-
Rienzi, der Letzte der Tribunen, opera, WWV 49
Composed by Richard Wagner
Performed by Dresden State Opera Chorus, Dresden Staatskapelle
with Siv Wennberg, Peter Schreier, Janis Martin, Rene Kollo, Theo Adam, Siegfried Vogel, Gunther Leib, Ingeborg Springer, Nikolaus Hillebrand
Conducted by Heinrich Hollreiser, Horst Neumann, John Barker
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The EMI Rienzi was the first big label attempt to capture the work that put Wagner on the musical map of Europe in 1837. Each of Wagner's first three works finds the composer imitating one of Europe's major musical lights of the first part of the 19th century, with Rienzi being his de facto tribute to the grandiose style of Meyerbeer. Little of the mature of Wagner is apparent in the set-piece arias and conventional five-act structure of this behemoth. However, there are memorable arias (particularly Rienzi's prayer) and orchestral passages, which explain the attraction of the work to the audiences of the last century. Kollo sounds young in this '70s-era recording, though his cabaret-style delivery is not quite as well suited to Rienzi as to Tannhäuser. Hollreiser uses the Dresden forces in an appropriately bombastic manner, providing the listener with a glimpse of the heroic style of opera in vogue during the first part of the last century. --Christian C. Rix
Past recordings have either been composites of two or more performances or the EMI recording. There aren't others to choose from. EMI had Rene Kollo as Rienzi. He's in good form, as are all of the other singers (except Siv Wennberg, who tries but ultimately ends up painfully sliding through some high tessitura). The performance "sounds" good, but it is just too studio bound. Everyone was giving a good recital of what they had learned, but they don't have much of a clue as to what is going on dramatically. Hollreiser is the conductor of that, and it's on his shoulders that the problem lies. Everyone needed a stronger hand because the opera is, frankly, never given. The recording follows the Eulenberg score. That score may be long, but it has many cuts, and the recording made a couple of more besides.
That recording was already passe when it came out because this performance had already taken place. It includes so much more music! And it is delivered with so much more understanding and panache! John Mitchinson is incredible as Rienzi - and the role makes Siegfried look desirable. He is noble, angry, loving and, ultimately fatalistic. He is surrounded by singers who, if less well known than those on the EMI, have done their homework. They shape phrases to great effect and the whole builds to a great fifth act. Act one runs over an hour, act two just at 90 minutes, act three and four at 50 minutes each, and act five tags in at around 15 minutes. This is Wagner trying to outdo Meyerbeer. Heard cut, the opera does this in the most banal way. Heard uncut, as here, the opera unfolds with some indication of the powerful music Wagner would write soon - Flying Dutchman was next. All Wagner lovers should be standing in line for this one.
(This review is based on an earlier, pirated tape copy. A few minor sound problems encountered on that tape are presumably rectified here.)
To get some juicy "Ring" selections, you should investigate George Szell's oustanding CD on Sony Essential Classics which is uniquely captivating as far as orchestral excerpts from the Ring operas go.
Getting back to this DG Double, here is my rundown of all the tracks. The Rienzi Overture is done well by Karl Bohm but it's nothing remarkable. The Flying Duthchman also conducted by Bohm is played with gusto, pretty good. The Tannhauser Overture is an extremely dull run-through by Otto Gerdes, what a nightmare! Listen to Solti instead to get the full power of this terrific piece! The Lohengrin preludes by Kubelik lack the dreamy mysticism and rich power of Karajan's versions on EMI. The preludes to Die Meistersinger are played by Bohm and Jochum, Bohm is too relaxed and slow in the prelude to Act 1 but Jochum finds more life in the prelude to act 3. The ultra-famous "Ride of the Valkyries" is played by Karajan, an excerpt from his complete set of the Ring and yes the soprano soloists are on display here. It's a good account but hardly matches the excitement of Solti's version from his complete Ring recording.
