Parsifal is my favorite Wagner work, BUT I heartily agree that it’s not something to take a teenager to. My grandmother (ecstatic that I had discovered Wagner) took me to a production when I was 16, and I was miserable. I now find humor in realizing that I was in the same boat as the titular character in act I: I didn’t understand what I had just seen.
“The Ring is perfect for driving across the country.” Yep. Listened to the Solti Ring when I drove by myself from Ellensburg WA to Denver. Rheingold and Walküre happened to get me to Twin Falls where I spent the night, and the other two the rest of the way perfectly.
Oh boy. Today's video was a bit hard to swallow :-) Nobody cares about Tannhäuser? Oh my. Other than that, very good recommendations and entertaining as well. My favourite "Holländer" is Simon Estes, btw. Some people may criticize his accent when he sings German, bit I never found that problematic at all (at the end of the day, he is Dutch according to the libretto, so he would have an accent anyway). Simon Estes with his huge, forceful and powerful voice portrays that supernatural, frightening, aweinspiring, but also tender and sensitive character very well. An absolute stunning performance. Also LIsbeth Balslev and Matti Salminen are very good singers and give a highly impressive performance. Woldemar Nelsson conducting in Bayreuth, the CD Set was published by Philips (Universal Music)
Mark Twain, after attending a performance at Bayreuth: "Wagner's music is not as bad as it sounds." Claude Debussy, after attending a concert performance of Parsifal in Paris: "This surely is one of the greatest of monuments ever erected to the eternal glory of music." They were both right.
@William-Michael Costello You’re free to like what you want. That doesn’t make you an expert. If you’re a true Wagnerian, listen to Leinsdorf’s Die Walküre with the LSO. It is great!
I saw a (very good) production of Tristan & Isolde about 30 years ago, which featured a very well-built Isolde. At the moment when Kurwenal sees the ship in Act III, the man sat next to me said "It's not a ship, it's [soprano's name] out for a swim".
I attended a performance of Tannhauser at the San Francisco Opera way back in 1990. I am not sure who exactly played Venus, but let's say she was at least twice of the size of Tannhauser. The staging for the Venusberg music featured nubile San Francisco Ballet students, in flesh covered costumes hiding their private parts, simulating copulation around a giant Venus Shell. It all was reflected in a giant mirror in the back which made them see like they were floating in air. When the Venus shell opened, Tannhauser and Venus were uncomfortably squeezed in a tight space. The audience's laughter hit the roof!
I'm not going to comment on David's choices - all perfectly fine (yes I do like this or that performance better, but who cares). However - as David often seems to comment on how he came to a piece of music - or classical music as a whole - when he was young; I have to note that the reason I like opera in general and Wagner particularly - was Tannhauser, which i fell in love with as a boy. I still think it's great silly fun - and one really hard tenor role as well. And - maybe until recently - Lohengrin was the most popular Wagner opera - so some people like it!
This is an aside, but the only concert I have ever been to where the Audience stands up and jeers at the end, was a performance of Lohengrin at the Bonn Opera. It simply was not that good a performance, and "Lohengrin" was quite geriatric -- he came out (I am not joking) with blue hair, a rhinestone outfit, -- and it was not well done. He looked and sung like a low budget Las Vegas Elvis. The jeering went on for quite a while.
A very small detail without any importance, but Cornell MacNeil was a baritone, and a very good one. My favorite Germont. Thank you for your amazing work.
I love your story about Thelma. It's sooooo vivid and funny and I couldn't stop laughing for quite a while. I can imagine the reaction of those sitting in the front row! Just fabulous!!
I can't not weigh in on Wagner -- a lifelong fave. At age 11, I checked the Solti Rheingold out of the public library and kept it for over three years. The cops called my father to make me give it back. Yes, this was the subject of an early episode of Law and Order: Criminal Intent. I don't know why we should abandon the rule about only one conductor per list; there's certainly enough good Wagner out there to come up with the diversity demanded of other composers. Der Fliegende Holländer: Marek Janowski (Pentatone) The first and best of Janowski's recent complete Wagner cycle on Pentatone. He really clarifies the line of descent from Weber, with delicate woodwind writing and brass eruptions. Tannhäuser: Wolfgang Sawallisch (Phillips) -- Live recording of the 1962 Bayreuth performance with Grace Bumbry repeating her history-making performance as the "Black Venus" -- and wonderful she is! So is Anja Silja as a girlish, vulnerable Elisabeth; Windgassen at his best as a fervent, even perfervid, protagonist; and Eberhard Waechter as a virile, yet compassionate Wolfram. Lohengrin: Claudio Abbado (DG) Siegfried Jerusalem gives the best overall interpretation of the title role and is backed up by a sensitive Cheryl Studer as Elsa and an extraordinary Orturd from Waltraud Meier. Tristan und Isolde: Carlos Kleiber (DG) Thank heaven the cd version dispenses with the idiotic fade-ins and fade-outs of the LP release. Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: Georg Solti (Decca) This is Solti's second commercial recording with the Chicago Symphony and it is an improvement over his first with the Vienna Phil in every way. Karita Mattila is a strong and passionate Eva, and Ben Heppner is the Walther of your dreams for voice and ease of production. For once, a loving couple that convinces you they really fall for each other. The Ring: Reginald Goodall (Chandos). Three of the greatest exponents of their respective roles: Rita Hunter, Alberto Remedios, and Norman Bailey. No other cycle can boast of such uniform excellence. And the supporting roles are all consistently excellent as well. So what if it's in English? Understanding the words without a booklet ain't no bad thing. Parsifal: Herbert von Karajan (DG ) Sonically, this is one of the greatest opera recordings ever made, and sonics are so important in a work that is often quiet and meditative, dare I say spiritual, in character.
seriously though what percentage bar a fine tooth comb selection of pieces (indeed the most astonishingly good music) in the over 4 hours is worth listening too? the prelude is utterly transcendental, i remember the glorious church bells, what else? so much pointless recitative and boring theatre (which i dont understand i dont speak german) i would genuinely love to know
@@weewee2169 I find Parsifal to be sublime and deeply enriching throughout its whole length, but I know it to be futile to try to convince anyone by arguing the point. I just hope therefore that you hark to the oft repeated dictum of Mr. Hurwitz too keep on listening.
@Magnus Krook. I agree with you. The Ring Cycle is my favorite Wagner work , because, well how could it not be. But Parsifal is the single Wagner opera I return to most often. I won’t give too much away, but the storyline is important to me as well.
It's a "guilty pleasure" given the awful sound, but the climax in Walküre before Brünnhilde's sleep motif appears on the Fürtwängler/Scala is the most overwhelming I have ever heard. I can't even imagine what effect it would have in modern sound. Just one of the little surprises that await the curious collector.
my first opera, as a child, was Parsifal at the met... it was billed as Domingo's last performance, which I took to mean EVER, but he meant of Parsifal, but that didn't stop me from seeing it five times in a row... Urmana was brand new, Tomlinson, Ketelsen... Got pictures in the old stage entrance... Someone (doug?) got pictures of me and Domingo that I've never been able to track down... I got invited for drinks in the front room at O'Neals... Then I saw Meistersinger five times (Polenzani & Matilla)... Then I saw Paraifal another 5 times (the beginning of my distaste for Gergiev)... These two operas will always mean the most to me... I even stood all the way through a couple performances just for bragging rights (that nobody cares about)...
