Archipel’s output is variable from a sonic engineering point
of view and this so-called re-mastering doesn’t buck that reputation.
An apology for “surface noise due to the original acetates”
is included in the booklet but that’s not as distracting a problem
as the muddy, distant sound with little definition and frequent pre-echo.
Carelessness is frequent and apparent, such as the irritating two
second gap between tracks 4 and 5 on the last CD, during Brünnhilde’s
awakening, and the sudden cut-off at the end of CDs. Worst of all,
so much of the performance is vitiated by constant hacking from the
audience. The entire four and a half minutes of the atmospheric orchestral
Prologue to Act II is ruined by it. It must have been a cold January
in New York in 1962; it is remarkable that in so fuzzy a recording
while the actual music remains remote, we are allowed a faithful representation
of a TB ward for terminally ill patients. I can tolerate a reasonable
amount of audience noise but this is so prominent a blot on the recording
throughout that I lose patience.
Hans Hopf is generally a trial: he is a stentorian belter with unlovely
tone, little musicality of phrasing and a fearsome wobble. Birgit
Nilsson provides welcome relief but Brünnhilde’s arrival
is so long delayed that even she barely compensates for the preceding
mediocrity. At first, during her awakening, she sounds below form
and little like herself - unless it’s the recording disguising
her voice - but she soon warms up and is thrilling in the final duet,
while Hopf mostly bellows. Maybe the recording emphasises his bleat
but we hear what we hear while she lives up to her reputation for
vocal consistency.
I was primarily attracted to the idea of hearing George London as
the Wanderer and he is impressive at such moments as when he summons
Erda, but too often the gleam and grandeur of his voice are hidden
by the murky recording. He may be heard to much greater advantage
as Wotan in Solti’s
Das Rheingold and in
Die Walküre
conducted by Leinsdorf - a favourite version. Leinsdorf seems to lose
momentum in the last scene which is the last thing I expected of a
conductor who generally aims for propulsion. Paul Kuen is first class
as Mime; both his singing and acting are wholly apt, striking a balance
between the twin need to achieve characterisation while avoiding exaggeration
and wheedling without grating. Ralph Herbert’s Alberich is dry
and undistinguished of voice. Jean Madeira as Erda is stentorian but
with a pronounced break between registers. The impact of Gottlob Frick’s
imposing Fafner is reduced by his being placed far back. Martina Arroyo’s
pure and powerful Woodbird is a delight; the role is too often under-cast.
This is a radio broadcast including part of the commentary from Milton
Cross. The lack of any timings is symptomatic of the poor production
values. I had high hopes of this recording but whatever its vocal
merits - and they are decidedly inconsistent - they are masked by
the bad sonics; I found that the combination of poor sound and Hopf’s
ungainliness meant that I was unable to listen with much pleasure.
Ralph Moore
Masterwork Index:
Siegfried