The second CD opens up with powerful excerpts from Tristan and Isolde played by Bohm, the prelude and Act 3 intro are taken from his famous Bayreuth set with Birgit Nilsson. Nilsson however is not represented in the final Liebestod, instead a later, not very passionate Bohm recording is tacked on. The Siegfried Idyll is conducted by Kubelik and is not very memorable, certainly lacking the romantic abandon of the famous Karajan versions. Siegfried's Rhine Journey from Gotterdammerung is led by Karajan and sounds great.
Finally we get to the best part of this 2CD package, Eugen Jochum's performances of the Prelude and Good Friday Music from Wagner's final masterpiece, Parsifal. Both sound highly involved and deeply spiritual, the sound is great for something that was recorded way back in 1957. The brass get a bit edgy but it's not much of a worry, the readings are exceptional.
If you're a Wagner newbie, this 2CD set might satisfy you but I recommend you go and buy that EMI Karajan CD and the Ring excerpts by Szell, listen to those and you'll be well on your way to tackling a full opera. The most accessible opera to start with is Lohengrin.
As the title suggests, these are primarily overtures and preludes. They are not as bombastic as Wagner is wont to be but they are very strong. They are evocative of beauty and majesty. It is good orchestral music.
The performances included are all from Germanic orchestras. This music is a part of the culture and it is well done. If I have one complaint, it is a minor one. The pianissimo passages are sometimes so soft as to not be present. They are...understated in the extreme.
All in all, this is a quality recording capable of producing hours of enjoyment from its two disks.
It is delightful.
As to the famous Stokowski penchant for taffy-pulling, his tempos are almost straight here, and when he does lean into the rubato, as in the Tristan Prelude and Liebestod, one feels the ghost of Wagner smiling down. Stokowski must be his kindred spirit for romantic fervor. Five stars for a cllection rivalled only by Furtwangler, Karajan, and Klemperer (really).
These are mostly minor pieces, and mostly attractive, as well as being fascinating products of a brash young genius learning his trade. The _Rienzi_ overture is the best-known piece, and perhaps the least "minor". Still, the best piece here is probably the _Faust_ overture. This tautly dramatic piece imitates Beethoven and Weber, as Wagner does in most of his early work, but also establishes an interesting darkness in harmony, and reveals skill in building up tension, which shows Wagner starting to find his own voice. Wagner said that it was with the _Faust_ overture that he first "became Wagner", and he was right. (By the way the cover gives the Faust overture's timing as 12 minutes, 19 seconds. Actually it's 12' 15". It's not that there are four seconds of music missing from the CD; it's just a misprint.)
The best disk of early Wagner overtures I know is from a two-CD set by Marek Janowski. One CD, with the French Radio Phil, offers mainstream Wagner excerpts from _Tannhäuser_, _Tristan_, _Lohengrin_ and _Meistersinger_, plus _Siegfried Idyll_, all very well played. But disk 2, with the London Symphony Orchestra, offers some rarities: the _Kaisermarsch_, the _Faust Overture_, the _Huldigungsmarsch_, the _Die Feen_ overture, the _American Centennial March_ and the _Das Liebesverbot_ overture. Janowski's may be the best account of the _Faust_ overture (also performed by Rahbari on this Naxos disk) that I know of. Janowski also offers better versions of the _Die Feen_ and _Das Liebesverbot_ overtures, while the versions in the Sawallisch complete recordings of these two early Wagner operas are better still. But the Rahbari/Malaga Phil performances of each of these pieces are still perfectly satisfactory in every way.
And, still with other performances of Wagner rarities, the world premier recording of the _König Enzio_ overture, also on this Naxo disk, was released in 2001 by the Robert Schumann Philharmonic Chemnitz under Oleg Caetani. That also offers a better performance than the Malaga Phil under Rahbari, though Rahbari and crew are perfectly good. The Caetani disk is worth having not only for the _König Enzio_ overture, which at the time wasn't available elsewhere, but also for the original version of Wagner's Prelude to Tannhäuser_ Act III, which is longer and more complex, and in my opinion better, than the better known, later, version. In more familiar territory the Caetani disk also offers a rattling good _Fliegende Holländer_ overture, and good performances of the _Lohengrin_ Acts I and III preludes, the _Tannhäuser_ overture, a "Walkürenritt" and the _Meistersinger_ overture.
