Purchases Today

[PerfectWagnerite]

What tipped me over was the ClassicsToday review that described Vickers' performance as stellar (which I knew given the Orange production - his Act III singing is the best I've heard) and the orchestral playing as basically indulgent on Karajan's part but nonetheless "semi-divine".

You really have to take some of the opera reviews on classicstoday with a grain of salt. I remember this review:

http://www.classicstoday.com/review/review-13247/?search=1

where the reviewer says:

sound measures up to today's standards

I am not the audiophile and would be the last to point out deficiencies in recorded sound but the SOUND in this recording is ghastly, not ok, or ok for its time (1974 BTW) but just plain ghastly as in totally unlistenable. I emailed Hurwitz about the review and he basically said R. Levine has his own standards (or none as far as I am concerned) regarding sound. Oh well.

[Todd]

You really have to take some of the opera reviews on classicstoday with a grain of salt.

I do.  But I was really just looking for an excuse to buy.  This will be my eleventh Tristan, so I know what to expect, what some others offer, and how to adjust for sound.  For instance, the '78 Tristan with Kleiber and Ligendza paired up again would be my go-to for that duo, and its sound is not exactly world-class, either.  Ligendza's Liebestod in that production is to die for.

[ritter]

What tipped me over was the ClassicsToday review that described Vickers' performance as stellar (which I knew given the Orange production - his Act III singing is the best I've heard) and the orchestral playing as basically indulgent on Karajan's part but nonetheless "semi-divine".

That recording has been on my radar for quite a while as well. I'm not that much of a fan of Mr. Vicker's singing (I find his tone rather unpalatable), and Karajan's conducting has been criticized fro the extreme (artificial, some say) swings in dynamics (as PerfectWagnerite points out). And yet, Karajan's earliier live broadcast from Bayreuth (1952) is superb, and seeing how his approach evolved over ca. 20 years may be interesting (apart from the better sound one can expect).  And I have a soft spot for the much-maligned Herga Dernesch. The rest of the cast is also very alluriing...

THREAD DUTY:

Inevitably (found cheap "used - like new"):

[asin]B000000FSN[/asin]

[Mirror Image]

THREAD DUTY:

Inevitably (found cheap "used - like new"):

[asin]B000000FSN[/asin]

Great find! Looking at the contents and there's certainly great stuff here for sure.

[Mirror Image]

Just bought:





The two Chailly recordings were both bought together for less than $10 including shipping. Not bad.

[aligreto]

I find the HVK tough to listen to. It is either very soft or very loud and I am constantly adjusting the volume control. The orchestral playing is spectacular, about as lush and muscular as it gets, very different from the chamber-music approach that HVK took in the Ring Cycle. I like Vickers' singing as it is full of anguish and expression, but is not very pleasant to listen to. Helga Dernesch is another story, she never sounds comfortable, anywhere. In fact I would say it might be better off had Christa Ludwig sung Isolde and Dernesch sing Brangaene, as Ludwig is clearly in much better vocal shape.

What tipped me over was the ClassicsToday review that described Vickers' performance as stellar (which I knew given the Orange production - his Act III singing is the best I've heard) and the orchestral playing as basically indulgent on Karajan's part but nonetheless "semi-divine". 

Thank you both for your thoughts 

[The new erato]

Europadisc:

[asin]B00I5302UC[/asin]
[asin]B019HKBTO4[/asin]
[asin]B01K68F1WM[/asin]

[SurprisedByBeauty]

I do.  But I was really just looking for an excuse to buy.  This will be my eleventh Tristan, so I know what to expect, what some others offer, and how to adjust for sound.  For instance, the '78 Tristan with Kleiber and Ligendza paired up again would be my go-to for that duo, and its sound is not exactly world-class, either.  Ligendza's Liebestod in that production is to die for.

With ten Tristans under your belt, you could even go for the Sabata recording and not be under a worse impression of the opera.
http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2010/04/reviewed-not-necessarily-recommended.html

Which others have you got?

[Todd]

Which others have you got?

