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Richard WAGNER (1813-1883) CD1 Rienzi: Overture (1842) [12:00] Lohengrin: Prelude to Act I (1850) [8:58] Lohengrin: Prelude to Act III (1850) [2:58] Parsifal: Prelude to Act I (1882) [13:27] Tristan und Isolde: Prelude to Act I (1865) [10:42] Eine Faust-Overtüre (1840) [11:52] Die Feen: Overture (1833) [10:56] Kinderkatechismus (1873) [2:24] CD2 Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: Prelude to Act I (1868)
[9:11] Tannhäuser: Overture and Venusberg Music [21:56] Der fliegende Höllander: Overture (1841) [10:32]
Symphony in C Major (1832) [41:55]
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra/Zubin
Mehta (Rienzi); Wiener Philharmoniker/Zubin Mehta (Lohengrin, Parsifal, Meistersinger);
Wiener Philharmoniker/Sir Georg Solti
(Tristan); San Francisco Symphony Orchestra/Edo de Waart (Faust, Symphony); Concertgebouw
Orchestra/Edo de Waart (Tannhäuser, Feen, Holländer); Wiener Sängerknaben with
members of the Wiener Philharmoniker (Kinderkatechismus).
rec. Sofiensaal, Vienna, Austria, June 1966 (Lohengrin, Parsifal, Meistersinger);
October 1961 (Tristan), March – April 1968 (Kinderkatechismus); Royce Hall: University
of California, Los Angeles, USA, April 1973 (Rienzi); Concertgebouw: Grote Zaal,
Amsterdam, The Netherlands, September 1979 (Tannhäuser, Feen, Holländer); San
Francisco, October 1982 (Faust, Symphony). ADD/DDD DECCA ELOQUENCE
442 8283 [78:56 + 78:39]
This
well filled pair of discs replaces Australian Eloquence's previous
single-disc compilation of Wagner's overtures and preludes
conducted by Sir Georg Solti and Horst Stein (Decca Eloquence
460 510-2 - nla).
The
obvious question when faced with a release like this is, do
I really need yet another compilation of Wagner preludes and
overtures? The answer in this case is yes, for two reasons.
Firstly, this compilation features a few unusual and relatively
rare works. The expected bleeding chunks of the Ring are
conspicuous by their absence, and the Tristan prelude
appears sans Liebestod. In their place are the overture
to Wagner's early opera, Die Feen, a couple of early
pieces of concert music, namely Eine Faust-Overtüre and
the Symphony in C Major, and a tiny song composed for the home.
The second reason to acquire this release is that all but the
last of these rarities and a couple of other tracks are conducted
by Edo de Waart, one of the most exciting and most underrated
of contemporary Wagnerians.
Let's
deal with his recordings first. The Concertgebouw recordings
included here are old favourites of mine. I have long worn
out my Philips cassette of these taut, urgent performance of
the overtures to Die Feen and the Flying Dutchman and
the music from Tannhäuser, so it is wonderful to welcome
them back to CD.
Raymond
Tuttle's otherwise excellent, if necessarily brief, liner notes
make no mention of Die Feen. Wagner wrote it at the
tender age of twenty as his first full opera. The themes and
the story itself are consistent with those of Wagner's mature
operas. Lohengrin and Tannhäuser in particular
loom large on the horizon. A human king falls in love with
a fairy, but is forbidden to ask who she really is. Of course,
his curiosity pushes him to ask the unaskable question, and
their love is tested for the rest of the opera until all is
resolved and the king joins his fairy love as an immortal.
The overture to Die Feen leaps from the speakers, in
a fresh, lively performance. This is early Wagner and shows
very much his debt to Weber, but it is distinctive nonetheless,
with a catchy, leaping, gushing melodic line in the strings
that stays with you.
De
Waart generates great heat in the Tannhäuser music.
He is less affectionate in the overture than others – Tennstedt
for example – and takes more headlong tempi as a result, but
with no loss of colour or passion. He is dreamier in the Venusberg
Music, though. His account of the overture to the Flying
Dutchman is urgent and windswept, with proud and portentous
trumpets and horns cutting through the orchestral textures
like a cold wind. Throughout, the playing of the orchestra
is simply spectacular, with the winds forward in the mix and
especially characterful. The early digital sonics still sound
great.
The
other de Waart items are both new to me and new to disc. Eine
Faust-Ouverture is a Wagnerian tone poem, in the Liszt
tradition, which makes it unusual. Wagner's inspiration to
write it came from his attendance at a performance of Berlioz's Romeo
et Juliette, a debt he never acknowledged, preferring to
cite Beethoven's Ninth as his guiding light. He initially intended
a Faust symphony, but contented himself with this overture,
which would have been the first movement. This is darkly dramatic
music, shot through with climbing violin lines reminiscent
of the overture to Die Feen, building to a huge climax
around the 8:50 mark and then fading blissfully away. There
is more than a little Weber and Berlioz here, but this is still
involving and, more importantly, memorable music.
The
final de Waart recording is the Symphony in C, Wagner's only
contribution to the genre. It is very much the work of a cocky
19 year old, assimilating the influences of Beethoven, Mozart
and even - softly be it stated - Mendelssohn. The first movement
opens with a succession of proud tutti chords, leading into
a broad and thickly orchestrated sostenuto introduction, which
gives way to a bright – and slightly trite – allegro con brio.
