Wagner's Valhalla

Started by Greta, April 07, 2007, 08:09:57 PM

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duncan

The Testament website has downloadable .pdfs of The Ring libretti here.

Harry

Quote from: duncan on April 04, 2008, 02:25:09 PM
The Testament website has downloadable .pdfs of The Ring libretti here.

That would be fine Duncan, but I get a blank when I go to here! ;D

J.Z. Herrenberg

Quote from: Harry on April 04, 2008, 11:45:24 PM
That would be fine Duncan, but I get a blank when I go to here! ;D

http://www.testament.co.uk/default.aspx?PageID=7"

I checked. But I don't think those pdf's are very readable...
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

knight66

#523
I would like to recommend this EMI issue

Les introuvables du Ring

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wagner-Introuvables-du-Ring-Richard/dp/B000005GQX/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1207419809&sr=1-1

These four discs bring together a number of excerpts from The Ring in dispirate and desirable performances. They range from Flagstaff through to Dernsch. Some of these performances have not been widely available. A long time ago on a Classics for Pleasure LP, I first encountered Kempe's experts of Rheingold. Here was a lyrical, warm and impulsive concept, clear textures and plenty of drama where it is called for. It at once became and has remained my favourite interpretation of this music; but only a LP's worth of music was recorded. This whets my appetite for the possibility of Testament issuing a complete live Kempe Covent Garden Ring.

It was fantastic news when Kempe became the conductor of the BBC Sym Orch. in London. My choir was slated to perform with him; a genuinely exciting prospect for us. He unexpectedly died at a fairly early age and a lot of potential years of great music making vanished.

The discs do not stick to trotting through all the expected passages, though they come close in Gotterdammerung. But apart from Rheingold, each opera is covered by various performers.

Walkure gets a lion's share and includes the ending in two versions. One has Fischer Dieskau conducted by Kubelik. Act 1 of Walkure is given complete, conducted by Klemperer. Very different from Walter in his famous performance, this is more stately, but not slow. Dernsch is caught in good voice and William Cochran sounded promising in 1970. Sotin makes up the third cast member and is in his element.

After that we get the second version of the close; Nilsson young and already in 1957 well into her stride, her father is none other than Hotter at his best. Leopold Ludwig was the underrated conductor.

Other names involved include Svanholm, Bohm, Swallisch, Frick, Konwitchny and Josef Metternich.

You do not learn the operas from this set, but you will hear a stupendous number of performers, legends some of them, and the set has given me enormous pleasure for some years.

Mike
DavidW: Yeah Mike doesn't get angry, he gets even.
I wasted time: and time wasted me.

Harry

Quote from: knight on April 05, 2008, 10:47:02 AM
I would like to recommend this EMI issue

Les introuvables du Ring

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wagner-Introuvables-du-Ring-Richard/dp/B000005GQX/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1207419809&sr=1-1

These four discs bring together a number of excerpts from The Ring in dispirate and desirable performances. They range from Flagstaff through to Dernsch. Some of these performances have not been widely available. A long time ago on a Classics for Pleasure LP, I first encountered Kempe's experts of Rheingold. Here was a lyrical warm and impulsive concept, clear textures and plenty of drama where it is called for. It at once become and has remained my favourite interpretation of this music; but only a LPs worth of music was recorded. This whets my appetite for the possibility of Testament issuing a complete live Kempe Covent Garden Ring.

It was fantastic news when Kempe became the conductor of the BBC Sym Orch. in London. My choir was slated to perform with him a genuinely exciting prospect; he unexpectedly died at a fairly early age and a lot of potential years of great music making vanished.

The discs do not stick to trotting through all the expected passages, though they come close in Gotterdammerung. But apart from Rheingold, each opera is covered by various performers.

Walkure gets a lion's share and includes the ending in two versions. One has Fischer Dieskau conducted by Kubelik. Act 1 of Walkure is given complete, conducted by Klemperer. Very different from Walter in his famous performance, this is more stately, but not slow. Dernsch is caught in good voice and William Cochran sounded promising in 1970. Sotin makes up the third cast member and is in his element.