Parsifal is my "desert island" work. I own a multiple of recordings, and here are my top choice. 1. Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic (rssued on on DG), with Jose van Dam as Amfortas Kurt Moll as Guramenz, and Peter Hoffman as Parsifal. Peter Hoffman is probably the only Parsifal tenor who looked the part. 2. Barenboim, Berlin Philharmonic, with Jose van Dam as Amfortas again and Siegfried Jerusalem as Parsifal. It has Waltraud Meir as Kundry, but I consider Act 2 (Klongsor Garden), the one part of the work that is a big hard to sit through. 3. Kegel, with the Radio Symphony orchestra of Leipzig. Rene Kollo plays Parsifal. I think this one might be a "sleeper". I am perhaps the only Parsifal fan who does not care for the Kna / Bayreuth recordings as much as the above ones. It might be the recording technology involved. BTW, the last time I attended Parsifal Live was at the Netherlands National Opera in Amsterdam with Rattle. There were many "younger people" there (tickets can be very affordable). A good many of them looked like they partaked in some substance or other, right before the Opera. You could tell when the people sitting next to you did not respond to the first "break" and simply at in their seats motionless with glazed eyes. . Rattle was quite good, but as some friends of Leon Fleisher who managed a cafe in Amsterdam near where I lived said, "He managed to get through it! Everyone was happy!".
The Fliegende with Franz Konwitschny conducting I found excellent, Frick, Schech, Fischer-Dieskau etc. Staatskapelle Berlin if you can find it. Is one of the Eterna Collection (East German) on the Berlin Classics label.
Things I learned: 1. David loves classical music more than I do 2. David hates opera as much as I do 3. David calls us his friends Fantastic video. Especially the taking the piss out of the opera nuts!
As an amateur "Opera" afficianado, I find this approach refreshing and exactly what I've come to expect from you, Dave. I shall be trawling your posts to check out any similar posts you have made. Hoi HO! 🙂
Just a late note Dave. I tucked your comments on the Leinsdorf Walkure back in my memory when you did this. Just yesterday i was in a half price books store and lo and behold there was a mint copy of the Leinsdorf Walkure, for all of nine dollars! Ive sampled it over the last 2 days, terrific and vividly recorded. You're a valuable asset, Dave, because i watched and listened, i was able to know to snatch this up !
For me, Wagner is at its most fun when it's as fast as possible. Wagner himself wanted it that way, too. "If you were not all such tedious fellows, Das Rheingold would be finished within two hours." (Wagner to Hans Richter, 1876) Of course, it's also preferable when it's sung nicely AND conducted well and unfortunately one has to make a lot of compromises in that regard, since very often those worlds don't coincide as nicely as I'd like. I completely agree with you in regard to Karajan's Ring being instrumentally fantastic; a lot of people call it "chamber like" and while I think that's an exaggeration, he allows the listener to hear details they often don't -- especially since many recordings have the orchestra buried deep in a pit (the Bayreuth pit especially kills a lot of orchestral detail sadly). With Karajan, you hear some wonderful woodwind details and the brass sounds so nice and clean. Though that cycle does have some unfortunate editing cuts (and shifting perspectives) which are very noticable when listening in on headphones. Oh well. Leinsdorf and Bohm are also among my favorites. Bohm in particular is just so damn exciting (and still the fastest Ring on record! Even faster than Boulez.) Not a Solti fan, though :) I'll keep my personal "ideal" choices limited to The Ring, Tristan, and Parsifal, since they're the ones I've listened obsessively to. Das Rheingold: Janowski (RCA). This was part of the first digital Ring and is one of the fastest Rheingold's on record. The conducting is straightforward and very musical, some might say boring but whatever lack of interpretive insights Janowski has, he makes up for in pace and consistency. The Staatskapelle play beautifully in the Church acoustic, and I think insofar as the audio is concerned this Ring captures Wagner's glorious bass sound the best. The singers are all perfectly good and some even rise beyond that. Rheingold is perhaps the Ring entry that is the easiest to be satisfied with -- there are so many good recordings to choose from. Die Walkure: Karajan (DG) The first two entries in Karajan's Ring cycle are fantastic and can proudly stand amongst the best. While his pace is generally far slower than I'd like, he makes up for it in his sheer concentration in his role as the Ring's narrator. What perhaps pushes me to suggest this Walkure over the others, is the immensely underrated Crespin and Stewart, who perform Brunnhilde and Wotan respectively. They are so thoroughly convincing in their acting, that I actually prefer them to many historical singers. Stewart in particular during Act 3 is so fiery as Wotan, that I get shivers every time I hear him. Siegfried: Furtwangler (1950, whatever pirate label has it) This one is very hard for me because frankly no one can compare to Melchior in the titular role, but all his recordings of it are extremely dated and incomplete. Keilberth's 1955 recording with Windgassen in his freshest voice (and lacking the mistakes that he made on the 1953 Krauss recording) is also quite good, but the ensemble makes many mistakes and, frankly, even though the sound is stereo, it is perhaps the ugliest capturing of the Bayreuth acoustic I have ever heard. The brass especially makes you want to put your hands over your ears. Anyhow, the Furtwangler recording has been on numerous pirate and unofficial labels for decades, and very often in the incorrect pitch. Pristine Classical put out a release that is perhaps overly remastered but fixes the pitch up, which results in a far faster performance that sounds much more fun. The unique blend of Furt's Germanic tendencies and the Italian aesthetic of the La Scala orchestra results in a totally unique noise unlike any other Wagner recording out there, with biting winds and strings. I mentioned earlier how Karajan's recording was referred to as "chamber-like" by critics. I think a similar description more aptly applies to this recording. The orchestra is positively intimate. And then you have Svanholm and Flagstad playing the two major roles and singing their hearts out. A very, very exciting recording, but one has to make allowances for sound and the cough-ridden recording. Gotterdammerung: Bohm (Philips) No complaints here, David. Truly one of the most exciting recordings of anything ever. A one way train ride towards the apocalypse. Tristan und Isolde: Bohm (DG) Once again, in agreement. There are some recordings I like better vocally (Max Lorenz with Heger quite possibly has the best Act 3 ever), but there are no other recordings that combine excitement, quality of sound, and great singing like this recording does. Parsifal: Kegel (Berlin Classics) This recording really highlights the speech-melody and unique sense of rhythm in this opera with its pacing. You listen to this and you understand how Debussy was so inspired by Parsifal when he wrote Pelleas. Kubelik's recording is fantastically beautiful (and has those delicious split first and second violins), and Kna has the best singers and the Bayreuth acoustic it was written for, but, for me, Kegel just nails the aspects of what make Parsifal so interesting to myself as a listener, and the recording favors the orchestra a bit more than the aforementioned Kubelik and Kna, allowing one to hear some extra orchestral detail.
Great job, my friend. However, what about Tristan and Isolde by Bernstein or Karajan on record and even more, the outstanding live performances of the same opera by Pappano in London, Kleiber in Bayreuth (best of all) and Bychov in Paris? Wagner has so many stories to tell ...
@@Listenerandlearner870 I wish we could get CDs of all of Boulez's Wagner! Especially those early performances of the Chereau production with all the boos and whistles. They exist on pirate labels in compressed sound, but I know that they were recorded well and surely Bayreuth has the tapes somewhere.
I'm one of the many listeners who swaps out the Walkure in his complete Solti Ring for the Leinsdorf. It's just better IMO, and it fits like a glove because it has London (Solti's Reingold Wotan) and Nilsson (Solti's Brunnhilde). Then for Siegfried, Hotter as Old Wotan is a logical progression from London as the younger Wotan.
Meistersinger is my favorite opera period. I listen to it while skiing & ran several marathons with it, which sort of validities your assertion that it is a good BGM.
At an average opera length of 3 hours: 21,000 hours of opera ÷24 Hours a day=875 days ÷ 365 = 2.39 years of non-stop music. So are you crazy??? Hmmmm....
Wolfcrag85: Since your name references LUCIA DI LAMMERMORE, as long as ALL of Joan Sutherland’s recordings are within your 7000 CDs, there is nothing wrong with you that working a part time job to pay for the 7000 CDs-and a possible delayed retirement due to not saving enough-can’t cure. LA STUPENDA PER SEMPRE!!