The andante brings shades of the second movement of the Eroica though
it never really develops into a funeral march. It is perhaps
a little overlong to sustain its material, but becomes more
interesting as it begins to build chromatically from about
half way through. The third movement is perky and almost Mendelssohnian
in its verve and skittishness, though the orchestration is
much thicker than you would expect from Mendelssohn. This movement
contains some of the most striking music in the symphony and
de Waart and co give it maximum impact, hitting accents hard
and caressing the contrasting lyrical passages. The finale
is of a similar character and, though a touch derivative – it
sounds a bit like Mozart re-orchestrated by Schalk in between
rehashing Bruckner symphonies – when performed with such brio
as it is here it is impossible not to enjoy it.
The
symphony does not belong with the best of Wagner, but it is
fascinating nonetheless, as it demonstrates the confidence
and skill of the young composer and gives insight into his
development as a composer, including the early influences he
left behind. De Waart's conviction is persuasive and makes
a strong case for this symphony. In fact, he and his San Francisco
orchestra deliver stunning performances of both the symphony
and the Faust overture. The orchestra plays, and blends, beautifully
and the performances are recorded in clean clear digital sound.
You could not really ask for more.
Clearly,
this album is a must-have for Wagnerians for the de Waart recordings
alone. But as well as de Waart's complete Wagner recordings
for Philips, this release includes the substantial bonus of
Mehta's complete Wagner recordings for Decca. Except for the
Los Angeles Rienzi, all of these have appeared on Eloquence
before: the overture to Meistersinger as a coupling
for Mehta's Bruckner 4 (Decca Eloquence 461 356-2); the overture
to Parsifal with Mehta's superb Vienna Bruckner 9 (Decca
Eloquence 461 357-2); and the two Lohengrin preludes
as fillers for Mehta's Mahler 4 (Decca Eloquence 467 235-2).
All of these discs have been deleted by Eloquence, so it is
nice to have these Wagner recordings restored to the active
catalogue.
The
Vienna recordings sound rich and warm and are really quite
lovely. Mehta and the Vienna Philharmonic have made some wonderful
recordings together, not least the Bruckner 9 referred to above,
and these Wagner performances are fluid, well played and carefully
shaped. Both Lohengrin preludes are very good, the first
distinguished by gossamer textures and the second bright and
pacy, though the woodwinds do not sound fabulous in the gentle
second subject. The Parsifal prelude is shimmeringly
beautiful and this reading of the overture to Meistersinger is
sturdy and celebratory.
As
for Rienzi, the Los Angeles Philharmonic turns in a
good performance, cleanly played but a little foursquare. The
contrast with the Vienna Philharmonic in the other Mehta contributions – a
darker, richer-sounding ensemble with heroic horns and silky
strings – is not flattering, though the LA brass are a match
for their Viennese counterparts. The 1967 sound perspective
for the Vienna recordings is also more sympathetic, making
the later LA recording sound flat and brash by comparison.
To
be honest, you are unlikely to reach for these Mehta recordings
in preference to, say, your favourite Szell, Klemperer or Tennstedt
albums. These three generally outdo him in drama, grandeur
and passion respectively, but Mehta – especially in the Vienna
recordings – conjures a sensuous sound that is very much his
own, and is well worth hearing.
Solti's
contribution to this compilation is more problematic. The prelude
to Act I of Tristan is taken from his recording of the
opera, excerpts from which - including the prelude to Act I
- have previously been reviewed in these
pages. While the recording of the opera as a whole has
been controversial, the prelude is fairly decent, but I agree
with my colleague Göran Forsling that it is “almost restrained” and,
without either the entire opera or at least the Liebestod to
follow it, I find the prelude unfulfilling - as, of course,
Wagner intended. Eloquence would perhaps have been better off
retaining Horst Stein's recording of the Prelude and Liebestod from
its previous Wagner compilation instead - not an ideal version,
but a more satisfying musical experience overall. Putting aside
issues of completeness, the Vienna Philharmonic plays well
for Solti, but there is no lingering, and little teasing out
of those tonally ambiguous harmonies. If you are violently
opposed to excess of any kind, this may be the reading for
you, but it is too straight-faced for me. Give me Tennstedt
(EMI or LPO) or Karajan (EMI or Deutsche Grammophon) any day.
Two
very full discs, then. But there is still one more item. Squeezed
onto the end of the first disc is a tiny choral piece that
was completely new to me. It does not really fit with the rest
of the programme of big orchestral overtures, preludes and
a symphony, but collectors will want it, for completeness and
as another glimpse into the role music played in the private
sphere of Wagner's life. The piece is a “children's catechism
for Kosel's birthday”, Kosel being none other than the composer's
wife Cosima. It was first performed by the Wagner children
on Christmas Day 1873 and later revised to replace the piano
accompaniment with a chamber ensemble. Like that other famous
piece of intimate music, the Siegfried Idyll, this piece
references the Ring, this time picking up at its close
the dying sounds of Götterdämmerung. The solo treble
in this performance is quite emphatic in his delivery but sings
sweetly enough, more so when the small chorus joins him, though
all singers are a little too closely miked. The playing of
the chamber ensemble drawn from the Vienna Philharmonic is
sweet-toned and secure and though the recorded sound is a little
too brightly lit, it still sounds well.
If you are serious
about your Wagner, this double CD set is an essential purchase.
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