After that we get the second version of the close; Nilsson young and already in 1957 well into her stride, her father is none other than Hotter at his best. Leopold Ludwig was the underrated conductor.

Other names involved include Svanholm, Bohm, Swallisch, Frick, Konwitchny and Josef Metternich.

You do not learn the operas from this set, but you will hear a stupendous number of performers, legends some of them, and the set has given me enormous pleasure for some years.

Mike

I added this one on my list, heck only 64 Wagner cd's, in a first attempt, another 4 won't go amiss right? :)
By the way Mike, I simply love the Verdi you send me, thanks again.

knight66

#525
Harry, A pleasure. These are in the main recordings more from the era thet you are in sympathetic towards. I did read about your Wagner splurge. You do throw yourself into the deep end! From more or less no opera to great gouts of it in almost one leap.

Mike
DavidW: Yeah Mike doesn't get angry, he gets even.
I wasted time: and time wasted me.

Harry

Quote from: knight on April 05, 2008, 11:10:19 AM
Harry, A pleasure. These are in the main recordings more from the era thet you are in sympathetic towards. I did read about your Wagner splurge. You do throw yourself into the deep end! From more or less no opera to great gouts of it in almost one leap.

Mike

Yes, that's me, my wife almost asked me politely to go and see a doctor..... :)
After seeing Boris with the girls, I was sold.......

rw1883

This has been recently released:

http://www.allegro-music.com/online_catalog.asp?sku_tag=OPD31501

Has anyone heard this yet?  I never bought the EMI set, but I do have the Gebhardt.  From what I remember the sound on the Gebhardt is decent, but for only $44 I will have to buy!


PerfectWagnerite

Quote from: rw1883 on April 05, 2008, 02:13:27 PM
This has been recently released:

http://www.allegro-music.com/online_catalog.asp?sku_tag=OPD31501

Has anyone heard this yet?  I never bought the EMI set, but I do have the Gebhardt.  From what I remember the sound on the Gebhardt is decent, but for only $44 I will have to buy!



Here is the cast according the allegro website for the La Scala Ring:

Featured Artists
Birgit Nilsson, Set Svanholm, Ferdinand Frantz: vocal soloists
Günther Treptow, Max Lorenz, Elisabeth Höngen, Ludwig Weber: vocal soloists
Orchestra & Chorus of La Scala, Milan
Wilhelm Furtwängler: conductor


What did Birgit Nilsson do in that cycle? I don't remember her being in it. Being it was 1950 she must have been a neophyte then.

Anyway I have the Gebhardt release. The sound is okay as in barely listenable without hurting your ears. The loud passages still sound distorted and the audience sound like they are having a party in the background. The orchestra is rarely together. The singing I suppose is pretty good. But all in all I find this an extremely overrated release. If you already have the Genbardt release of this cycle I don't see why you want to spend $$$ on this release.

PSmith08

Quote from: knight on April 05, 2008, 10:47:02 AM
After that we get the second version of the close; Nilsson young and already in 1957 well into her stride, her father is none other than Hotter at his best. Leopold Ludwig was the underrated conductor.

EMI just put out the Hotter/Nilsson arias/duets disc. It has the whole of the two Testament releases.

Not bad, and it is worth it for catching Hotter in his prime for the Walküre stuff, as opposed to Solti's capture of his voice on the downward slide.

Wendell_E

Quote from: PerfectWagnerite on April 05, 2008, 02:48:51 PM
Here is the cast according the allegro website for the La Scala Ring:
What did Birgit Nilsson do in that cycle? I don't remember her being in it. Being it was 1950 she must have been a neophyte then.

Nilsson didn't make her La Scala debut until 1958.
"Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience." ― Mark Twain

rubio

How is this book as an introduction to Wagner's world? It includes a couple of CD's with music examples - a thing I can appreciate.

"One good thing about music, when it hits- you feel no pain" Bob Marley

Haffner

Quote from: rubio on May 01, 2008, 03:13:17 AM
How is this book as an introduction to Wagner's world? It includes a couple of CD's with music examples - a thing I can appreciate.





