Wagner's Valhalla

[Lisztianwagner]

Listened to the prologue and first act of Gotterdammerung today. Absolutely amazing, brilliant, beautiful, divine music!!!!

I loved every second of the Prologue in particular, a part near the end made me release a tear as it uplifted me so much! Such great music!

Coming closer to the end of the Ring Journey...  very excited to hear the final acts! I have heard, and been very moved by the Immolation Scene before, but now that I know what has come before it, I imagine it being even more powerfully moving and special.

Amazing, Daniel! So glad you've been enjoying the Ring Cycle so much!

The Prelude of the 1st act is outstanding, extremely passionate and powerful; the opening with the leitmotif of Brunnhilde's Awakening dropped down by a semitone is absolutely impressive, thrilling and beautiful: now the atmosphere is dramatic, intense and deeper, completely different compared with that one perceived in Siegfried, it isn't a hymn to the light and the life any more......the ancestral wisdom of the Nornes is over, the world of the Gods is going to be destroyed. Stroke of genius by Wagner, definitely brilliant.

The other acts will be even more overwhelming, enjoy the rest of the Ring!

[madaboutmahler]

Amazing, Daniel! So glad you've been enjoying the Ring Cycle so much!

The Prelude of the 1st act is outstanding, extremely passionate and powerful; the opening with the leitmotif of Brunnhilde's Awakening dropped down by a semitone is absolutely impressive, thrilling and beautiful: now the atmosphere is dramatic, intense and deeper, completely different compared with that one perceived in Siegfried, it isn't a hymn to the light and the life any more......the ancestral wisdom of the Nornes is over, the world of the Gods is going to be destroyed. Stroke of genius by Wagner, definitely brilliant.

The other acts will be even more overwhelming, enjoy the rest of the Ring!

Thank you, Ilaria! I am certainly very excited to hear the last two acts!
The whole of the 40 minute or so 'Prologue' really did move me, I loved it so much! The way so many of the leitmotifs come back is certainly genius.

Thank you!

[jlaurson]

Ionarts-at-Large: Tristan. Oslo. Poppycock!

http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2012/05/ionarts-at-large-poppycock-in-oslo.html

[Lisztianwagner]

Thank you, Ilaria! I am certainly very excited to hear the last two acts!
The whole of the 40 minute or so 'Prologue' really did move me, I loved it so much! The way so many of the leitmotifs come back is certainly genius.

Certainly, I agree with everything you said.

[kishnevi]

I was looking through the Amazon listings a few days ago for the early Wagner operas--Die Feen, Das Liebesverbot, Rienzi--and the hardly ever performed works (Liebesmahl being the one I was most interested in). 
Recordings are very thin on the ground, and seem to be confined to a couple of 70s era recordings that are not cheap on the secondary market, and a couple of East European ventures involving musicians I've never heard of which, while not expensive, are not cheap either.

That was the lead up to my question:
Does anyone know of new recordings or new re-releases that might be forthcoming for "the anniversary year"?  I'm quite willing to wait for these if something good is in the offing.

[eyeresist]

Ionarts-at-Large: Tristan. Oslo. Poppycock!

Site doesn't load for me, for some reason.

[Wendell_E]

I was looking through the Amazon listings a few days ago for the early Wagner operas--Die Feen, Das Liebesverbot, Rienzi--and the hardly ever performed works (Liebesmahl being the one I was most interested in). 
Recordings are very thin on the ground, and seem to be confined to a couple of 70s era recordings that are not cheap on the secondary market

I got the 70s era BBC Das Liebesverbot at Berkshire Record Outlet for $11.97.  They still have it listed.  I also got the BBC Die Feen there, but it's no longer listed, though sometimes things will come back into stock.

Site doesn't load for me, for some reason.

It worked fine for me.

[jlaurson]

I was looking through the Amazon listings a few days ago for the early Wagner operas--Die Feen, Das Liebesverbot, Rienzi--and the hardly ever performed works (Liebesmahl being the one I was most interested in). 
Recordings are very thin on the ground, and seem to be confined to a couple of 70s era recordings that are not cheap on the secondary market, and a couple of East European ventures involving musicians I've never heard of which, while not expensive, are not cheap either.

That was the lead up to my question:
Does anyone know of new recordings or new re-releases that might be forthcoming for "the anniversary year"?  I'm quite willing to wait for these if something good is in the offing.

Oehms will release all three -- recorded live at the Frankfurt Opera in concert performances. (Incidentally I was just at "Das Liebesverbot" last week.)
That said, the Sawallisch Recordings from the last big anniversary ('83) on Orfeo are quite good, too.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

I find the first act rather dull, maybe the worst act in the Ring.

To me the "worst" act is the first act of die Walküre, partly because I don't really like Siegmund and Sieglinde, and I find their romance the least satisfying in Wagner's works. To me Die Walküre is really about father-daughter relationship between Brünnhilde and Wotan, which is also the most touching love relationship in Wagner's whole repertoire, even though I still like Die Walküre least in tetralogy.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Listened to the prologue and first act of Gotterdammerung today. Absolutely amazing, brilliant, beautiful, divine music!!!!

