Naxos has reissued a number of recordings from the excellent
Delos label, many of which are very fine both technically and
musically. This Wagner release is the third and final volume
of orchestral excerpts from Wagner’s operas - vols 1 and
2 reviewed here.
I haven’t heard the first two issues in the series but
it’s not easy to be especially positive about what’s
on offer here. There’s nothing much wrong with the standard
of playing by the Seattle orchestra but there is a serious lack
of fire and passion. The overture to Tannhauser sounds
like a rather uninterested run-through, especially from the
brass. The monumental grandeur you find in the performance by
the Philharmonia under Klemperer, for example, is nowhere to
be heard in Seattle. The trombone entry, especially, just doesn’t
have any sort of dignity or gravitas. My own personal preference
is to hear the complete overture but what we have here is the
truncated version including the Venusberg Music. At least
this is despatched with a little more élan. The 1986
recording is decent enough, with warm strings and a pleasant
glow around the full orchestra but it does sound a wee bit cramped
and confined in the louder passages.
These comments about the sound quality also apply to the second
item from 1986, the Meistersinger “suite”,
for the want of a better word. There is little point in being
a purist when listening to Wagnerian bleeding chunks. The 12
minute selection recorded here starts with the Act III Introduction,
played to a good, professional standard (no more than that)
but missing the full-bodied romantic passion and rapture it
deserves. The string playing isn’t committed enough or
motivated enough to produce a sensual Wagner sound. The Dance
of the Apprentices is somewhat better with nicely pointed
winds and a feeling of freshness about it. Maybe this outgoing,
lively music is more suited to the psyche of Schwarz and his
orchestra. The Procession of the Mastersingers finds
the brass in more inspired form but leaves you wishing that
the full overture had been included instead.
The Tristan sessions are from 1992 and the soundstage
is more open and three dimensional. Woodwind intonation is occasionally
suspect (octaves sometimes producing a beat) but other than
that the orchestral playing is generally fine. The string playing
in the Prelude is far more romantic and full bodied than
it was in the 1986 recordings. Unfortunately the overall level
of musicianship isn’t really good enough when compared
to some of the outstanding big name the catalogue. Klemperer
- one of my own favourite interpreters in Wagner and Beethoven
- and Karajan are in a different league. The soprano Alessandra
Marc possesses a sweet, delicate sounding voice with a well-controlled
vibrato but she also has the tendency to sing sharp. This is
compounded by the forward balance she is given by the engineers,
totally covering the string details in Brangaene’s
Warning and putting her right in front of the orchestra
in the Liebestod.
What we have here is a decent enough CD at the price but it
can’t really compete with the best. Buying it would be
a false economy.
John Whitmore
See also reviews by Paul
Godfrey and Byzantion
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Alessandra Marc (soprano)* 