So where Rahbari and the Malaga Phil duplicate these earlier disks, the performances are good but not quite as good. But this is still a great collection of Wagner rarities, on which every piece is well played.
Moreover, as far as I know Rahbari offers the only performance of the _Christolph Columbus_ overture on the market. This is an attractive piece, with a lot of heroic trumpeting about and a couple of "bold mariner" type themes, competently handled by the young Wagner. By the way, Cosima's Diary notes that Wagner once heard Rubinstein playing an arrangement of Mendelsohnn's _Calm Seas and Prosperous Voyage_ overture, and remarked [quote from memory], "that's my _Christolph Columbus_ overture! What a thief I was as a young man!"
While I'd agree with Wagner that his younger self pinched ideas from all over the place, and the older composer was still prepared to help himself to the odd good thing, on this particular occasion I think Wagner accused himself falsely. Both overtures are excellent, but they are two independent pieces of music.
I strongly recommend this disk, especially at the Naxos price, to people wanting to explore some early, mostly minor but mostly attractive, Wagner.
Cheers!
Laon
Just sample the Entry of the God's into Valhalla or Siegfried's Funeral March or the incandescent Prelude to Parsifal. They're among the most sublime, noble, and epic recordings of anything you'll ever hear. Rather sad that within the vast bulk of the recent film version of The Lord of the Rings there's not a single moment that equals these three short pieces. What's the point in all that we create these days if we can't plumb a depth now and then?
A definite in anyone's collection.
Other than that, I joyfully recommend this recording along with James Levine's MET "Wagner Orchestral music" and "Wagner Overtures and Preludes", which have much of the same music in modern sound and with spotless technique in the orchestra. A comparison between the two interpretations is worthy; Klemperer's approach is spacious a deep, while Levine, though calling for similar tempi in many places, leans tremendously forward.
Summary: some inexcusable blurbs in the winds, but more than worth the price of admission overall.
Yet, the only reason why I gave it 3 stars, was for the mere reason that Ride of the Valkyries is an excerpt, don't get me wrong, it is extremely well played, yet, that fact that it is a 3+ minute excerpt is rather disappointing. Also, you may hear an awckward timpani entrance in Tannhauser, but that is no reason not to buy this album. Some may complain that Solti liked overblown brass, but in my experience as an orchestral player, for Wagner, you need brass, and no the brass is not overblown.
My other comment on this album is The Flying Dutchman (Der Fliegende Hollander). Performed by the Vienna Phil. (Wiener Phil.), this performance is simply awesome. I still need to get the one with CSO, but as far as this goes, this track is simply awesome. I sincerely think if you do purchase this CD you will enjoy not only The Flying Dutchman, but the rest of the tracks as well. Enjoy!
If you like Solti and his approach to Wagner, you might want to give this a try. If not, there are better to be found.
The EMI Rienzi was the first big label attempt to capture the work that put Wagner on the musical map of Europe in 1837. Each of Wagner's first three works finds the composer imitating one of Europe's major musical lights of the first part of the 19th century, with Rienzi being his de facto tribute to the grandiose style of Meyerbeer. Little of the mature of Wagner is apparent in the set-piece arias and conventional five-act structure of this behemoth. However, there are memorable arias (particularly Rienzi's prayer) and orchestral passages, which explain the attraction of the work to the audiences of the last century. Kollo sounds young in this '70s-era recording, though his cabaret-style delivery is not quite as well suited to Rienzi as to Tannhäuser. Hollreiser uses the Dresden forces in an appropriately bombastic manner, providing the listener with a glimpse of the heroic style of opera in vogue during the first part of the last century. --Christian C. Rix
Richard Wagner: Rienzi,Gunther Leib,Nikolaus Hillebrand,Richard Wagner,Heinrich Hollreiser,Horst Neumann,John Barker,Dresden Staatskapelle,Staatsopernchor Dresden,Ingeborg Springer,Janis Martin,Peter Schreier,René Kollo,Siegfried Vogel,Siv Wennberg,Theo Adam,Angel Records,Classical,Classical Music,German/Austrian Romantic Opera,Opera,Opera / Operetta / Oratorio
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ASIN: B000001KD3 Release Date: 1995-04-16 |
Tracks:
- The Mastersingers: Prelude
- Lohengrin: Prelude To Act III
- Faust: Overture
- The Mastersingers: 'Awake!'