That one is pretty cool; just don't buy it at the stores! Amazon probably has it pretty cheap, and it's possible you won't need a brand new copy anyway.



Sergeant Rock

Here's an incredible bargain for the Wagner neophyte...or any Wagnerian interested in one or more of these performances from Bayreuth (recordings between 1961-1985): ten operas, 33 CDs for €40, including the '66 Böhm Tristan and Ring. I might get it just for the super-slow Levine Parsifal which I've never heard.

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/hnum/1925450


Sarge

the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

Harry

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on May 20, 2008, 04:10:21 AM
Here's an incredible bargain for the Wagner neophyte...or any Wagnerian interested in one or more of these performances from Bayreuth (recordings between 1961-1985): ten operas, 33 CDs for €40, including the '66 Böhm Tristan and Ring. I might get it just for the super-slow Levine Parsifal which I've never heard.

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/hnum/1925450


Sarge



Good, it was already on my order list. ;D

Tsaraslondon

Quote from: knight on April 05, 2008, 10:47:02 AM
I would like to recommend this EMI issue

Les introuvables du Ring

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wagner-Introuvables-du-Ring-Richard/dp/B000005GQX/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1207419809&sr=1-1



Anyone who is interested in the above set will no doubt find this one indispensable too.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wagner-Introuvables-Richard/dp/B000002S2M/ref=sr_1_26?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1211290687&sr=1-26

which is available second hand at a pathetically low price of £12. There is some marvellous singing in this one too. Marjorie Lawrence, an Australian singer active in France during the 1930s proved a major discovery for me. Though considered a mezzo (or more properly falcon), her Brunnhilde (in French) is fantastic. The last track on the final CD is of a magnificent Immolation scene.

CD1 has excerpts from Der fliegende Hollander and Die Meistersinger, and features such singers as Rethberg, Nilsson, Hotter, Schorr, Lemnitz and Elisabeth Schumann.
CD2 concentrates on Tannhauser and Lohengrin (Lorenz, Reining, Janssen, Husch, Flagstad, Rethberg, Pertile, Lotte Lehmann, Hina Spani, Roswaenge etc)
CD3 Tristan und Isolde and Parsifal (Leider, Melchior, Seinemeyer, Lubin, Kipnis, Schorr etc)
CD4 Der Ring (Lawrence, Journet, Nissen, Leider, Lubin, Austral, Widdop, Weber etc) I don't know if there is any duplication with the set recommended by Mike.



\"A beautiful voice is not enough.\" Maria Callas

marvinbrown



  HAPPY BIRTHDAY RICHARD WAGNER!!  It is midnight here in London and officially the 22nd of May! 

  What a glorious day in the history of opera.  Richard Wagner was born in Leipzig on May 22, 1813! Years later he was to take the opera world by storm  0:)! 

  marvin

J.Z. Herrenberg

Quote from: marvinbrown on May 21, 2008, 03:09:30 PM

  HAPPY BIRTHDAY RICHARD WAGNER!!  It is midnight here in London and officially the 22nd of May! 

  What a glorious day in the history of opera.  Richard Wagner was born in Leipzig on May 22, 1813! Years later he was to take the opera world by storm  0:)!

Yes, a day to remember. One of my heroes.
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

PSmith08

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on May 20, 2008, 04:10:21 AM
Here's an incredible bargain for the Wagner neophyte...or any Wagnerian interested in one or more of these performances from Bayreuth (recordings between 1961-1985): ten operas, 33 CDs for €40, including the '66 Böhm Tristan and Ring. I might get it just for the super-slow Levine Parsifal which I've never heard.

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/hnum/1925450


Sarge

It looks like this is coming out in the States, or at least through ArkivMusic, in June. I'll be buying it for the Varviso Meistersinger, which has received very good reviews in the past, along with some of the other non-Ring/Tristan performances.

Wendell_E

Quote from: PSmith08 on May 21, 2008, 07:16:06 PM
It looks like this is coming out in the States, or at least through ArkivMusic, in June.

It's also at amazon.com: Link


I'm tempted.  The only recording in the set I have is the Böhm Tristan.
"Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience." ― Mark Twain