WAGNER, Richard (1813-1883) Wagner's music indications deserves a foreword: His passion was the stage, he wrote all the librettos to his Operas, Bayreuth was designed by him to not allow the audience to see the orchestra, but his drama would never existed without his music. His medieval dramas and German mythology plays are huge and not for all tastes, including mine, but the excerpts, Overtures and Preludes from his Operas are among the best music ever composed. Der fliegende Hollander (1843) ( The Flying Dutchman ) Le Vaisseau Fantome (1860) - Opera London, Rysanek, Liebl, Tozzi, Lewis, Elias, Dorati, Royal Opera 2 CDs Decca or London 417319 Bailey, Martin, Kollo, Talvela, Krenn, Jones, (see text) Solti, Chicago Sym. 2 CDs Decca or London 414551 This is a masterwork without a single dull moment. From the stormy Overture, through splendid arias and choruses, to the redemption apotheosis, everything is a beauty. This apotheosis that closes the Opera and also the Overture, introduced by the harp notes, was added by Wagner in 1860 for a production in France, and is adopted by both conductors in my list. Dorati's recording was made in 1960 by producer Richard Mohr and engineer Lewis Layton, released by RCA in 1961 as LSC- 6156, but is now part of Decca catalogue. The first Opera recording in Dorati's career, it is a great artistic and engineering achievement. Karl Liebl is the best Erik I ever heard. A must in any good collection. Solti's recording has an oddity that makes it more a selected comparison than a choice. He and producer Ray Minshull, inspired by the lack of a decent hall in Chicago, decided to ignore Wagner's stage indications to the point of making the chorus sing the Dutchman Crew parts and the Norwegian Sailors parts from the same direction, same distance and with the same intonation, thus transforming the Opera into an Oratorio. The Orchestra playing is superb, Solti's conducting is excellent, the singing has great moments, but what follows the Overture has little and sometimes no atmosphere. The curse upon Chicago Symphony is much stronger than the one upon the Dutchman was. Musicians and engineers wander like ghosts between the Orchestra Hall and the Medinah Temple to make recordings, since late Sixties, fighting against acoustic deficiencies and lack of space, longing for an aristocratic soul with a big budget to put an end to all that suffering. Overtures, Preludes and excerpts ( Flying Dutchman, Tannhauser, Lohengrin, Tristan and Isolde, Meistersinger, The Ring, Parsifal ) Solti, Chicago Sym. (Flying Dutchman:Ov., London 430448 Tannhauser:Ov.,Tristan:Prel.+Lieb.,Meistersinger:Prel.I) Dorati, London Sym. (Tannhauser:Ov.and Ven., Mercury 434342 Lohengrin:Prels.,Tristan:P.+L.,Meister.:Prel.I, etc.) Bohm, Vienna Phil. (Flying Dutchman:Ov., DG 413733 Lohengrin:Prels.,Tristan:Prel.+Liebestod) Sinopoli, New York Phil. (Flying Dutchman:Ov., DG 419169 Lohengrin:Prels.,Meistersinger:Prel.I, Siegfried-Idyll) Handley, Royal Phil. (Flying Dutchman:Ov., Tring TRP008 Tannhauser:Ov.,Lohengrin:Prel.III,Valkyries:Ride, etc.) Solti, Vienna Phil. ( Music from The Ring: London 410137 Siegfried's Funeral March, Ride, Magic Fire, etc.) Mehta, Vienna Phil. ( Lohengrin:Prels., (LP) London CS 6529 Meister.:Prel.I,Parsifal:Prel., + Liszt:Les Preludes) As above, the 1860 version of the Flying Dutchman Overture is the only one played here. Solti's recording comes from the complete set already commented, coupled with equally great performances of other works. The Overture to Tannhauser received its first performance in Dresden in 1845 and is among his most beautiful and imposing music. In 1861, to include a ballet for a production in Paris, he removed the return of Pilgrims' hymn at the end to add the Venusberg music, and the result is a blunder. In my list, only Dorati plays the Paris version, but he compensates this bad choice with the best performance of the next piece ever recorded. The Prelude to Act I of Lohengrin is, in my opinion, the best music of Wagner. A musical portrait of ecstasy, this Prelude alone is enough to qualify Wagner as a genius. Dorati and London Symphony brought to life the delicacy and strength of this music and their performance was perpetuated in a razor sharp recording made by producer Wilma Cozart and engineer Robert Fine. Mehta comes close but is not available in CD up to now. Sinopoli's performance is also very good but DG crew failed in their job - it is included here because of the Prelude to Act III. DG gave first class sound to Bohm but his performance is not exciting. The Prelude to Act III is a festive introduction to the wedding ceremony that opens this Act. It is a short piece that allows an orchestra to show all the glory of its brass, and Vienna Philharmonic is second to none in this section. In the Opera it leads to the wedding march, but for concert performance some conductors created endings, being the most famous the one used by Sinopoli, and a variation of these closing bars is used by Handley. Bohm and Mehta simply cuts the score and Dorati plays few bars of the march. The orchestral part of the Liebestod scene from Tristan und Isolde is often played in concert preceded by the Prelude to Act I. It is a minimalist view of this huge Opera sanctioned by Wagner. Bohm and Vienna Philharmonic achieved the best results in these works and were helped by good engineering. Solti comes close, and Dorati seems careless in Liebestod. The Mastersingers was the only comedy among Wagner's Operas and the light mood of the work can be heard from the opening bars of its Prelude to Act I. Solti conducted the most bright and best recorded performance of this work. Solti is also the only one I recommend for the Siegfried's Funeral March and other excerpts from The Ring. This digital recording is of demonstration quality and Solti's performances of Wagner requires no further comments. The Prelude to Parsifal is hard to find in CD and Mehta recording deserves to be released. Tristan und Isolde - Opera (1865) Vickers, Dernesch, Ludwig, Berry, Ridderbusch, others, Karajan, Berlin Phil. 4 CDs EMI CMS 769319 This Opera is not as easy as The Flying Dutchman, but its great moments more than compensate for the few dull. Vickers made the role of Tristan his property in the stereo era. Listening to this recording is an experience that is only second to seeing and hearing him on stage. I had the privilege of attending a performance of Vickers as Tristan in Brazil and that was the operatic experience of a lifetime. The microphones does not do full justice to him as the stage does. Karajan, his orchestra and the other singers are in a great moment, and the EMI recording by Wolfgang Gulich is excellent. © Copyright 1999 Amilcar Schiappe Pereira End of section W