- The Mastersingers: 'Mad, All The World Is Mad'
- The Fairies: Overture
- Siegfried: Forest Murmurs
- The Mastersingers: Act III Quintet
- Rienzi: Overture
- The Flying Dutchman: Overture
- Tannhaeuser: Pilgrim's Chorus
- Tannhaeuser: Overture
- Gotterdammerung (Twilight Of The Gods): Siegfried's Rhine Journey
- Tannhaeuser: Song Of The Evening Star
- Lohengrin: Bridal Chorus
- Tristan und Isolde: Love-Death
- Tannhaeuser: Venusberg Music
- Lohengrin: Prelude To Act I
- The Mastersingers: Prelude
- The Mastersingers: Prize Song
- The Mastersingers: Beckmesser And Sachs Duet In Act II
- The Valkyrie: The Ride Of The Valkyries
- Gotterdammerung: Siegfred's Rhine Journey
- Siegfried: Siegfried Idyll
- Parsifal: Good Friday Spell
- Gotterdammerung: Siegfred's Funeral Music
- Tannhaeuser: Overture
- Lohengrin: Preludes To Act I And III, And Bridal Chorus
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Wagner: Rienzi
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ASIN: B000EGEKS8 Release Date: 2006-02-28 |
Customer Reviews:
Absolutely complete. Get it now........2006-03-02
Past recordings have either been composites of two or more performances or the EMI recording. There aren't others to choose from. EMI had Rene Kollo as Rienzi. He's in good form, as are all of the other singers (except Siv Wennberg, who tries but ultimately ends up painfully sliding through some high tessitura). The performance "sounds" good, but it is just too studio bound. Everyone was giving a good recital of what they had learned, but they don't have much of a clue as to what is going on dramatically. Hollreiser is the conductor of that, and it's on his shoulders that the problem lies. Everyone needed a stronger hand because the opera is, frankly, never given. The recording follows the Eulenberg score. That score may be long, but it has many cuts, and the recording made a couple of more besides.
That recording was already passe when it came out because this performance had already taken place. It includes so much more music! And it is delivered with so much more understanding and panache! John Mitchinson is incredible as Rienzi - and the role makes Siegfried look desirable. He is noble, angry, loving and, ultimately fatalistic. He is surrounded by singers who, if less well known than those on the EMI, have done their homework. They shape phrases to great effect and the whole builds to a great fifth act. Act one runs over an hour, act two just at 90 minutes, act three and four at 50 minutes each, and act five tags in at around 15 minutes. This is Wagner trying to outdo Meyerbeer. Heard cut, the opera does this in the most banal way. Heard uncut, as here, the opera unfolds with some indication of the powerful music Wagner would write soon - Flying Dutchman was next. All Wagner lovers should be standing in line for this one.
(This review is based on an earlier, pirated tape copy. A few minor sound problems encountered on that tape are presumably rectified here.)
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Ten Tenors in Prayer
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ASIN: B000007QGV Release Date: 1998-09-15 |
Tracks:
- Ave Maria
- Herodiade: Adieu donc, vains objets
- Ave Maria
- A Plea To God
- Stabat Mater: Cujus animam
- Die Allmacht
- Panis angelicus
- Ave Maria
- Ave Maria
- Eili, Eili
- Requiem: Ingemisco
- Sigismondo: Misero me! Mi sento tutto gelar: Giusto ciel!
