Recommendations for Wagners 'Wesendonk Lieder'.

[Solitary Wanderer]

There seems to be several options available.

Suggestions for the highly regarded version would be appreciated.

Thanks 

[Holden]

The version that goes with the Buckner 6 on this sounded very good to my unintiated ears.



You can also find the same version of it here

[jlaurson]

Terrific coupling. Double Cream Deluxe version. Not the only one to have (in either Wagner/Strauss case), but a must-have in my book.

[Tsaraslondon]

Janet Baker's thoughtful and beautifully sung version, under the baton of Adrian Boult, is, I believe, only available as part of this 5 CD set, but at only £11.57 on Amazon UK, it's certainly worth acquiring. And there isn't a dud performance on the set (peerless Mahler, with both her recordings of Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen).

[Todd]

Julia Varady, with Dieskau conducting is suprisingly good.  Ditto the Studer/Sinopoli paring.


 

[knight66]

Varady is good. She really ought to be more widely appreciated than she is. Some live recordings are now surfacing; but a lot of opportunities have gone by. The major recording companies never seemed to pick up on her any any consistant way.

DFD can be a bit of a mixed blessing as a conductor. They produced a number of recital discs together. This Wagner one is good, but not as fine as the Verdi or Strauss discs they recorded. I find his traversal of the songs to be too swift, not enough time given for the tone painting, or to establish the atmosphere of the pieces. I also feel that mezzo tones are more appropriate to this night-time music.

I have a mere three of the songs sung by Ludwig on a double compilation issue. Klemperer is conducting. These are excellent; I should think that with the missing songs it would make an ideal recommendation.

I also have both the EMI Baker and the orchestral Jessye Norman ones; both are excellent, though I think Baker provides a wider tone palate and more atmosphere of a dream like quality, but without becoming becalmed at all. Boult is seemingly away from his normal territory, but his version ticks all the boxes. He is mainly slower than Masur is for Norman. Norman's Traume is just a bit too epic. She opens up the voice too operatically. Boult's slower pulse right from the start of that song allows Baker to manage the far away feel of the song more successfully. He also phrases well in paragraphs, Masur has too much forward impetus here.

I also have Norman accompanied by piano for the cycle; but frankly, the scale of the voice is not suited to this combination in this piece. The speeds are faster in this version than with Masur. 'Im Treibhaus' is 5.39 with Irwin Gage, 7.09 with Masur. Of course, the piano is at a real disadvantage, for example, at the opening of 'Traume'; where the spare repeated chording in the prelude can sound treacly if taken as slowly as the orchestras can sustain. Sensibly Gage is quite prompt, but the song itself then suffers, as it is basically at the wrong speed. Norman seems to have noticeable trouble scaling her voice back in 'Im Treibhaus'. The coushioning orchestral palate suits her much better.

There is an interesting take on the songs on a rather odd Stephanie Blythe disc. This has re orchestrations of the Brahms 'Alto Rhapsody', the final song from 'Das Lied von der Erde' and the Wagner songs. All are in editions for chamber performance. The Wagner is adapted by no lesser than Hans Werner Henze. Ironic in a way that one of the most luxurious of voices is drafted in to record reduced ensemble versions. It has a lot to commend it and she does not flood out the chamber players. But it is entirely a curiosity, if you don't know or have the standard performing versions.

A sideline here; these are I think the only mature pieces that Wagner set to texts other than his own. Mathilde Wesendonk wrote the poems and on the title page Wagner described the work as, 'Five Dilettante poems'. What a class act he was.

Mike

Edit: As pointed out below, for Masur, read Colin Davis

[jlaurson]

I also have both the EMI Baker and the orchestral Jessye Norman ones; ...Boult is ... mainly slower than Masur is for Norman. Norman's Traume is just a bit too epic. She opens up the voice too operatically. Boult's slower pulse right from the start of that song allows Baker to manage the far away feel of the song more successfully. He also phrases well in paragraphs, Masur has too much forward impetus here.

etc.

Colin Davis, not Masur, I believe.

[knight66]

Yes, my apologies, the same disc has Strauss 4 last songs, different orchestra and Masur.

However, my opinion of the conducting remains the same.

Mike