Now Klemperer was noted for having a very poisonous humor. At the height of Karajan‘s career Klemperer was asked in an interview what he thought of various conductors. About Bernstein he said that he sweats too much. Furtwängler was a good musician who couldn‘t beat properly mans Böhm looked like a sack of potatoes. When asked about Karajan, Klemperer thought for a few seconds and then answered , „Karajan, never heard of him.“ „Karajan, kenne ich nicht.“
I spoke on the phone once and met once with the very elderly Reinhardt Elster, who was harpist in the Met orchestra from 1948 to 1986, later moving to Western Mass. to live with a relative. He started studying the harp at 15, after becoming a champion xylophonist! And he died in 2015 at age 101. Could it have been he playing the fateful harp swoosh?
No love for Sawallisch? I recently purchased the EMI Bavarian Staatsoper/Sawallisch Meistersinger, with Heppner, Studer, Weickl and Moll, from 1994... l now have the Kubelik (thanks to you), the Karajan (which I love), and Sawallisch. I was so taken by the Sawallisch.... So great. Much better recorded than the Kubelik (granted, almost 30 years later...), and the singing is just as fabulous. I am not a huge fan of Studer (there are better Evas) but Heppner, Weikl and Moll are wonderful. The choruses are energetic and the orchestra warm and characterful. A real winner of a recording. It's not reviewed on Classicstoday, but it seems most of his other Wagner recordings are.
Dave, I had an experience similar to yours at the Met, but appropriately enough it was with Gotterdammerung. A woman who somehow managed to get into a seat behind me looked as if she could have attended the 1876 premiere in Bayreuth. Everyone knows that if one is planning to kick the bucket during a performance of Gotterdammerung it is correct to do so during Act III. However, this hapless woman couldn't wait and never managed to survive Act I.
Been looking forward to this one! Thanks!! Re: “Driving Music” . . . I’ve always been a long-distance driver: 10-,15-. even 20-hour trips (Minneapolis to Houston is my ‘personal best’ to date) non-stop. On one such trip I downloaded the complete Mahler Symphonies (as MP3 files) from some nefarious online source, and planned to traverse the symphonies en route. But(!). . . whoever had uploaded the separate movements had made a monumental s.n.a.f.u. with the naming conventions, such that . . . well, effectively, all movements from all symphonies (when played from top to bottom of the playlist) were in a completely random order (vis-a-vis the actual works). I thought that was a disaster, but, since I had nothing else bar the AM radio, I kept listening . . . and, not only is Mahler great road listening (although you have to use earphones to catch the ppppp s and so on) , but the separate movements, randomly selected, somehow WORKED as one gigantic 30-40-movement symphony! Notwithstanding insane things like crazy key juxtapositions or back-to-back finales -- or (best of all) three massive slow movements in a row -- what a testament to Mahler that it all kind of held up and sort of made sense! Sounds crazy, but maybe try it with “randomize” functionality on a complete Mahler symphony movements MP3 collection on one CD!
Thanks for the background on Wagner! I listened to the the old Naxos Recording by Eric Leinsdorf, with Tanhauser but do have to try Solti's! I already purchased some of your recommendations and they failed to disappoint. Solti's Siegfried and the rest of the cycle is also gold! Will get the Bohm for Tristan! Thanks
I've just discovered your channel, and love especially this video! I'm the one guy who actually came to love Wagner through his /drama/. Only when I got to a point to understand the drama, not on a synopsis level but line by line, the whole oversized package(s) began to make sense and gained the right proportions. "Tristan und Isolde" is great, rock-solid drama, especially the first act where people (especially coming out of bad productions) say "nothing happens and they drink the stupid potion and fall in love" -- nothing could be farther from the truth, it's really way more complex and interesting! And all the backstory that's really cleverly handled, not as boring exposition, but as character moments! Well, that's just me, I realize. Regardless, I love your take on Wagner, your passion and love, your stories and your natural eloquence! Take care, many thanks! PS: For Wagner, and I'm being an asshole, my firm suggestion is: Do as at the time it was custom, read the libretto (das Textbuch) first, in your own time, in your own rhythm, simply read even what might seem boring or redundant. You might forget much of it consciously, but it might enhance your enjoyment of the opera experience infinitely! Even more may unconsciously come together later in the aftermath, be even more rewarding.
My introduction to Wagner was via a recording of Wagner preludes and overtures when I was 17. The very first thing I heard was the Act 1 prelude to Lohengrin, which immediately mesmerized me and transported me to another world. 58 years later the effect has not diminished. Although I love all the Wagner operas, Dutchman excepted, and the less said about the bombastic Rienzi the better, Lohengrin is my absolute favorite. I was at Rene Kollo’s Met debut in the role in November 1976 and he was transcendent. Wotan’s Farewell was going through my head as I kissed my dad goodbye when he passed. What so many people fail to recognize is that for all the sturm und drang in Wagner there is also a side that movingly expresses the human condition. And, oh, the closing scene of Parsifal is unsurpassed -- incredibly gorgeous and deeply moving music.
Great to see Thomas Stewart appear more than once. He is one of the reasons for my choice of Die Walküre being the Karajan DG. Wotan sung with a range of emotions and paired brilliantly with Crespin.
Guilty pleasure maybe but for me Rienzi and Liebesverbot are delightful summertime operas. But only in the uncut BBC performances broadcast in the 70s. Cuts take all the fun away. Tannhauser is only really bearable/enjoyable in the Paris version. Good list, I agree, though I'd stick with the Solti for Gotterdammerung.
Thanks for another entertaining video! I share your sentiments about early Wagner, although I count myself as a 'Wagnerite'! Let me add another singer to the list of fantastic voices that found their way into Solti's Siegfried: Joan Sutherland as the Woodbird. That's got to be the ultimate in luxury casting, don't you think?
I recall a review when the album first was issued: “We all know what Siegfried drinks to make the forest bird comprehensible, but what is it that Ms. Sutherland drinks to make it incomprehensible again?”
I know you just hate pronunciation comments, BUT, it’s Gustav NIDE-linger. Thanks for all of the suggestions; found all as downloadable single operas except the Kubelik.
It absolutely is. Once you've got the message that the whole Ring cycle is pushed forward by "Neid" (envy) of Alberich, Wotan and the Giants, you will always remember that German word.
Wow thank you so much. I love all of Wagner's operas but I have had trouble getting myself to experiment and listen to new recordings of them instead of just falling back on the main Solti or Karajan recordings. This is just what I needed thanks!
Excellent as always and I can’t believe I hadn’t seen this video until now. I agree wholeheartedly, except to admit that I actually love Tannhauser. It was one of the first opera that I wanted to listen to when I was in high school. I find the music to be absolutely gorgeous, but I definitely do prefer the Paris version. It definitely Shows an improvement over the Dresden one. Overall, an excellent video and I love your stories!
Thanks for the video. I would love to see a similar video of recommendations for available videos of the operas. I tend to prefer watching performaces along with the music when it comes to operas.
So happy you gave a shoutout to the Kubelik Lohengrin, which I adore beyond belief…(and his Meistersinger too…no contest for my money)…reason being the casting of Jones and Janowitz…Jones’s shrill, malevolent Ortrud paired with Janowitz’s heavenly pure Elsa is just the perfect casting for my money…they’re so totally on the opposite ends of the spectrum, that it makes for total magic…no other recording (for me…totally subjective of course) has the electricity of such a pairing for these roles…that (and Kubelik being his usual fabulous self with Wagner) is the magic of this Lohengrin…(am I totally wrong to thing that Ortrud and possibly Venus were Jones’s best roles??? …as a mezzo!???)
Nothing good in Tannhäuser after the overture and the Venusberg music? Oy vey! How about "Dich, teure Halle, grüss ich wieder" and "O du mein holder Abendstern" the latter being one of the most gorgeous arias ever written.