- Le Cid: Ah! Tout est bien fini!: O Souverain,o Juge, o Pere
- Rienzi: Allmacht'ger Vater
- The Lord's Prayer
Customer Reviews:
Very Disappointing.......2007-02-16
A wonderful CD.......2001-11-21
I highly recommend this CD.
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Wagner: Overture & Preludes
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ASIN: B000001GLB Release Date: 1995-02-14 |
Tracks:
- Rienzi: Overture
- Overture
- Overture
- Lohengrin: Prelude to Act I
- Lohengrin: Prelude to Act III
- Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Prelude to Act I
- Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Prelude to Act III
- Die Walkure: The Ride of the Valkyries
Tracks:
- TRISTAN & ISOLDE - Prelude to Act I
- TRISTAN & ISOLDE - Introduction to Act III (Massig Langsam)
- TRISTAN & ISOLDE - Liebestodt
- SIEGFRIED - Siegfried-Idyll
- GOTTERDAMMERUNG - Orchestral Interlude: Siegfried's Rhine Journey
- PARSIFAL
- PARSIFAL - Good Friday Music
Amazon.com
This is a dazzling collection of nonvocal excerpts from Wagner's operas, from the peace and loveliness of Rafael Kubelik's Siegfried Idyll to the passionate, disturbed Prelude to the first act of Tristan, led by Karl Bohm, and the wild Ride of the Valkyries, with Herbert von Karajan in a particularly rambunctious mood. Other highlights in the two and a half hours of music are transcendent readings of two Parsifal excerpts by Eugen Jochum and the Bavarian Radio Orchestra and a Flying Dutchman set. But couldn't DG have tried to include some information about anything in their teeny paper insert? --Robert LevineCustomer Reviews:
Excellent.......2007-02-13
The Only Truly Memorable Tracks On This 2 Disc Album Are Jochum's Parsifal Pieces.......2006-11-06
To get some juicy "Ring" selections, you should investigate George Szell's oustanding CD on Sony Essential Classics which is uniquely captivating as far as orchestral excerpts from the Ring operas go.
Getting back to this DG Double, here is my rundown of all the tracks. The Rienzi Overture is done well by Karl Bohm but it's nothing remarkable. The Flying Duthchman also conducted by Bohm is played with gusto, pretty good. The Tannhauser Overture is an extremely dull run-through by Otto Gerdes, what a nightmare! Listen to Solti instead to get the full power of this terrific piece! The Lohengrin preludes by Kubelik lack the dreamy mysticism and rich power of Karajan's versions on EMI. The preludes to Die Meistersinger are played by Bohm and Jochum, Bohm is too relaxed and slow in the prelude to Act 1 but Jochum finds more life in the prelude to act 3. The ultra-famous "Ride of the Valkyries" is played by Karajan, an excerpt from his complete set of the Ring and yes the soprano soloists are on display here. It's a good account but hardly matches the excitement of Solti's version from his complete Ring recording.
The second CD opens up with powerful excerpts from Tristan and Isolde played by Bohm, the prelude and Act 3 intro are taken from his famous Bayreuth set with Birgit Nilsson. Nilsson however is not represented in the final Liebestod, instead a later, not very passionate Bohm recording is tacked on. The Siegfried Idyll is conducted by Kubelik and is not very memorable, certainly lacking the romantic abandon of the famous Karajan versions. Siegfried's Rhine Journey from Gotterdammerung is led by Karajan and sounds great.
Finally we get to the best part of this 2CD package, Eugen Jochum's performances of the Prelude and Good Friday Music from Wagner's final masterpiece, Parsifal. Both sound highly involved and deeply spiritual, the sound is great for something that was recorded way back in 1957. The brass get a bit edgy but it's not much of a worry, the readings are exceptional.
