Looking
at the current CD catalogue there is a proliferation of orchestral
excerpts from Wagner operas, particularly The Ring, and also
Overtures and Preludes, often under the baton of distinguished
conductors. There are also plenty of recital discs by notable
Wagnerian singers. However I failed to find, among the majors
at least, a disc devoted to Wagner choruses. This Naxos issue is, I think, the only contender. The nearest I got was on Decca’s
‘World of Wagner’ which rather like Silvio Varviso’s ‘German
Choruses’ (Philips nla) features several. Given the quality
of music Wagner composed for his choruses, and the protagonist
role they play in the operas, this dearth is surprising. Compare
this situation with the discs available, at all price levels,
devoted to choruses from Verdi operas. These discs often feature
choruses from leading opera houses such as La Scala and conductors
such as Muti and Abbado. Verdi often used a choral introduction
to presage an aria, particularly in his earlier works. In Nabucco
the Act one Gli arredi leads into Zaccaria’s Sperate,
o figli! whilst the chorus of The Hebrew Slaves is
immediately followed buy the aria Oh chi piange? With
Wagner the situation is fundamentally different in that a soloist
is often integrated within the choral context. In realistic
terms this means that unless a recording company can extract
the choruses from complete opera set, it is a non-stsarter commercially.
To my knowledge this has only been done with a Decca Opera Gala
issue (440 951-2 DA).
Naxos has, again,
spotted a gap in the market and sought to fill it with this
well recorded disc. They claim the Royal Swedish Opera has an
outstanding Wagner tradition, and ‘has nurtured so many great
Wagner artists’. Certainly the chorus sound wholly comfortable
throughout. As Norwegian Sailors and Girls they are vibrant
and idiomatic in their celebrations whilst Göran Eliasson
is suitably lyric in his singing as the Steersman (tr. 2). In
the less well-known Messengers of Peace from Rienzi
the chorus are more reflective. Although the Rienzi of Lars
Cleveman is tightly focused I am less comfortable with Marianne
Staykov’s contribution (tr. 5). In The Journey to Montsalvat
from Parsifal (tr. 6), Lennart Forsén as Gurnemanz is
a little lacking in weight of tone, but this extended extract
of 23 minutes is really all about chorus and orchestra and both
perform well. Appropriately, only the Tannhäuser - Procession
into the Hall of Song (tr. 3) and Lohengrin Bridal Procession
(tr. 4) are, correctly, short extracts at around six minutes.
All the others are extended scenes and better for it. The booklet
gives all the German words with English translation as well
as artist profiles and descriptions of the extracts in the context
of the operas concerned. Well done Naxos!
Whilst
Leif Segerstam is no Solti, or even Varviso, he has a feel for
the Wagnerian idiom. Occasionally he lingers when I feel a more
forward thrust would be present in a recording of the complete
work. This can make the collection seem a little studio bound.
Lovers of operatic chorus singing as well as Wagnerians, should
add this disc to their collection. It has provided me with much
listening pleasure.
Robert J Farr
