Looking at the dates on this recording I found myself
wondering whether gossip about Edward and Mrs. Simpson might have been
on the lips of some of those gathering at Covent Garden prior to the
taking of their seats. Although the royal love affair didn’t become
known to the general public until the Autumn of 1936 certain stratospheres
of London society had known about it since the Spring and one can imagine
the "tittle-tattle" on the stairs higher up in the building
near the more expensive seats. This opera is another tale of royal personages
finding it impossible to carry on against the dictates of the heart
so were any parallels also drawn, I wonder? Not that there are any similarities
between an abdication speech on the wireless and a love-death on a beach
in Brittany, of course, but it’s fun to speculate when faced with this
kind of recorded legacy. This surely brings out not only the music and
the performance but also the history of the time in which it was made.
There’s another great double act in this set: Kirsten Flagstad and Lauritz
Melchior in the title roles. This musical coupling from a past era has
evoked so many superlatives that just mentioning it is enough to reduce
some opera lovers of a certain age to jelly, even those who never saw
them onstage. However since it was a partnership that lasted only six
years that makes this recording especially valuable even though there
are three other surviving recordings of them in this opera; most notably
another Covent Garden performance conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham from
the 1937 Coronation Season. Let’s hope for a decent transfer of that
very soon. Then Flagstad also recorded her Isolde in the studio for
EMI with Furtwängler in the early 1950s (reviewed
here by Marc Bridle) but on that occasion her Tristan was Ludwig
Suthaus who, for me, falls somewhat short of greatness and is certainly
no match for Melchior. So let’s welcome recordings like this one that
fix music and its performance to a particular time and help us listen
through any deficiencies in sound and vagaries of contemporary practice.
Whilst the presence of Flagstad and Melchior may be
most people’s principal reason for owning this set the young Fritz Reiner’s
contribution should be placed alongside them in achievement. Conducting
Beecham’s London Philharmonic, then the Covent Garden pit orchestra,
his command of every detail of this incredible score is extraordinary.
Not one bar seems to have escaped his attention and by the end I was
left staggered by his concentration and that of the orchestra who he
must have imbued with his own exacting standards in rehearsal and previous
performances. He understands the sound world of the piece perfectly;
the heavy, late romantic emotional congestion that Wagner burned into
each bar especially. Yet he somehow manages to also convey an unforgettable
intimacy to the drama that then allows the two principals to paint their
contribution across its canvas in the broadest brushstrokes. It’s a
remarkable juxtaposition of styles that pays great dividends. You may
remember how Karajan’s Wagner recordings in the 'seventies were described
as being in a "chamber music" style and that this was then
thought novel. There are passages in this recording where you feel Reiner
was thirty years ahead of his time in that the same impression of the
work as chamber piece is conveyed. Some passages in Act II especially
reminded me of the early romantic decadence of Schoenberg, so insidious
is the spell Reiner and his players (including Leon Goossens and Bernard
Walton in the woodwinds) bring and therefore how prophetic in musical
terms he seems to make this opera feel. Subtly different from Furtwängler’s
more "global" approach, Reiner’s is comparable in achievement
and any serious Wagnerite will need both recordings on their shelves
on the contribution of the conductors alone even though Furtwängler’s
studio recording has much the better mono sound. No wonder the presence
of this orchestra in the pit persuaded Furtwängler to come to London
for the Coronation Season the next year to conduct The Ring at
the invitation of his friend Beecham.
Turning at last to Flagstad and Melchior it’s hard
to single out any part of their contribution for praise, so consistently
satisfying are they in every part of this long opera. Both are the complete
interpreters of their roles. I wonder whether any singers have really
approached their achievement in the years after, even taking into account
changes in singing and dramatic styles. Nilsson and Windgassen, perhaps.
To take one large instance alone, the Love Duet in Act II is remarkable
for both singers’ care for the words. What is it about this generation
of singers that they realised that the words were just as important
as the music? And why isn’t their example followed today to the same
extent? This aspect, added to the sensuousness and sheer sexuality of
the central encounter onstage, delivers a stunning experience that shines
out even through the limited sonics. Individually they are just as impressive.
Melchior’s account of Act III devastatingly conveys the fear and horror
of a man driven mad by sickness of mind and body and Flagstad’s response
to Act I sees her regal and shining like a Princess should be. Then,
as the story unfolds, the dictates of her heart start to gouge wheals
in her portrayal that are, in their way, just as moving as Melchior’s
portrayal of Tristan’s terrible fate and her Liebestod at the end of
Act III is as overwhelming, as usual. One can only marvel at the stamina
of these two artists, as powerful and expressive at the end of the long
evening as they were at the start. Those present in the house that night
must have heard the experience of a lifetime. The rest of the cast is
only variable. Herbert Janssen is certainly staunch in support of Tristan
and Sabine Kalter as Brangane suitably detached and ghostly in her crucial
watch during the Love Duet. But the others are more than forgettable
and the chorus is really mediocre. Never mind. The principals are what
carry this.
There is a traditional cut made in the Love Duet, I
should tell you, and I could excuse this by pointing out that it was
traditional only at the time of this performance. Yet Bernard Haitink
made the same one in his Covent Garden performances as recently as 2001.
This was one of the first attempts to record a complete
Wagner opera and it must have been quite a challenge to run two turntables
in tandem during one performance, overlapping at the end of each side
so as not to leave gaps whilst the drama was enacted onstage. In the
end it took fifty-two 78rpm sides to capture the performance and it
is from test pressings that Ward Marston has produced this issue in
the indispensable Naxos Historical series which is producing so many
treasures. This is a second transfer of this recording and is different
from the one on VAI Audio (VAIA 1003). I haven’t had the chance to compare
the two but I cannot imagine the previous version could be any better
and certainly would not compete in price. It cannot compete with modern
versions in terms of sound quality, of course. But anyone interested
in the musical and historical importance of this set will take that
in their stride and have it as alternative to Nilsson and Windgassen
with Bohm on DG (4497722),
my choice for stereo, with Furtwängler on mono EMI (CMS5
67621 2) as overall top recommendation.
You may be wondering at the presence of two dates on
the recording. For some reason the Act I Prelude from the May performance
was unusable so the engineers returned in June to record only that.
So, apart from the Act I Prelude, what you have here is one night at
the opera with no patching and so much the better for that. One bonus
of this anomaly is that on the night the Prelude was recorded Flagstad’s
"warm-up" exercises in the wings were just picked up by the
microphones. An endearing touch to a remarkable document of recorded
history and a performance of rare and compelling power that, in spite
of historic sound, is one of the greatest recordings of this opera ever
made.
A night at the opera not to be missed.
Tony Duggan
Chorus of the Royal Opera
House, Covent Garden