In rough order of preference.  My main opera binge years were about '02-'07, so some I've not heard in years.  Looking at my own list, I'm thinking I need to try the senior Kleiber.  Almost without exception - the biggest one being Der Rosenkavalier, in the form of Carlos' essentially perfect '79 Munich performance - I find him better than his son in works they both recorded, though Carlos is, of course, hardly a slouch.

Bohm (DG)
Bohm (Kultur, Orange '73)
C Kleiber (Myto, La Scala '78)
Furtwangler (EMI)
C Kleiber (DG)
C Kleiber (Opera d'Oro, Bayreuth '74)
Pappano
Barenboim (Teldec)
Thielemann
Solti (Decca)

[North Star]

[asin]B00005UUOC[/asin]
[asin]B00006GO45[/asin]
[asin]B001O2BR5K[/asin]
[asin]B00068CVKI[/asin]

[SurprisedByBeauty]

In rough order of preference.  My main opera binge years were about '02-'07, so some I've not heard in years.  Looking at my own list, I'm thinking I need to try the senior Kleiber.  Almost without exception - the biggest one being Der Rosenkavalier, in the form of Carlos' essentially perfect '79 Munich performance - I find him better than his son in works they both recorded, though Carlos is, of course, hardly a slouch.

Bohm (DG)
Bohm (Kultur, Orange '73)
C Kleiber (Myto, La Scala '78)
Furtwangler (EMI)
C Kleiber (DG)
C Kleiber (Opera d'Oro, Bayreuth '74)
Pappano
Barenboim (Teldec)
Thielemann
Solti (Decca)

Boehm was my introduction on record -- though I first heard the opera live. With Mehta in a fantastic Konwitschny production. I think it was even the same year as the recording they made of it, on DVD. Most notable for Waltraud Meier's Kundry (at just about the right time) and Kurt Moll's Gurnemanz. Pappano I never warmed to, Solit for one reason or another never appealed enough for me to get it; Thielemann I was quite impressed -- but not wowed -- by; Barenboim is in my estimation still the best modern recording, though Kleiber is a clear third or so alternative way of listening... esp. the Bayreuth '74. (The Legacy of Carlos Kleiber on Disc)... but also the studio effort. (The Best Recordings of 2005.)

[Mirror Image]

[asin]B001O2BR5K[/asin]

[asin]B00068CVKI[/asin]

Pounds the table!

[Karl Henning]

Good day, Karlo!

Yes, CD collecting is a tiresome and complicated affair! 

Nobody knows the trouble that I've seen
Nobody knows my sorrow 0:)

You guys are cracking me up!  0:)

[PerfectWagnerite]

Boehm was my introduction on record -- though I first heard the opera live. With Mehta in a fantastic Konwitschny production. I think it was even the same year as the recording they made of it, on DVD. Most notable for Waltraud Meier's Kundry (at just about the right time)

Kundry? You got the right opera?

[aligreto]

Adding some Holst to my collection....

[prémont]

Was thinking, do I really need another WTC on harpsichord. Then I remembered Leonhardt's performance of the cadenza in Harnoncourt's recording of Brandenburg Concerto No 5.

Leonhardt does not play on Harnoncourt's Brandenburg concertos.

GL plays on his own set (Seon 1977) and on the Collegium Aureum recording (DHM 1965).

[North Star]

You guys are cracking me up!  0:)

Well, and I still wait to see if that Manze/Biber will be shipped. . .

[Que]

Leonhardt does not play on Harnoncourt's Brandenburg concertos.

GL plays on his own set (Seon 1977) and on the Collegium Aureum recording (DHM 1965).

Probably Herbert Tachezi?

(Sorry, I was too lazy to walk to my CD shelves and check...   )

Q

[Parsifal]

Probably Herbert Tachezi?

(Sorry, I was too lazy to walk to my CD shelves and check...   )

Q

That's correct, it was Tachezi.

Too late to cancel that Leonardt disc.

Fortunately it only cost me $0.99

[Que]

That's correct, it was Tachezi.

Too late to cancel that Leonardt disc.

Fortunately it only cost me $0.99

The Leonhardt WTC has many fans... I'm sure it will be worth your while.

Or else...try Glen Wilson.  The recent Christophe Rousset isn't too shabby either...


Q