Collecting Wagner

[Wendell_E]

Looking at the mdt.co.uk pre-order chart, I see the following 200th birthday releases:

From EMI, a 36-CD set of "The Great Operas" (no Das Liebesverbot or Die Feen) plus a 4-cd set of "The Other Wagner. Symphonic Vocal and Piano Music", and a two-CD set of "The Essential Wagner" (as if the "essential Wagner" could fit on two CDs. 

From DG, a 43-CD set of all of the operas.  They use the BBC recordings of the first two operas, and Hollreiser's EMI(!) Rienzi. so that one's also in the EMI box.

From, Opus Arte, a 25 DVD "Wagner Edition" (all but the first three operas)

http://www.mdt.co.uk/pre-releases.html?composer=57

and, of course, the Decca/Solti 36-CD box has already been released.

[kaergaard]

Of course I broke down and ordered the NY Metropolitan Opera 'Swaying Bridge' set. How can I critisice it, if I have not seen it? Of course being impatient and wanting to see Kaufmann's Siegmund was another nudge. Haven't watched it yet, still totally involved in The Romance of Three Kingdoms, but that's another completely different category: Jonas Kaufmann against Tang Guo Quiang!   

[kaergaard]

Did it! Watched this Ring des Nibelung, one act per day, my mind wide open to Lepage's opinion on how this Gesamtkunstwerk should be staged. During an interview he quoted Wagner as saying after the premiere: "Und das nächstemal machen's wir anders". Wagner didn't live long enough to stage another, different one. I agree with all those creative people involved in the production, that Wagner would have liked this one if all those technical innovations and possibilities were available to him. No more Styrofoam rocks and painted cardboard trees! To me - a person barely able to change a light bulb - it is a miracle how Lepage could use a bunch of moveable two-by-fours and make me see a forest alive with slithering snakes and crawling bugs; make me see the Walküres atop their steeds, guiding them, holding the reins; making me watch Siegfried fighting his way through the flames to his promised wife. I was fascinated and involved from beginning to end by this innovative, ingenious use of The Machine.

As to the musical part of the production, comparisons are mostly unfair, but I'll have to do it because to me the difference with other productions is remarkable. There is the feeling that Bryn Terfel is getting tired of being forever Wotan.  He is still the note-perfect professional singer, but his Wotan in the concert performance at the 2005 Proms, as an example, is that of a loving father with all his emotions out in the open. As happy as I am for Deborah Voigt to finally perform Brünnhilde, she is not the happy, exuberant warrior maid as Linda Gasteen is also in the 2005 Proms. Maybe it has something to do with the conducting.  Rheingold and Walküre have Maestro Levine in charge of the vocal and instrumental performances, Fabio Luisi ain't got it! Wagner Genes are non-existent in his system.

[Chaszz]

1834 - Die Feen (Sawallisch)
1836 - Das Liebesverbot (Sawallisch)
1840 - Rienzi, der Letzte der Tribunen (Hollreiser)
1841 - Der Fliegende Holländer (Sinopoli)
1845 - Tannhäuser (Solti)
1848 - Lohengrin (Kubelik)
1859 - Tristan und Isolde (Bohm)
1867 - Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Kubelik)
1874 - Der Ring des Nibelungen (Bohm)
1882 - Parsifal (Solti)

This is what i got so far. Comments and suggestions about those recordings are appreciated. BTW, did Wagner ever wrote anything of worth besides his operas? I know the Siegfried Idyll is supposed to be pretty good, but he reuses a lot of material in the Ring so i'm not sure its worth listening to. I also tried some of his piano works once but wasn't really impressed.

The Siegfried Idyll is for me one of the greatest, most perfect, most beautiful pieces of music ever written. Hands down. I have literally spent hours and hours in its joyous embrace. No Wagner fan should consider skipping listening to it because some of its material is in The Ring. Wagner was one of the greatest variers of musical themes who ever lived, so if he uses a theme in one place it is only a prelude to whatever further magic he will work with it elsewhere. Would you skip Forest Murmurs as being not worth the time to try listening to? The Spring Song in Act I of Walkure? The Meistersinger Prize Song? The Lovers' Duet in Act II of Tristan? The Good Friday Music from Parsifal? Run, do not walk, to get a copy of the Siegfried Idyll by any good conductor. And cancel all your appointments for the next five days.

Calming down and catching my breath a bit, I want to second your choice of Bohm's "white-hot" Bayreuth performance of Tristan. 

[bigshot]

Weissendonk Lieder is worth getting too.