And don't forget the choruses. Mind you, there's a lot of fairly bog-standard recitative between the good bits - we perhaps have to wait until Das Rheingold before Wagner finds better ways of handling conversational/expository dialogue. There are flashes of it in Tannhäuser, Lohengrin and Holländer, but - for me - Wagner doesn't really get into his stride until the Ring.
Nah, it's all garbage. Of course it has five or ten good minutes after the overture and ballet, but you can listen to excerpts and hear all you need to.
All good risible, knock about fun. But some sound suggestions. Personally of course I also like the slower than crap Reggie Goodall for Tristan but there we are your choice was right. in fact I actually agreed with most of the choices. I was stunned. .
Very entertaining. I seldom fall asleep at concerts but once Parsifal (orchestral excerpt version, not even the full with singers) got me. Think both my pulse beat and blood pressure was close to zero then. And certainly not a good one for long distance driving.
Interesting choices. I prefer Solti or Janowski for Das Rheingold and also think the Janowski Siegfried is very good, particularly the 1st act. My favourite Meistersinger is actually the Sawallisch with the Kubelik a close second.
All but one of these are classic performance that I love, and it's especially good to hear a shout for Leinsdorf's wonderful Die Walkure. The one exception is Kubelik's Mastersingers. Given all its accolades, I really have tried so hard over the years to love it, and beautifully sung and conducted though it is, I just can't get over the feeling that it all has a rather analytic feeling. To my ears Thomas Stewart just doesn't have the kind of warmth in his voice that you need for Hans Sachs and I don't feel transported to the Bavaria of my dreams (even though the forces are Bavarian!). After another failed attempt to get on with this recording I always return to Karajan 1951 or Kempe 1955, both of which have more than enough atmosphere to compensate for any sonic deficiencies. In fact, for all that it's in mono, Kempe's sounds really good. I found it in a Rudolf Schock boxed set that was one of the best bargains ever!
I'm down with those choices but try the 1950/51 Knappertsbusch Decca which I listened to a couple of years ago and loved. Definitely has the finest Sachs in Schoeffler and a radiant Eva with Gueden. But for a studio recording it's very atmospheric.
Both the CALIG and MYTO pressings of the Kubelik Meistersinger have real problems, either of compromised sonics or compromised pitch! The ARTS ARCHIV (sp.?) is a revelation, and if you want to get the full impact of the Kubelik, it's that A-A set you need. If you already got that pressing, then you've given it a fair shot, however. Was that the pressing you got?
Have to agree that one needs to sample several recordings of the same work to really appreciate it. I own about 10 Ring Cycles and comb through them often with very specific agendas. What's clear in one is muddy in another, what's thrilling in this version is tedious in that. (No naming names, however.) Wish I had the time and money to know them ALL by heart.
I personally own three ring cycles on DVD/ Blu-Ray. The Kupfer Beyreauth production, (which I don’t really enjoy from a production standpoint honestly) the 1990 Met Production with James Morris as Wotan, and the 2011 Robert Lepage production that I’m currently working through and I’m really enjoying it so far.
With particular focus on Wotan's monologue, yes? Wagner himself agonized over that section but finally decided it could fly...but not without a truly remarkable interpreter which doesn't always happen.
I just listened to Solti's Ring cycle performed at Bayreuth in 1983, and I liked it even better than his earlier recording of The Ring with the VPO. Solti's Bayreuth performances convey more intensity and excitement than those he did with the VPO in 1967; possibly because they're live performances. Plus, Hans Hotter sounds somewhat wobbly as Wotan in Solti's VPO Ring, maybe because he was past his prime? The singer for Wotan in the Bayreuth performances sings with more steady tone and more assurance.
Meistersinger: also a great ‘long drive’ opera. thanks for the recommendation on the Kubelik. Sandor Konya was a revelation! Reminds me of Wunderlich, but more passion less preciousness... What a fabulous singer. Stewart and Janowitz are also unforgettable. My favorite Meistersinger is however, the Karajan/Dresden. There is something magical about that recording. The orchestra sounds just so wonderful. so much character in the playing. Also wonderful sonics.… the singing is not as great as in the Kubelik, but is still very good. The Chorus and ensemble work is just stunning.
I remember when Disney Concert Hall opened for its first season with the LA Philharmonic, Boulez was set to guest-conduct a program consisting entirely of Act 2 of Parsifal. I've always regretted not finding a way to be there.
Well, David, I'm an opera nut and a Wagner nut, so this my list: Dutchmann: Dorati, London, Rysanek, Decca. Tann: Solti, but also love Sinopoli. Lohengrin: Keilberth Bayreuth (Windgassen/Steber), but also Kempe for an studio recording. Tristan: Böhm, Kleiber and I like the recent Pappano with Domingo and Nina Stemme. Meistersinger: Kubelik, Sawallisch with Heppner and Weikl (but I'm a Heppner and Sawallisch nut). Also Karajan (Kollo, Adam) and the last Solti with...Heppner. Ring: Kna cycle Bayreuth 57 live, Solti cycle, and Barenboim. Love the Furt EMI studio (Walküre). Parsifal: Kna Bayreuth with Windgassen. But I like Karajan, Solti, and the second Levine, with Domingo and Jessie Norman. For the pre Dutch operas, the Sawallisch cycle including Rienzi is a must have for a Wagner ultranut as me. Thanks!
Nothing wrong with Stowkowski’s Wagner Transcriptions. These days I tend to take my Wagner an Act at a time. The days of sitting through The Ring in one sitting are long gone.
OMG the first 7 minutes of this video is the best thing ever. Happy birthday Thelma! She sounds like a party. When are you gonna do the best Pachelbel Canon in D? 😂
I'm not a Meistersinger fan, I find it a solemn bore, and yet I have three recordings (Kempe 1956, Dohnanyi 1975 and Barenboim). I guess I'll have to insist a bit, one disc at a time. I'm more into the Dutchman (4 recordings), Tristan (4), The Ring (3) and Parsifal (3, including one in Italian with Maria Callas). I attended a live performance of Parisfal in Madrid in 2000 with Plácido Domingo singing the title role, and Luis Antonio García Navarro conducting. He was struck with cancer and it was his swansong as a conductor. I enjoyed it greatly, and said afterwards, Plácido, you're forgiven for all your misdemeanours, for instance the collaborations with Luis Cobos (look him up, he's crappy) and the Three Mamarrachos ad nauseam. And the rest we all know about. No forgiveness there, not when you get to decide about casts.
great picks. could make slightly different selections here or there, but for a starter set, or if you just want one of each, that list is as solid as any.
I have a similar story to your Parsifal story, I was 16 when I went to the met first time 1966, meistersinger. Act 3 last scene a flag holder dropped Dead on stage and they carried the body off the stage in time to the music. Feh!
Then there's the one where Dr. Kolenaty (Richard Versalle) in the Met premiere of The Makropoulos Case had a heart attack on a ladder and fell to the stage dead, ending the performance.
You could try to specify "commercially available stereo recording" operas to keep the rare live mono stuff at bay but anyway. I have all the recordings mentioned. Glad to hear Kubelik's Lohengrin get mentioned because it's wonderful although I like all of Kubelik's Wagner. In addition to Klemperer's Dutchman I like Solti as well. The Ring there's so many worth hearing I won't bother going into that. I absolutely adore Parsifal and just as your talk about composer vs. composer we are total opposites, I would happily sit through back to back performances of Parsifal than a single act of Aida any day of the week. Most Verdi I find exceptionally boring and dull where Wagner is the total opposite.
David, you are hilarious! I enjoyed this more than of any of your reviews I have seen, hahahahahahahaha! "A screechy version of 'We Three Kings." Hahahahahaha! You are the BEST! Sincerely, from a man who has makes his living working in Opera and with Opera singers! P.S. Your choices are A+!
