bosiemoncrieff
Headphoneus Supremus
Oh, I don't think the Goodall Ring is that bad. At least it's one Germanic language to another. Now, Callas's Liebestod in Italian or Wunderlich's Verdi recordings in German are true disasters. The Komische Oper still translates everything into German (it is the most tethered to the German convention of the twentieth century in this respect), and the Poros that I heard last summer really should have been in Italian.
Getting back into my HD800 - the bass is reduced compared to KSE1500 but the spaciousness is much appreciated. A good soundstage counts for a lot. Listened to the Parsifal from 1951 - the Knappertsbusch that reopened Bayreuth. The third act in particular is so numinous and otherworldly - it's no wonder someone commented after the premiere that he had a premonition Wagner wood soon be dead, that no man capable of writing that was long for this earth. The end of Act 1 is transfixing, but the last half hour of Act 3 is true sublimity. Only the Missa Solemnis comes close in that respect for me - and even there, the Gloria is a little hyperactive.
Getting back into my HD800 - the bass is reduced compared to KSE1500 but the spaciousness is much appreciated. A good soundstage counts for a lot. Listened to the Parsifal from 1951 - the Knappertsbusch that reopened Bayreuth. The third act in particular is so numinous and otherworldly - it's no wonder someone commented after the premiere that he had a premonition Wagner wood soon be dead, that no man capable of writing that was long for this earth. The end of Act 1 is transfixing, but the last half hour of Act 3 is true sublimity. Only the Missa Solemnis comes close in that respect for me - and even there, the Gloria is a little hyperactive.