Can we put it down
to Murphy’s law that I received this
disc of Wagnerian scenes at the same
time as the Naxos
complete recording of Tristan
und Isolde featuring the unequalled
Flagstad as Isolde and the formidable
Furtwängler on the rostrum. We
cannot live in the past forever and
Flagstad retired from the stage and
Wagner portrayals over 40 years ago.
Margaret Jane Wray is claimed as earning
recognition as a brilliant jugendlich-dramatisch
soprano. She has certainly appeared
at the Met, La Scala and the Berlin
State Opera among other venues under
renowned conductors. My only record
of her was as an alternate to the lyrical
mezzo Susan Graham in Cincinnati. In
fact the welcome biographical details
list Verdi’s Desdemona and her debut
role at La Scala as Mme. Lidoine in
Poulenc’s Carmelites under Muti, certainly
soprano territory. There is warmth in
her tone as she climbs the stave in
the love duet from Tristan (trs.5-18)
as well as at its ecstatic climax (tr.
19). That warmth also enables Ms Wray
to bring a welcome touch of sensuousness
to what is after all a scene of seduction
and sexual love. The Tristan of John
Horton Murray does not wholly share
that vocal strength and security; moments
of strain intrude. He too has an impressive
CV, singing at Covent Garden, the Verona
Arena and La Scala. This Wagnerian territory
is perhaps a step too far; he would
be ill advised to sing the role in the
theatre. Nancy Maltsby is a low mezzo
Brangäne. She is tested by John
McGlinn’s tempi in Brangäne’s battlement
watch (tr. 13). I know McGlinn’s conducting
only from the series of Broadway Shows
that he recorded for EMI in the late
1980s. In fact he also has another Wagner
disc for Naxos. His tempi are on the
slow side and he seems unable to build
an orchestral climax even with the resources
of the Russian State Symphony Orchestra.
This does tend to emasculate the music
particularly in the Immolation Scene
from Götterdämmerung. The
flaccidity of the conducting seriously
restricts Wray’s Brünnhilde. It
is a role that I suspect is not yet
within her compass (trs. 20-26).
The balance of the
recording slightly favours the orchestra.
By the best Naxos standards it lacks
depth. I should note that the recording
uses the concert ending to the love
duet that Wagner made in 1862. This
is said to be only the second time this
has featured on disc. The present issue
promises more than it delivers. It is
a pity that Naxos did not use one of
their regular venues and orchestras
with the likes of the experienced opera
conductor Michael Halász. As
it is, one can hear the promising newcomer
in Ms Wray and keep an eye open for
her name in the future.
Robert J Farr
Russian State Symphony Orchestra/John McGlinn
