Knappertsbusch's Parsifal

[kishnevi]

There are, AFAIK, four Kna's Meistersinger recordings available. The more widely praised is the Decca studio 1950-1951, with the Wiener Philarmoniker and Paul Schoffler as Hans Sachs. The other 3 are all live recordings - Bayreuth 1952 with Otto Edelman, Bayerische Staatsoper1955 with Ferdinand Frantz and Bayreuth 1960 with Joseph Greindl - and, for different reasons, I also can find many interest in these live versions.

Not going into preference details the 1950-51 studio was probably the one you had on LP and maybe you will be pleased to remember it. I still have the "Decca Historic" edition but there is also a recent remastering by Naxos.   



   

Thank you.  It would have to be the Decca, if only because it was not a live version.  I'll know to keep an eye out for it.  And also for the Barenboim Parsifal that Sarge mentioned.

[czgirb]

It is also one of the best recorded as Decca had produced the set.

Parsifal -  Bayreuth Festival Orchestra / Bayreuth Festival Chorus / Hans Knappertsbusch, conductor
is Decca? I don't know ... what I have is Philips.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Parsifal -  Bayreuth Festival Orchestra / Bayreuth Festival Chorus / Hans Knappertsbusch, conductor
is Decca? I don't know ... what I have is Philips.

Yes, what you have on Philips is the 1962 Kna Parsifal. What I was referring to was the 1951 Parsifal, originally recorded by Decca.

[Lisztianwagner]

Knappertsbusch was certainly one of the greatest wagnerian conductors ever existed; both his recordings of Parsifal in 1951 and in 1962 are definitely excellent, so powerful and thrilling!!
Maybe the 1962 Parsifal is one of the best performances of that opera I've ever heard.

Ilaria

[kishnevi]

Not going into preference details the 1950-51 studio was probably the one you had on LP and maybe you will be pleased to remember it. I still have the "Decca Historic" edition but there is also a recent remastering by Naxos.   



   

And--is it really a year since we discussed it?--I've finally gotten that one, in the Naxos mastering.
And at the same time the 1951 Parsifal, also in the Naxos recension.

[kishnevi]

(quasi-)After Action Report

Listened to the 1951 Bayreuth Parsifal two nights ago, and now listening to the 1950/1 Meistersinger (now on Act III, scene 1, which is I why I call this a quasi-after action report).

The Parsifal was a definite winner.  A simple way of phrasing my reaction is that at the end of the 4 1/2 span, it seemed too quick.  Sound wasn't too bad either, although there was a good deal of stage and audience noise, and at one point, as the Grail Knights processed onto the stage in Act III, it seemed as if a couple of the chorus members got too close to the microphones and for a half minute or so became star soloists.  (This was the Naxos mastering by Mark Obert-Thorn.) Overall, an overwhelmingly excellent performance that I would highly recommend to anyone except those who absolutely can not live with audience noise or with 1950s sonics.

The Meistersinger, although the conducting and singing is as least as good, is not quite so transcendent.  The culprit is the sound, which comes across much duller and more opviously of its era, and dampens the performance considerably.  Oddly, this was a studio recording, whereas the Parsifal was a live performance, and the remastering is again from Naxos/Obert-Thorn, so this one is merely a superior historical recording.

[freenwood]

According to the notes on the Naxos Meistersinger, it was compiled from a few British LP sources (!) because of a corrupted master tape.  This is almost certainly the reason for the dull/damp sound.  Anyone who's heard a transfer from non-primary sources (like one of the bargain basement Membran boxes) will be familiar with the effect this has on sound quality.  Interested in wherefrom the other releases draw their transfers, given the high quality of this performance.  Naxos note quoted in full below:

Producer's Note
The present transfer was made from the best portions of three British LP pressings. The original master tape has numerous problems. The beginnings of some notes were clipped, while at other times some bars of music were incorrectly repeated. Occasionally, a splice joined two sections recorded at slightly different pitches and volume levels. I have attempted to fix as much as I could, but the attacks of some notes remain missing. I was able to reinstate a pizzicato (CD 1, Track 9, 4:56) which was apparently cut from all editions subsequent to the earliest two-LP set of Act I.
-Mark Obert-Thorn