If you're a Wagner newbie, this 2CD set might satisfy you but I recommend you go and buy that EMI Karajan CD and the Ring excerpts by Szell, listen to those and you'll be well on your way to tackling a full opera. The most accessible opera to start with is Lohengrin.
A Thing of Beauty.......2006-06-17
As the title suggests, these are primarily overtures and preludes. They are not as bombastic as Wagner is wont to be but they are very strong. They are evocative of beauty and majesty. It is good orchestral music.
The performances included are all from Germanic orchestras. This music is a part of the culture and it is well done. If I have one complaint, it is a minor one. The pianissimo passages are sometimes so soft as to not be present. They are...understated in the extreme.
All in all, this is a quality recording capable of producing hours of enjoyment from its two disks.
It's OK.......2006-03-20
Falls short of being great........2006-02-01
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Wagner: Rienzi/Tannhäuser/Die Meistersinger Von Nürnberg/Lohengrin
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ASIN: B000001GH5 Release Date: 1993-04-13 |
Tracks:
- Rienzi, The Last Of The Tribunes: Overture
- Tannhauser: Overture And Venusberg Music
- The Mastersingers Of Nuremberg: Prelude To Act I
- Lohengrin: Prelude To Act 3
- The Flying Dutchman: Overture
Customer Reviews:
Wagner Overtures.......2007-02-12
It is delightful.
Stingy timing, average performances.......2005-12-12
Incomplete.......2002-01-17
The label really ought to say that the overture as it appears on this album is but an excerpt. Perhaps I am being too critical, but if any listener likes the entire overture to Tannhauser, especially the sweeping strings and triumphant horns in its highest moments, they must stay away from this album. For those that know how Wagner ought to be played (without cutting parts simply because they are a few minutes too long), it is a shameful display. I really expected more from such a superb label as Deutsche-Grammophon.
I will say the playing is quite superb, but what does it matter when the best parts of a piece are left out? James Levine was given an opportunity to shine, and turned it down instead to work through a basic theme, not seeing it to its end.
An essential Wagner recording.......2001-10-09
Marvelous performances.......2000-04-19
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Wagner: Orchestral Works
Manufacturer: RCA ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Wagner
| Wagner, Richard
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ASIN: B0000DBDMV Release Date: 2004-01-13 |
Customer Reviews:
Healthy chunks of Wagner..........2007-02-20
A great Wagner collection from Stokowski in his nineties.......2005-12-18
As to the famous Stokowski penchant for taffy-pulling, his tempos are almost straight here, and when he does lean into the rubato, as in the Tristan Prelude and Liebestod, one feels the ghost of Wagner smiling down. Stokowski must be his kindred spirit for romantic fervor. Five stars for a cllection rivalled only by Furtwangler, Karajan, and Klemperer (really).
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Wagner: Overtures
Manufacturer: Naxos ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Wagner
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ASIN: B0001Z65J4 Release Date: 2004-06-15 |
Tracks:
- Rienzi
- Konig Enzio (King Enzio)
- Dos Liebesverbot ( The Ban On Love)
- Die Feen (The Fairies)
- Christoph Columbus
- Faust
Customer Reviews:
Mostly minor, mostly attractive, early Wagner.......2004-08-06
These are mostly minor pieces, and mostly attractive, as well as being fascinating products of a brash young genius learning his trade. The _Rienzi_ overture is the best-known piece, and perhaps the least "minor". Still, the best piece here is probably the _Faust_ overture. This tautly dramatic piece imitates Beethoven and Weber, as Wagner does in most of his early work, but also establishes an interesting darkness in harmony, and reveals skill in building up tension, which shows Wagner starting to find his own voice. Wagner said that it was with the _Faust_ overture that he first "became Wagner", and he was right. (By the way the cover gives the Faust overture's timing as 12 minutes, 19 seconds. Actually it's 12' 15". It's not that there are four seconds of music missing from the CD; it's just a misprint.)