Notwithstanding the fact that Goodall is slow, slower and slowest, the overture and opening scene of his Siegfried Act III is absolutely riveting. And speaking of Erda, is there a recording anywhere of Siegfried and/or Rheingold with Ewa Podles?
I got the Parsifal of Kubelik after watching this video. I think the whole performance conducted by Kubelik was fine. Even Kurt Moll performed better with Kubelik than the recording of DG with Karaja. I got another one conducted by Boulez. Also I have got the Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg conducted by Kubelik from OperaDepot. I can’t get the version of ArtsArchives.
This ended a chaotic day on a really good note - Thank you ! Loved your Marta Modl impression (Senta's Ballad). Also your take on those voice kooks who endlessly compare, say, the Callas live Bismarck, North Dakota Violetta to the next night's performance in Pumpkin Flats, Scandahoovia. 48 CDs of 12 Knappertsbusch PARSIFALS? Heaven forfend...Life and time are too precious for that. But that being said, I admit I have three of them (1951, 1962, 1964 - which, overall, strikes me as the greatest). Plus the Kubelik - which is almost perfect. (I say "almost," because Kubelik's Flower Maidens are too prim & pure to be the naughty tarts Wagner meant them to be. But as Kate Hepburn once said, "You can't have it all.") What about the ideal Strauss operas? I was happy to hear that you like DIE SCHWEIGSAME FRAU...The end of Act II is one of Strauss's most beautiful moments, bar none. And practically no one knows it. It's the comic opera Strauss always wanted to write.
What? No Melchior and Flagstad?? Their Wagner is, for me, unsurpassable, orchestral stumbles and sound quality are easy to ignore given the magnificence of the singing. And I love Tannhäuser, especially the 1941 with Melchior, but for a modern recording, the Barenboim is pretty nice with good singing.
Nonsense? How about your selection of the puny Rene Kollo as an acceptable tannhauser? I laugh! With all due respect, I am not alone in my view that Melchior and Flagstad were the supreme Wagnerian artists. Add Herbert Janssen. Other than your perplexing wagner reviews I find you a cuddly pleasure to listen to. Lovable but needing to be locked in a room with acceptable Wagner recordings. ❤
I’m an instrumentalist-I don’t really care who’s singing or how. What I’m after is the sound of the orchestra. New to the ring so I’m not too familiar with too many recordings but Barenboim brings the heat when you want it. Also a really big fan of the engineering
Barenboim is an excellent Wagner conductor, but it's really much, much better when both the singing and playing are great. There are acres of Wagner in the Ring where nothing much happens in the orchestra.
How happy I am to have the same favourites in almost 50% of them! Parsifal, Meistersinger, Lohengrin, Hollander ... spot on! I have been reluctant to listen to Leinsdorf. I am taking your word for it and give it a try. However ... Karajan? I was so disappointed with his Ring, it sounded like a chamber performance to me, I did not get into it. Plus I don’t feel the heroic / legend sound. Sorry about that.
These are great yarns. I could listen to this video all day. The operas themselves on the other hand...The Ring for a day of driving is a nice idea, I’ll say that. If I ever do another long haul drive solo, probably going to a Bruckner or Shostakovich symphony cycle for me.
Dave, did you ever see the Wagner miniseries starring Richard Burton? Its too long and often boring. But Burton is perfect casting for Wagners narcissistic rants. Wagners leitmotif's, conducted by Solti, are used biographically and it has a stellar cast. Anyway, I'm curious of your take on it or any other classical movies/series like Amadeus, Lisztomania, Mozart in the Jungle or what have you?
Yes, she did, and she looked terrific in that production--she's very tall and regal, and in the Liebesnacht the two of them sort of melted into each other in the semi-darkness, and it was intensely moving (when I wasn't laughing on account of the words).
Overall a very nice list, Dave! Given your strong feelings about Furtwangler’s consistency as a conductor, I was holding my breath to see if you might actually pick his Tristan since it is unquestionably one of his best recordings. In fact, his Wagner legacy is quite wonderful and much more consistent than his recordings of other composers (ahem, Beethoven!) Regarding the giant Kna Parsifal set - I don’t have it but have heard all of the performances and, in one of the biggest disappointments of my opera-listening life, discovered that the commercially released versions (1951 and 1962, you selected the latter) really are the best ones and the others are mostly redundant. That’s many hours of my life I’ll never get back!
Well, as I said, I didn't pick his Tristan but I might have. The reason is that I don't believe operas should be selected primarily on the basis of conductors--even Wagner operas--but on the strength of the singers.
Rightfully so! Totally agreed that the Bohm is superior in almost every other respect and you have to take these performances as a whole. Just glad that Furtwangler got some love.
Furtwangler's Tristan was my first Wagner recording - Hearing it at age 19....The performance is magnificent. I like the Bohm performance for is "Passion" but I always come back to Furtwanger. It is played so well and "so right" ...probably Legge played a significant role in how the performance came out. Flagstad has always been my go to singer. I did not appreciate Nilsson until I heard her in live performances - very exciting voice.
@@UlfilasNZ Well, I think you can do it with good humor--I would not suggest they are wrong for their roles, but physical appearance does matter and can be ridiculous under some circumstances. As long as the jokes aren't cruel or malicious, no harm done. What other art form has given us a phrase in general use like "the opera isn't over until the fat lady sings?" It just comes with the territory.
Dave - From a huge fan, please take it easy with my Wagner addiction. It is not easy to shake! While I agree with much of your comments - dramatically chaotic, repetitive, overly bombastic and not as musically sophisticated as others - I think you are missing the point. Perhaps you and others are taking Wagner too seriously (understandable in that Wagner and others took himself too seriously). I use Star Wars as an analogy. When I challenge my kids about the plot inconsistencies or level of dialogue compared to other sci-fi movies I love more, they tell me “Dad, you are missing the point. This is not supposed to make sense like that”. Clearly, they have an emotional attachment that Mr Lucas was able to convey somehow. I feel the same way about Wagner. I know it is not terribly sophisticated and in reality, I don’t even know why I like it so much - but it hits a chord. Perhaps there is a small amount of “mad King Ludwig” in me. It doesn’t make sense - Ludwig didnt make sense - maybe that’s OK.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Probably coming from me trying to figure out why I like this. Maybe I need a Wagner therapist to tell me to get over it and just enjoy. Do you know a good one?
Didn't you break one of your own rules just now? Not going for the same conductor twice! (Where is Keilberth, Barenboim, van Zweden, Sawallisch,...?) So, perhaps not the best of your "ideal" lists, but surely entertaining.
You weren't payiing attenion I did break the rule: Böhm twice, Solti twice... And why do any of those others have to be mentioned? It's my list. It has no weak links. It's not a discographic survey. Feel free to propose your own.
sorry David ,your prejudices come out . You are obviously not a Wagner freak . Most opera has ludicrous plots . We look beyond that to a spiritual /artist high . Why is Wagner one of the most popular opera composers now ? You are missing out . Anyway your hilarious stories have made my day .
The fact that I am not a Wagner freak does not make me "prejudiced." You should look up the meaning of the word. It is the Wagner freaks who are prejudiced. I enjoy Wagner very much.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Thank you David for the correction . I was hoping that one day you would do a best DVD recording . My late partner's favourite was Parsifal . After putting up with Katerina's atrocities at Bayreuth we gave up going . What a joy to see a video of the Met Otto Scene production . Kurt Moll, Siegfried Jerusalem , a young Waltrud Meir . I thought Levine's overture very slow but the rest of the opera perfect . A very moving production for a bourgeois in search of mysticism .
I count two (three?) instances of your wishing you could hear the operas without the words. So how do you rate the various "symphonic syntheses" as alternatives?
