienzi Edward Downes John Mitchinson, Michael Langdon; Lorna Haywood

Der Fliegende HolländerDavid Lloyd-JonesNorman Bailey; Stafford Dean; Gwyneth Jones

TannhäuserArtur RodzinskiKarl Liebl, Eberhard Wächter; Gre Brouwenstijn

Lohengrin Lovro von MatacicFritz Uhl; Victoria de los Angeles, Christa Ludwig

The Ring Wolfgang SawallischTheo Adam, Jean Cox; Nadezda Kniplova

Tristan und Isolde Horst SteinSpass Wenkoff, Donald McIntyre; Katerina Ligendza

Die Meistersinger von Nüremberg Reginald Goodall Norman Bailey, Alberto Remedios; Margaret Curphey

ParsifalSimon Rattle Poul Elming, Robert Lloyd; Violeta Urmana

See ya
Steve
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post #37 of 145
7/30/05 at 7:29pm
Today, I've been transferring my laserdisc of Karajan's Das Rheingold film to DVD. It's definitely the best video representation of Wagner's operas that I've ever seen. It's a shame that he didn't film the rest of his cycle. The only problem is that there is a little breakup in the sound at the end of side two. I'm going to have a devil of a time trying to find a cleaner copy of this one. It seems to have not been available for very long.

Next, I'm going to transfer my Barenboim Ring laserdiscs. That should take forever!

See ya
Steve
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post #38 of 145
7/31/05 at 3:04am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigshot
The single best Wagner performance on record was Bruno Walter's first act of Die Walkure recorded in 1935 with Lauritz Melchior as Siegmund and Lotte Lehmann as Sieglinde. I'm a huge Wagner fan, and when I put together my rig to restore 78s, the first thing I sought out was a pristine scroll pressing of this set. I sweat bullets to make my transfer the best ever... and a lot of people who have bought it seem to agree.
I wish that Walter had completed the VPO Walkure. Perhaps it would have led on to a complete Ring. List's Hunding is really quite sublime. His performance is monumental and menacing. One can see why Sieglinde loathed such a monster. In fact, I have a hard time thinking of a better Hunding. Melchior's performance is a known quantity. Lehmann is really great as Sieglinde. She brings both the innocence and frustration that I see as necessary for the character.

The act 2 parts that were done by Walter, and finished by Seidler-Winkler, are also fantastic. As I said earlier, Hotter was shot for Solti's Walkure, but was in great form here.
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post #39 of 145
7/31/05 at 5:06am
The third act of Die Walkure was actually completed ten years later... It just wasn't by Walter or Victor. It was by Rodzinsky on Columbia with Herbert Janssen and Helen Traubel. Traubel was one of the greatest Brunnhildes who ever lived. Here's a track I restored from that recording...

http://www.vintageip.com/records/VIP-OP-1004Trk07.mp3

Rodzinsky proved himself to be an excellent Wagnerian. Both he and Traubel are underrated in my opinion.

Enjoy
Steve
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post #40 of 145
7/31/05 at 5:24pm
Thread Starter 
Unfortunately, the title of "greatest Brunnhilde" is held, for the moment, by Flagstad. Her work in Furtwangler's La Scala Ring and Solti's Walkure act 3 cements her position. Nilsson is no slouch, but Flagstad's almost superhuman abilities place her head and shoulders above the rest.
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post #41 of 145
8/1/05 at 12:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigshot
The third act of Die Walkure was actually completed ten years later... It just wasn't by Walter or Victor. It was by Rodzinsky on Columbia with Herbert Janssen and Helen Traubel. Traubel was one of the greatest Brunnhildes who ever lived. Here's a track I restored from that recording...

http://www.vintageip.com/records/VIP-OP-1004Trk07.mp3

Rodzinsky proved himself to be an excellent Wagnerian. Both he and Traubel are underrated in my opinion.

Enjoy
Steve
Are you selling these?
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post #42 of 145
8/1/05 at 12:12am
Thread Starter 
www.vintageip.com/records/vipop1004.html
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post #43 of 145
8/1/05 at 6:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by PSmith08
Who is conducting the thing? I have found only that Domingo is singing Tristan.

I don't know if this one will be worth it for me. It is sure to be full-price, and I already have some fantastic Tristans. I think recording technology has gotten so good we have made a full circle: it is better to record live operas (not to mention cheaper) than it is to stage them in a studio.

I refuse to accept the end of audio operas until a DSD-recorded hybrid SACD Ring cycle is released. While I loath the conductor, perhaps DG will use Thielemann's Bayreuth effort next summer to stage such a project.
And the verdict is...Thumbs up!

http://www.musicweb-international.co...an_5580062.htm
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post #44 of 145
8/1/05 at 6:32pm
Thread Starter 
We shall see, then. I have never been known not to make room for a Tristan.
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post #45 of 145
8/1/05 at 6:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by GanChan

...must...own...
Is it out yet?
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