The best disk of early Wagner overtures I know is from a two-CD set by Marek Janowski. One CD, with the French Radio Phil, offers mainstream Wagner excerpts from _Tannhäuser_, _Tristan_, _Lohengrin_ and _Meistersinger_, plus _Siegfried Idyll_, all very well played. But disk 2, with the London Symphony Orchestra, offers some rarities: the _Kaisermarsch_, the _Faust Overture_, the _Huldigungsmarsch_, the _Die Feen_ overture, the _American Centennial March_ and the _Das Liebesverbot_ overture. Janowski's may be the best account of the _Faust_ overture (also performed by Rahbari on this Naxos disk) that I know of. Janowski also offers better versions of the _Die Feen_ and _Das Liebesverbot_ overtures, while the versions in the Sawallisch complete recordings of these two early Wagner operas are better still. But the Rahbari/Malaga Phil performances of each of these pieces are still perfectly satisfactory in every way.
And, still with other performances of Wagner rarities, the world premier recording of the _König Enzio_ overture, also on this Naxo disk, was released in 2001 by the Robert Schumann Philharmonic Chemnitz under Oleg Caetani. That also offers a better performance than the Malaga Phil under Rahbari, though Rahbari and crew are perfectly good. The Caetani disk is worth having not only for the _König Enzio_ overture, which at the time wasn't available elsewhere, but also for the original version of Wagner's Prelude to Tannhäuser_ Act III, which is longer and more complex, and in my opinion better, than the better known, later, version. In more familiar territory the Caetani disk also offers a rattling good _Fliegende Holländer_ overture, and good performances of the _Lohengrin_ Acts I and III preludes, the _Tannhäuser_ overture, a "Walkürenritt" and the _Meistersinger_ overture.
So where Rahbari and the Malaga Phil duplicate these earlier disks, the performances are good but not quite as good. But this is still a great collection of Wagner rarities, on which every piece is well played.
Moreover, as far as I know Rahbari offers the only performance of the _Christolph Columbus_ overture on the market. This is an attractive piece, with a lot of heroic trumpeting about and a couple of "bold mariner" type themes, competently handled by the young Wagner. By the way, Cosima's Diary notes that Wagner once heard Rubinstein playing an arrangement of Mendelsohnn's _Calm Seas and Prosperous Voyage_ overture, and remarked [quote from memory], "that's my _Christolph Columbus_ overture! What a thief I was as a young man!"
While I'd agree with Wagner that his younger self pinched ideas from all over the place, and the older composer was still prepared to help himself to the odd good thing, on this particular occasion I think Wagner accused himself falsely. Both overtures are excellent, but they are two independent pieces of music.
I strongly recommend this disk, especially at the Naxos price, to people wanting to explore some early, mostly minor but mostly attractive, Wagner.
Cheers!
Laon
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Wagner: Orchestral Music
Richard Wagner , Otto Klemperer , and Philharmonia Orchestra Manufacturer: EMI Classics ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
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ASIN: B00006I0AU Release Date: 2002-09-17 |
Tracks:
- Overture
- Overture
- Act.3/Prelude
- Act.1/Prelude
- Act.3/Prelude
- Prelude
- Act.3: Dance Of The Apprentices & Entry Of The Masters
- Act.1/Prelude
Tracks:
- Overture
- Scene 4: Entry Of The Gods Into Valhalla
- Act.3: Ride Of The Valkyries
- Siegfried-Idyll
- Act.2: Forest Murmurs
- Interlude: Siegfried's Rhine Journey
- Act.3: Siegfried's Funeral March
- Prelude
Customer Reviews:
The ultimate Wagner orchestral music.......2006-02-05
Magical.......2005-03-15
Just sample the Entry of the God's into Valhalla or Siegfried's Funeral March or the incandescent Prelude to Parsifal. They're among the most sublime, noble, and epic recordings of anything you'll ever hear. Rather sad that within the vast bulk of the recent film version of The Lord of the Rings there's not a single moment that equals these three short pieces. What's the point in all that we create these days if we can't plumb a depth now and then?