As much as I love opera I don't particularly care for Wagner. With one or two exceptions: Die Walküre 1st act. This is opera at its most intense and sublime. It grabs you by the throat. No 1 for me Furtwängler on EMI or better Pristine, with the best cast in recorded history (Leonie Rysanek, Ludwig Suthaus- what a tenor- and Gottlob Frick a truly menacing Hunding). There surely are others like Walter with Lotte Lehmann and Lauritz Melchior, Leinsdorf with Vickers or Gergiev with Kampe and Kaufmann. But Furtwängler does it for me. And: the Kubelik Meistersinger with the wonderful Sandor Konya is as good as it gets. Thank you for having turned to opera, please continue with Verdi and Puccini and Strauss and ....
That would have been Jean Pierre Ponnelle's staging of the Flying Dutchman at the MET, circa 1978-79. I was there with my friend Frank in the standing room section. We stayed through to the end. )
Love Wagner's orchestral stuff from the operas. Listened to the Solti 'Ring' once. A veritable marathon and test of stamina! I do, however have a recording of 'Rienzi' (!)which I love, simply because it's so nuts, and full of 'real tunes!'. Conducted by a certain Heinrich Hollreiser. I just wish his name was HELLreiser - would be even more fun..... Dave - if I may be so informal - Verdi wrote operas by the truckload; what about doing YOUR ten Verdi opera 'must haves?'
I have a soft spot for Sawallisch in Tannhäuser and Lohrngrin as partners to Knappertsbusch's '62 Parsifal. Yeah, they're boring as hell, but the chorus was having a stellar year under Pitz and the Philips crew did a great job recording them all. I'm sure that everyone is familiar with that old quote, "Parsifal is an opera where, after nearly four and a half hours, you look at your watch and realize that only three minutes have passed."
I am not a fan of Wagner. But I think, you should know his music. So I put my ideal list together: Der fliegende Holländer / Dorati, Dohnanyi and Janowski (I was in the concert in Berlin) Tannhäuser / Solti Lohengrin / Kempe and Kubelik Ring / Solti Tristan / Böhm and Kleiber Meistersinger / Sawallisch Parsifal / Solti and Knappertsbusch Best wishes from Northern Germany
As a certifiable Wagner nut, but not insane (I swear!). I agree with most of your suggestions. If anyone of you hasn't heard the Ring but doesn't want to spend a lot of money, get Janowski's Dresden set (with a solid cast) on RCA from the early 80s, NOT the one he made in Berlin in 2013; it's way too expensive. Anyone interested in a historical Ring should check out Keilberth's 1955 Bayreuth Ring on Testament. It has all of the major Wagner singers of the era in their primes; Windgassen. Hotter, Varney, etc. Recorded by Decca in stereo, the sound is astonishing and emphasized by the magnificent Bayreuth acoustics. Thanks for mentioning Kubelik's Lohengrin and Meistersinger. His Wagner is highly underrated; his Parsifal is nearly as good as his Meistersinger. The Karajan Ring with BPO has some of the best orchestral playing I've ever heard. The strings especially in Das Rheingold are flawless. They make the ungodly difficult music sound easy. For Götterdämmerung, I prefer Solti's as I think it's one of his finest efforts. There's a box with all of Kna's Bayreuth Parsifals? I have a sizable collection of Wagner operas, but I'm not insane enough to buy that!
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Parsifal is my favorite Wagner work, BUT I heartily agree that it’s not something to take a teenager to. My grandmother (ecstatic that I had discovered Wagner) took me to a production when I was 16, and I was miserable. I now find humor in realizing that I was in the same boat as the titular character in act I: I didn’t understand what I had just seen.
“The Ring is perfect for driving across the country.” Yep. Listened to the Solti Ring when I drove by myself from Ellensburg WA to Denver. Rheingold and Walküre happened to get me to Twin Falls where I spent the night, and the other two the rest of the way perfectly.
Oh boy. Today's video was a bit hard to swallow :-) Nobody cares about Tannhäuser? Oh my. Other than that, very good recommendations and entertaining as well. My favourite "Holländer" is Simon Estes, btw. Some people may criticize his accent when he sings German, bit I never found that problematic at all (at the end of the day, he is Dutch according to the libretto, so he would have an accent anyway). Simon Estes with his huge, forceful and powerful voice portrays that supernatural, frightening, aweinspiring, but also tender and sensitive character very well. An absolute stunning performance. Also LIsbeth Balslev and Matti Salminen are very good singers and give a highly impressive performance. Woldemar Nelsson conducting in Bayreuth, the CD Set was published by Philips (Universal Music)
Love Estes too!
Mark Twain, after attending a performance at Bayreuth: "Wagner's music is not as bad as it sounds."
Claude Debussy, after attending a concert performance of Parsifal in Paris: "This surely is one of the greatest of monuments ever erected to the eternal glory of music."
They were both right.
I love Dutchman, Tannhäuser. Leinsdorf was really a great Wagner conductor. This guy is a riot. He should be a standup comedian for music lovers.
Thank you. The nicest thing I've heard in a long time!
@William-Michael Costello You’re free to like what you want. That doesn’t make you an expert. If you’re a true Wagnerian, listen to Leinsdorf’s Die Walküre with the LSO. It is great!
@@XerxesLangrana I have it
I saw a (very good) production of Tristan & Isolde about 30 years ago, which featured a very well-built Isolde. At the moment when Kurwenal sees the ship in Act III, the man sat next to me said "It's not a ship, it's [soprano's name] out for a swim".
I attended a performance of Tannhauser at the San Francisco Opera way back in 1990. I am not sure who exactly played Venus, but let's say she was at least twice of the size of Tannhauser. The staging for the Venusberg music featured nubile San Francisco Ballet students, in flesh covered costumes hiding their private parts, simulating copulation around a giant Venus Shell. It all was reflected in a giant mirror in the back which made them see like they were floating in air. When the Venus shell opened, Tannhauser and Venus were uncomfortably squeezed in a tight space. The audience's laughter hit the roof!
I'm not going to comment on David's choices - all perfectly fine (yes I do like this or that performance better, but who cares). However - as David often seems to comment on how he came to a piece of music - or classical music as a whole - when he was young; I have to note that the reason I like opera in general and Wagner particularly - was Tannhauser, which i fell in love with as a boy. I still think it's great silly fun - and one really hard tenor role as well. And - maybe until recently - Lohengrin was the most popular Wagner opera - so some people like it!
This is an aside, but the only concert I have ever been to where the Audience stands up and jeers at the end, was a performance of Lohengrin at the Bonn Opera. It simply was not that good a performance, and "Lohengrin" was quite geriatric -- he came out (I am not joking) with blue hair, a rhinestone outfit, -- and it was not well done. He looked and sung like a low budget Las Vegas Elvis. The jeering went on for quite a while.
A very small detail without any importance, but Cornell MacNeil was a baritone, and a very good one. My favorite Germont.
Thank you for your amazing work.
Told you I wasn't an opera nut. Thanks.
I love your story about Thelma. It's sooooo vivid and funny and I couldn't stop laughing for quite a while. I can imagine the reaction of those sitting in the front row! Just fabulous!!
I can't not weigh in on Wagner -- a lifelong fave. At age 11, I checked the Solti Rheingold out of the public library and kept it for over three years. The cops called my father to make me give it back. Yes, this was the subject of an early episode of Law and Order: Criminal Intent. I don't know why we should abandon the rule about only one conductor per list; there's certainly enough good Wagner out there to come up with the diversity demanded of other composers.
Der Fliegende Holländer: Marek Janowski (Pentatone) The first and best of Janowski's recent complete Wagner cycle on Pentatone. He really clarifies the line of descent from Weber, with delicate woodwind writing and brass eruptions.
Tannhäuser: Wolfgang Sawallisch (Phillips) -- Live recording of the 1962 Bayreuth performance with Grace Bumbry repeating her history-making performance as the "Black Venus" -- and wonderful she is! So is Anja Silja as a girlish, vulnerable Elisabeth; Windgassen at his best as a fervent, even perfervid, protagonist; and Eberhard Waechter as a virile, yet compassionate Wolfram.