[Chaszz]

Two favorite conductors of mine: first, I'd like to recommend Karl Muck, a Wagner conductor from the early years of the 20th century. Some if his recordings of excerpts and scenes are available on CD, and some can be heard on Youtube. He was apprenticing at Bayreuth shortly after Wagner died and may transmit some of the conducting experience and tradition surrounding the composer himself. His performances are transcendent even in early recorded sound. They have a remarkable sonic presence for 1927 and must surely represent some of the best recording equipment and studio ambience then available. His Parsifal scenes are particularly great.

Among present day conductors, Christian Theilemann for me is a standout. The manipulators at Bayreuth, however demented their stagings may be, have I believe made a good choice of a principal conductor. 

[StLukesguildOhio]

Mirror Image- I would really think about getting another Ring cycle. All of them are so different from each other. I would go with Karajan's next. It's my favorite of the four I own.

I know this is an old post... but I just had to point out that it is interesting to find someone who actually likes Karajan's Ring above the usual suspects.

[StLukesguildOhio]

Seargent Rock- I'm tempted, yes, by Keilberth, but there comes a time in every man's life when he finally must say, Enough is enough--and twelve Rings are enough.

Even at $160 US+ I remain tempted... especially considering all the voices of those who insist that Keilberth's is the "holy grail" of Rings.

Of course there's also this Keilberth recording currently available for a ridiculously low price:

[StLukesguildOhio]

My current Wagner collection (complete operas only):

Der Ring des Nibelungen-

*Herbert von Karajan
*Georg Solti,
*Marek Janowski
* Clemens Krauss (Bayreuth 1953),
*Hans Knappertsbusch (Bayreuth 1956)

Tristan und Isolde-

*Herbert von Karajan (and the Berlin Philharmonic 1972)
*Wilhelm Furtwangler
*Antonio Pappano
*Carlos Kleiber
*Georg Solti
*Fritz Reiner (with Kirsten Flagstad and Lauritz Melchior)

Parsifal-

*Hans Knappertsbusch
*Herbert von Karajan
*Georg Solti

Lohengrin-

*Semyon Bychkov
*Georg Solti
*Rudolf Kempe

Tannhäuser-

*Georg Solti
*Franz Konwitschny
*Barenboim

Der fliegende Holländer-

*Hans Knappertsbusch (with Varnay and Windgassen at Bayreuth)
*Christoph von Dohnanyi

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg-

*George Solti

Wagner, Mozart, Richard Strauss, Schubert's lieder, and J.S. Bach are the only composers that I collect in a manner approaching an obsession. There are a few individual works such as Mahler's Song of the Earth, Handel's Messiah and Haydn's Creation that I am also somewhat obsessive/compulsive with... but for most of the works in my collection I have one or two recordings.

[Mirror Image]

My current Wagner collection (complete operas only):

Der Ring des Nibelungen-

*Herbert von Karajan
*Georg Solti,
*Marek Janowski
* Clemens Krauss (Bayreuth 1953),
*Hans Knappertsbusch (Bayreuth 1956)

Tristan und Isolde-

*Herbert von Karajan (and the Berlin Philharmonic 1972)
*Wilhelm Furtwangler
*Antonio Pappano
*Carlos Kleiber
*Georg Solti
*Fritz Reiner (with Kirsten Flagstad and Lauritz Melchior)

Parsifal-

*Hans Knappertsbusch
*Herbert von Karajan
*Georg Solti

Lohengrin-

*Semyon Bychkov
*Georg Solti
*Rudolf Kempe

Tannhäuser-

*Georg Solti
*Franz Konwitschny
*Barenboim

Der fliegende Holländer-

*Hans Knappertsbusch (with Varnay and Windgassen at Bayreuth)
*Christoph von Dohnanyi

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg-

*George Solti

Wagner, Mozart, Richard Strauss, Schubert's lieder, and J.S. Bach are the only composers that I collect in a manner approaching an obsession. There are a few individual works such as Mahler's Song of the Earth, Handel's Messiah and Haydn's Creation that I am also somewhat obsessive/compulsive with... but for most of the works in my collection I have one or two recordings.

Hey StLukes, you may not remember but I was a frequent member of the BrightCecilia forum under the moniker I am using right now. Long time, no speak! I hope everything is well with you. Surprised you didn't use a statue as your avatar.

[StLukesguildOhio]

Yes... you were also a member on Talk Classical back in the day. Good to see you are still around.

As for my choice of avatar... I usually go with some statue simply because it "reads" well on the small size they allow... but with the larger avatar here, I decided to go with a painting... but still something simple and graphic.

[Mirror Image]

Yes... you were also a member on Talk Classical back in the day. Good to see you are still around.

As for my choice of avatar... I usually go with some statue simply because it "reads" well on the small size they allow... but with the larger avatar here, I decided to go with a painting... but still something simple and graphic.

GMG is a great site and I've made many friends here. I hope you stick around and share your wealth of knowledge with others. Talk to you later.