5 stars for Klemp and Wagner!.......2004-12-16
A definite in anyone's collection.
Excellent.......2004-08-11
Other than that, I joyfully recommend this recording along with James Levine's MET "Wagner Orchestral music" and "Wagner Overtures and Preludes", which have much of the same music in modern sound and with spotless technique in the orchestra. A comparison between the two interpretations is worthy; Klemperer's approach is spacious a deep, while Levine, though calling for similar tempi in many places, leans tremendously forward.
Summary: some inexcusable blurbs in the winds, but more than worth the price of admission overall.
"Mistah Klemps" is a Winner, Here!.......2004-04-03
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Wagner: Favourite Overtures / Sir Georg Solti
Manufacturer: Decca ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Wagner
| Wagner, Richard
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Solti, Sir Georg
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ASIN: B000006P4V Release Date: 1998-05-12 |
Tracks:
- Die Walkure: The Ride Of The Valkyries
- Lohengrin: Prelude Act I
- Rienzi: Overture
- Der fliegende Hollander: Overture
- Tristan und Isolde: Prelude, Act I
- Tannhauser: Overture
- Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Prelude, Act I
Customer Reviews:
Very good..........2007-03-29
Yet, the only reason why I gave it 3 stars, was for the mere reason that Ride of the Valkyries is an excerpt, don't get me wrong, it is extremely well played, yet, that fact that it is a 3+ minute excerpt is rather disappointing. Also, you may hear an awckward timpani entrance in Tannhauser, but that is no reason not to buy this album. Some may complain that Solti liked overblown brass, but in my experience as an orchestral player, for Wagner, you need brass, and no the brass is not overblown.
My other comment on this album is The Flying Dutchman (Der Fliegende Hollander). Performed by the Vienna Phil. (Wiener Phil.), this performance is simply awesome. I still need to get the one with CSO, but as far as this goes, this track is simply awesome. I sincerely think if you do purchase this CD you will enjoy not only The Flying Dutchman, but the rest of the tracks as well. Enjoy!
Solti Speaks Wagnerian.......2002-10-25
The reason I did not give this disc 5 stars, is because I also found the abbreviated 3 minute clip of The Ride of the Valkyries to be not only disappointing but also unacceptable.
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg is vintage Solti. His interpretation is probably one of the standard measures for others to compare on this one.
The Rienzi Overture is well done. However, I believe most will find the version conducted by George Szell of the Cleveland Orchestra to be the best. Look for it in Sony's Essential Classics.
Most should find this CD a valuable addition to a basic collection of Wagner instrumentals and I recommend it highly.
Not really great playing..........2002-10-11
If you like Solti and his approach to Wagner, you might want to give this a try. If not, there are better to be found.
Excellent.......2002-01-29
What a collection!.......1999-05-13
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Classical Masters: Wagner and Haydn
Manufacturer: Platinum Disc ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Quartets
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ASIN: B00004UEPR Release Date: 2000-01-01 |
Tracks:
- Ride of the Valkyries from Die Walk
- Overture to Tannher
- Siegfried Idyll
- Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin
- Overture to Rienzi
- Prelude to Die Meistersigner
Tracks:
- Serenade 'Andante Cantabile' 2nd MVT. From String Quartet Op. 3, No. 5
- Devertimento for Orchestra No. 3
- Old Austrian People's Hymn
- Variations in F Minor
- Symphony No. 94 in G Major 'Surprise' 2nd MVT.
- Symphony No. 104 in D Major 'London': ...
Meditation Music:
- Schubert: Die Zwillingsbruder
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- Strauss - Friedenstag (Day of Peace) / Weikl, Hass, Rootering, Moll, Kuhn, Bayerischen Rundfunks, Sawallisch
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Schubert: Piano Sonatas, D664 & D960
Tales from the Big Room [Import]
Taking You Home [CD-single] [Import]
The Undaground Emperor [Explicit Lyrics]