Lohengrin: Claudio Abbado (DG) Siegfried Jerusalem gives the best overall interpretation of the title role and is backed up by a sensitive Cheryl Studer as Elsa and an extraordinary Orturd from Waltraud Meier.
Tristan und Isolde: Carlos Kleiber (DG) Thank heaven the cd version dispenses with the idiotic fade-ins and fade-outs of the LP release.
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: Georg Solti (Decca) This is Solti's second commercial recording with the Chicago Symphony and it is an improvement over his first with the Vienna Phil in every way. Karita Mattila is a strong and passionate Eva, and Ben Heppner is the Walther of your dreams for voice and ease of production. For once, a loving couple that convinces you they really fall for each other.
The Ring: Reginald Goodall (Chandos). Three of the greatest exponents of their respective roles: Rita Hunter, Alberto Remedios, and Norman Bailey. No other cycle can boast of such uniform excellence. And the supporting roles are all consistently excellent as well. So what if it's in English? Understanding the words without a booklet ain't no bad thing.
Parsifal: Herbert von Karajan (DG ) Sonically, this is one of the greatest opera recordings ever made, and sonics are so important in a work that is often quiet and meditative, dare I say spiritual, in character.
I have the Kleiber Tristan on DG-what a knockout it is! Nice choice!
Solti's Ring is my favorite recording.
I love Parsifal above all other works of art. Feel free to pity me, David. Alas, the japanese box of Kna is beyond my finances.
You're not alone, believe me.
seriously though what percentage bar a fine tooth comb selection of pieces (indeed the most astonishingly good music) in the over 4 hours is worth listening too?
the prelude is utterly transcendental, i remember the glorious church bells, what else? so much pointless recitative and boring theatre (which i dont understand i dont speak german)
i would genuinely love to know
@@weewee2169 I find Parsifal to be sublime and deeply enriching throughout its whole length, but I know it to be futile to try to convince anyone by arguing the point. I just hope therefore that you hark to the oft repeated dictum of Mr. Hurwitz too keep on listening.
@@magnuskrook39
boooooo
xox
@Magnus Krook. I agree with you. The Ring Cycle is my favorite Wagner work , because, well how could it not be. But Parsifal is the single Wagner opera I return to most often. I won’t give too much away, but the storyline is important to me as well.
It's a "guilty pleasure" given the awful sound, but the climax in Walküre before Brünnhilde's sleep motif appears on the Fürtwängler/Scala is the most overwhelming I have ever heard. I can't even imagine what effect it would have in modern sound. Just one of the little surprises that await the curious collector.
Try the Barenboim Bayreuth recording. I think he comes closest to Furtwangler in modern sound.
my first opera, as a child, was Parsifal at the met... it was billed as Domingo's last performance, which I took to mean EVER, but he meant of Parsifal, but that didn't stop me from seeing it five times in a row... Urmana was brand new, Tomlinson, Ketelsen... Got pictures in the old stage entrance... Someone (doug?) got pictures of me and Domingo that I've never been able to track down... I got invited for drinks in the front room at O'Neals... Then I saw Meistersinger five times (Polenzani & Matilla)... Then I saw Paraifal another 5 times (the beginning of my distaste for Gergiev)... These two operas will always mean the most to me... I even stood all the way through a couple performances just for bragging rights (that nobody cares about)...
Parsifal is my "desert island" work. I own a multiple of recordings, and here are my top choice.
1. Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic (rssued on on DG), with Jose van Dam as Amfortas Kurt Moll as Guramenz, and Peter Hoffman as Parsifal. Peter Hoffman is probably the only Parsifal tenor who looked the part.
2. Barenboim, Berlin Philharmonic, with Jose van Dam as Amfortas again and Siegfried Jerusalem as Parsifal. It has Waltraud Meir as Kundry, but I consider Act 2 (Klongsor Garden), the one part of the work that is a big hard to sit through.
3. Kegel, with the Radio Symphony orchestra of Leipzig. Rene Kollo plays Parsifal. I think this one might be a "sleeper".
I am perhaps the only Parsifal fan who does not care for the Kna / Bayreuth recordings as much as the above ones. It might be the recording technology involved.
BTW, the last time I attended Parsifal Live was at the Netherlands National Opera in Amsterdam with Rattle. There were many "younger people" there (tickets can be very affordable). A good many of them looked like they partaked in some substance or other, right before the Opera. You could tell when the people sitting next to you did not respond to the first "break" and simply at in their seats motionless with glazed eyes. . Rattle was quite good, but as some friends of Leon Fleisher who managed a cafe in Amsterdam near where I lived said, "He managed to get through it! Everyone was happy!".
The Fliegende with Franz Konwitschny conducting I found excellent, Frick, Schech, Fischer-Dieskau etc. Staatskapelle Berlin if you can find it. Is one of the Eterna Collection (East German) on the Berlin Classics label.
Things I learned:
1. David loves classical music more than I do
2. David hates opera as much as I do
3. David calls us his friends
Fantastic video. Especially the taking the piss out of the opera nuts!
As an amateur "Opera" afficianado, I find this approach refreshing and exactly what I've come to expect from you, Dave. I shall be trawling your posts to check out any similar posts you have made. Hoi HO! 🙂
Just a late note Dave. I tucked your comments on the Leinsdorf Walkure back in my memory when you did this. Just yesterday i was in a half price books store and lo and behold there was a mint copy of the Leinsdorf Walkure, for all of nine dollars! Ive sampled it over the last 2 days, terrific and vividly recorded. You're a valuable asset, Dave, because i watched and listened, i was able to know to snatch this up !
Great to know! Thanks.
You are the best show in town! And so instructive.
Totally agree about Die Walkure. Vickers and Brouwenstijn are superb!
For me, Wagner is at its most fun when it's as fast as possible. Wagner himself wanted it that way, too.
"If you were not all such tedious fellows, Das Rheingold would be finished within two hours." (Wagner to Hans Richter, 1876)
Of course, it's also preferable when it's sung nicely AND conducted well and unfortunately one has to make a lot of compromises in that regard, since very often those worlds don't coincide as nicely as I'd like.
I completely agree with you in regard to Karajan's Ring being instrumentally fantastic; a lot of people call it "chamber like" and while I think that's an exaggeration, he allows the listener to hear details they often don't -- especially since many recordings have the orchestra buried deep in a pit (the Bayreuth pit especially kills a lot of orchestral detail sadly). With Karajan, you hear some wonderful woodwind details and the brass sounds so nice and clean. Though that cycle does have some unfortunate editing cuts (and shifting perspectives) which are very noticable when listening in on headphones. Oh well.
Leinsdorf and Bohm are also among my favorites. Bohm in particular is just so damn exciting (and still the fastest Ring on record! Even faster than Boulez.) Not a Solti fan, though :)
I'll keep my personal "ideal" choices limited to The Ring, Tristan, and Parsifal, since they're the ones I've listened obsessively to.
Das Rheingold: Janowski (RCA).
This was part of the first digital Ring and is one of the fastest Rheingold's on record. The conducting is straightforward and very musical, some might say boring but whatever lack of interpretive insights Janowski has, he makes up for in pace and consistency. The Staatskapelle play beautifully in the Church acoustic, and I think insofar as the audio is concerned this Ring captures Wagner's glorious bass sound the best. The singers are all perfectly good and some even rise beyond that. Rheingold is perhaps the Ring entry that is the easiest to be satisfied with -- there are so many good recordings to choose from.