I loved every second of the Prologue in particular, a part near the end made me release a tear as it uplifted me so much! Such great music!

Coming closer to the end of the Ring Journey...  very excited to hear the final acts! I have heard, and been very moved by the Immolation Scene before, but now that I know what has come before it, I imagine it being even more powerfully moving and special.

Glad you enjoyed it! To me perhaps the most powerful moment is after Gunther describes Brünnhilde to Siegfried right after he has lost his memory and Siegfried repeats his every word like trying to remember something crucially important:

"Auf Felsen hoch ihr sitz" - "Auf Felsen hoch ihr sitz?"
"Ein Feuer umbrennt den Saal" - "Ein Feuer umbrennt den Saal?"
"Nur wer durch das Feuer bricht" - "Nur wer durch das Feuer bricht?"
"Darf Brünnhildes Freier sein!"

Be prepared, the first scene in act two is the most surreal and terrifyingly awesome moment in the whole Ring.

[Lisztianwagner]

Be prepared, the first scene in act two is the most surreal and terrifyingly awesome moment in the whole Ring.

And what about the final scene then, from Siegfried's Funeral March to the end? One of the most thrilling, powerful moments of the Tetralogy, such absolutely haunting, beautiful music!

[madaboutmahler]

Glad you enjoyed it! To me perhaps the most powerful moment is after Gunther describes Brünnhilde to Siegfried right after he has lost his memory and Siegfried repeats his every word like trying to remember something crucially important:

"Auf Felsen hoch ihr sitz" - "Auf Felsen hoch ihr sitz?"
"Ein Feuer umbrennt den Saal" - "Ein Feuer umbrennt den Saal?"
"Nur wer durch das Feuer bricht" - "Nur wer durch das Feuer bricht?"
"Darf Brünnhildes Freier sein!"

Be prepared, the first scene in act two is the most surreal and terrifyingly awesome moment in the whole Ring.

Thank you! Oh yes, that was a very moving moment! Very beautiful.
I shall look forward to that!

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Quote from: Alberich on Today at 20:51:19

Be prepared, the first scene in act two is the most surreal and terrifyingly awesome moment in the whole Ring.



Agreed. I remember listening to it in the living room with head phones on. It was already night, not many lamps burning, and I suddenly realised what a frightening scene I was hearing, and how tragic Hagen is.

[madaboutmahler]

Quote from: Alberich on Today at 20:51:19

Be prepared, the first scene in act two is the most surreal and terrifyingly awesome moment in the whole Ring.



Agreed. I remember listening to it in the living room with head phones on. It was already night, not many lamps burning, and I suddenly realised what a frightening scene I was hearing, and how tragic Hagen is.

This certainly sounds incredibly exciting...!

[kishnevi]

Oehms will release all three -- recorded live at the Frankfurt Opera in concert performances. (Incidentally I was just at "Das Liebesverbot" last week.)
That said, the Sawallisch Recordings from the last big anniversary ('83) on Orfeo are quite good, too.

Thanks.  In fact, it was your mention of attending Liebesverbot that put the idea in my head in the first place.

[madaboutmahler]

Just back from the second act of Gotterdammerung. Absolutely thrilling, amazing music!!!! The atmosphere at the opening and in the first few sections was certainly rather frightening! You were all right about that! And the ending was so exciting! Brilliant brilliant brilliant brilliant music! I had to repeat the last two minutes as I loved it and was so excited by it! The vocal writing around here really moved me.

I am very, very excited to hear the last act. Will probably be on Sunday that I get to listen to, looking forward to hearing it very much!!!!!

[Lisztianwagner]

Just back from the second act of Gotterdammerung. Absolutely thrilling, amazing music!!!! The atmosphere at the opening and in the first few sections was certainly rather frightening! You were all right about that! And the ending was so exciting! Brilliant brilliant brilliant brilliant music! I had to repeat the last two minutes as I loved it and was so excited by it! The vocal writing around here really moved me.

Could I not agree with this?

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Quote from: madaboutmahler on Today at 22:01:27

Just back from the second act of Gotterdammerung. Absolutely thrilling, amazing music!!!! The atmosphere at the opening and in the first few sections was certainly rather frightening! You were all right about that!



I hope you listened with one of your parents. 

[madaboutmahler]

Could I not agree with this?

Quote from: madaboutmahler on Today at 22:01:27

Just back from the second act of Gotterdammerung. Absolutely thrilling, amazing music!!!! The atmosphere at the opening and in the first few sections was certainly rather frightening! You were all right about that!



I hope you listened with one of your parents. 

haha I was brave enough to listen to it just myself!

[kaergaard]

That was the lead up to my question:
Does anyone know of new recordings or new re-releases that might be forthcoming for "the anniversary year"?  I'm quite willing to wait for these if something good is in the offing.

Try ArkivMusic! A DVD of Rienzi of the life performance at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2010. Terrific acting and singing!