Recordings of Wagner operas generally fall into two categories,
recent ones with good audio and ancient (well 1950s/1960s) ones
with good singing. This Rheingold is about the closest
I've heard to the almost mythical ideal of a Wagner recording
in which both the performance and the engineering are of the
highest quality.
Good as the playing and singing is, it is the sound quality
that really distinguishes this recording. Oehms are well known
for their commitment to superior sound engineering, but it is
not often they set themselves the challenge of maintaining those
standards in the context of a live opera recording. A note in
the booklet thanks the make-up team for their co-operation in
enabling the on-stage recording, which suggests the engineers
have taken some liberties in terms of microphone placement.
Judging by the copious production stills that illustrate the
libretto - yes, there's a libretto too - the sound engineers
have also had the advantage of less than fussy staging. That's
not to say that the designs are minimalist, just that it seems
unlikely that any of the sets have interfered with the sound
quality.
The orchestra too sounds excellent. There is plenty of bass
in the mix. So, for example, there is no question of the opening
Rhine theme appearing out of nowhere; even at their pianissimo
dynamic, the double-basses are an immediate presence with their
E flat pedal. And as the Prelude unfolds, it becomes clear that
every single member of the string section is going to be clearly
defined in the soundscape. In general, the balance is good,
although most other live recordings of Wagner operas give the
singers more prominence over the orchestra. To be honest, I
prefer a more orchestra-heavy balance anyway, especially when
the orchestral playing is to this standard.
One last point about the sound engineering: the sound array
from the stage is astonishing. Predictably for a recording of
this quality, you can locate the individual singers with ease
when you listen with headphones. More surprisingly though, their
physical location is just as clear over loudspeakers. That's
a real innovation, and gives the lie to the idea that you always
need the visuals to have a sense of the theatrical in Wagner.
This dramatic presence from the audio compensates for a slight
lack of characterisation on the part of the singers. This seems
like more of a hindrance on first listening than the second
time round, but most of the voices are not particularly distinguishable
from each other, making the whole effect more symphonic than
it might otherwise be, especially given the increased prominence
of the orchestra. There are exceptions: Hans-Jürgen Lazar and
Jochen Schmeckenbecher as Mime and Alberich respectively both
sound like pretty nasty characters, just from the various tone
colours they employ. The Rhinemaidens sing as an impressively
unified ensemble, an effect complemented by the high quality
audio, that despite their unity is still able to pick out the
individual voices. Terje Stensvold has quite a modest voice,
which could threaten the credibility of his Wotan. Fortunately,
his timing, poise and tone colour combine to fill out the part,
and despite a general lack of vocal power, he is still able
to command every scene in which he appears.
Sebastian Weigle has a real intuition for Wagner's dramatic
pacing. He makes the most of all the set-pieces, especially
the orchestral interludes, but never exaggerates the tempo indications
he finds in the score. His Wagner is much like that of Christian
Thielemann, dramatic and red-blooded, and with every musician
performing to their full expressive potential. But Weigle is
more subtle than Thielemann, more measured and less interventionist.
A recommendation then from me for this Rhinegold, especially
to those who have been waiting since the dawn of digital technology
for a Wagner recording in audio quality that can do the music
justice. If I didn't know better, I could have sworn that this
was an SACD, and a good one too. While the singing is to an
excellent standard, the orchestra come over as the real stars.
That's partly for the quality of their playing, but also for
the combination of Wagner's excellent orchestration and the
sound quality that demonstrates how the details are as fine
as the whole. My lasting impression of the final bars of the
work, as the gods enter Valhalla, is of the loudest contrabass
trombone playing I've ever heard. This ought to be a controversial
issue, and my opinions were divided the first time I listened.
After all, what is the point of hiring seven harpists solely
for this passage when all you can hear is one player at the
back of the brass? But Wagner gives the contrabass trombone
the melody, mostly below the bass clef I think, and by pumping
it out at these exceptional dynamics - and without losing anything
in sound quality - it really brings a sense of profundity to
these closing bars. Sebastian Weigle may be a moderate when
it comes to tempo issues, but by giving these brass players
their heads, he shows he's anything but a control freak.
Gavin Dixon
Masterwork Index: Das
Rheingold
Wotan - Terje Stensvold 