Die Walkure: Karajan (DG)
The first two entries in Karajan's Ring cycle are fantastic and can proudly stand amongst the best. While his pace is generally far slower than I'd like, he makes up for it in his sheer concentration in his role as the Ring's narrator. What perhaps pushes me to suggest this Walkure over the others, is the immensely underrated Crespin and Stewart, who perform Brunnhilde and Wotan respectively. They are so thoroughly convincing in their acting, that I actually prefer them to many historical singers. Stewart in particular during Act 3 is so fiery as Wotan, that I get shivers every time I hear him.
Siegfried: Furtwangler (1950, whatever pirate label has it)
This one is very hard for me because frankly no one can compare to Melchior in the titular role, but all his recordings of it are extremely dated and incomplete. Keilberth's 1955 recording with Windgassen in his freshest voice (and lacking the mistakes that he made on the 1953 Krauss recording) is also quite good, but the ensemble makes many mistakes and, frankly, even though the sound is stereo, it is perhaps the ugliest capturing of the Bayreuth acoustic I have ever heard. The brass especially makes you want to put your hands over your ears.
Anyhow, the Furtwangler recording has been on numerous pirate and unofficial labels for decades, and very often in the incorrect pitch. Pristine Classical put out a release that is perhaps overly remastered but fixes the pitch up, which results in a far faster performance that sounds much more fun. The unique blend of Furt's Germanic tendencies and the Italian aesthetic of the La Scala orchestra results in a totally unique noise unlike any other Wagner recording out there, with biting winds and strings. I mentioned earlier how Karajan's recording was referred to as "chamber-like" by critics. I think a similar description more aptly applies to this recording. The orchestra is positively intimate. And then you have Svanholm and Flagstad playing the two major roles and singing their hearts out. A very, very exciting recording, but one has to make allowances for sound and the cough-ridden recording.
Gotterdammerung: Bohm (Philips)
No complaints here, David. Truly one of the most exciting recordings of anything ever. A one way train ride towards the apocalypse.
Tristan und Isolde: Bohm (DG)
Once again, in agreement. There are some recordings I like better vocally (Max Lorenz with Heger quite possibly has the best Act 3 ever), but there are no other recordings that combine excitement, quality of sound, and great singing like this recording does.
Parsifal: Kegel (Berlin Classics)
This recording really highlights the speech-melody and unique sense of rhythm in this opera with its pacing. You listen to this and you understand how Debussy was so inspired by Parsifal when he wrote Pelleas. Kubelik's recording is fantastically beautiful (and has those delicious split first and second violins), and Kna has the best singers and the Bayreuth acoustic it was written for, but, for me, Kegel just nails the aspects of what make Parsifal so interesting to myself as a listener, and the recording favors the orchestra a bit more than the aforementioned Kubelik and Kna, allowing one to hear some extra orchestral detail.
Great job, my friend. However, what about Tristan and Isolde by Bernstein or Karajan on record and even more, the outstanding live performances of the same opera by Pappano in London, Kleiber in Bayreuth (best of all) and Bychov in Paris? Wagner has so many stories to tell ...
Totally agree about speeds. I would like a cd of Boulez' 2004 Parsifal.
@@Listenerandlearner870 I wish we could get CDs of all of Boulez's Wagner! Especially those early performances of the Chereau production with all the boos and whistles. They exist on pirate labels in compressed sound, but I know that they were recorded well and surely Bayreuth has the tapes somewhere.
: bbb
Great reply. You're mistaken in thinking Culshaw produced the 1955 Keilberth Ring, though; it was his colleague Peter Andry.
I'm one of the many listeners who swaps out the Walkure in his complete Solti Ring for the Leinsdorf. It's just better IMO, and it fits like a glove because it has London (Solti's Reingold Wotan) and Nilsson (Solti's Brunnhilde). Then for Siegfried, Hotter as Old Wotan is a logical progression from London as the younger Wotan.
And Hotter is in much steadier voice on the Solti Siegfried than he is on the Walkure (which was actually recorded 3-4 years later).
Meistersinger is my favorite opera period. I listen to it while skiing & ran several marathons with it, which sort of validities your assertion that it is a good BGM.
Including pirates, I've about 7000 opera recordings but I'm not nuts. I hope you believe me :))
Uh huh. Whatever you say.
At an average opera length of 3 hours:
21,000 hours of opera ÷24 Hours a day=875 days ÷ 365 = 2.39 years of non-stop music.
So are you crazy??? Hmmmm....
"Let us pray..."
Wolfcrag85: Since your name references LUCIA DI LAMMERMORE, as long as ALL of Joan Sutherland’s recordings are within your 7000 CDs, there is nothing wrong with you that working a part time job to pay for the 7000 CDs-and a possible delayed retirement due to not saving enough-can’t cure. LA STUPENDA PER SEMPRE!!
Now Klemperer was noted for having a very poisonous humor. At the height of Karajan‘s career Klemperer was asked in an interview what he thought of various conductors. About Bernstein he said that he sweats too much. Furtwängler was a good musician who couldn‘t beat properly mans Böhm looked like a sack of potatoes. When asked about Karajan, Klemperer thought for a few seconds and then answered , „Karajan, never heard of him.“ „Karajan, kenne ich nicht.“
I spoke on the phone once and met once with the very elderly Reinhardt Elster, who was harpist in the Met orchestra from 1948 to 1986, later moving to Western Mass. to live with a relative. He started studying the harp at 15, after becoming a champion xylophonist! And he died in 2015 at age 101. Could it have been he playing the fateful harp swoosh?
It could indeed!
No love for Sawallisch? I recently purchased the EMI Bavarian Staatsoper/Sawallisch Meistersinger, with Heppner, Studer, Weickl and Moll, from 1994... l now have the Kubelik (thanks to you), the Karajan (which I love), and Sawallisch. I was so taken by the Sawallisch.... So great. Much better recorded than the Kubelik (granted, almost 30 years later...), and the singing is just as fabulous. I am not a huge fan of Studer (there are better Evas) but Heppner, Weikl and Moll are wonderful. The choruses are energetic and the orchestra warm and characterful. A real winner of a recording. It's not reviewed on Classicstoday, but it seems most of his other Wagner recordings are.
My Wagner opera list (If you don't mind.): Dutchman: Klemperer, Tannhauser: Sinopoli, Lohengrin: Kempe, Rheingold: Karajan, Walküre: Leinsdorf, Siegfried: Solti, Götterdamerung: Levine, Tristan: Böhm, Meistersinger: Sawallisch, Parsifal: Barenboim.
Dave, I had an experience similar to yours at the Met, but appropriately enough it was with Gotterdammerung. A woman who somehow managed to get into a seat behind me looked as if she could have attended the 1876 premiere in Bayreuth. Everyone knows that if one is planning to kick the bucket during a performance of Gotterdammerung it is correct to do so during Act III. However, this hapless woman couldn't wait and never managed to survive Act I.
There's nothing funnier than an old person dying.
Been looking forward to this one! Thanks!!
Re: “Driving Music” . . .
I’ve always been a long-distance driver: 10-,15-. even 20-hour trips (Minneapolis to Houston is my ‘personal best’ to date) non-stop. On one such trip I downloaded the complete Mahler Symphonies (as MP3 files) from some nefarious online source, and planned to traverse the symphonies en route.
But(!). . . whoever had uploaded the separate movements had made a monumental s.n.a.f.u. with the naming conventions, such that . . . well, effectively, all movements from all symphonies (when played from top to bottom of the playlist) were in a completely random order (vis-a-vis the actual works).
I thought that was a disaster, but, since I had nothing else bar the AM radio, I kept listening . . . and, not only is Mahler great road listening (although you have to use earphones to catch the ppppp s and so on) , but the separate movements, randomly selected, somehow WORKED as one gigantic 30-40-movement symphony! Notwithstanding insane things like crazy key juxtapositions or back-to-back finales -- or (best of all) three massive slow movements in a row -- what a testament to Mahler that it all kind of held up and sort of made sense! Sounds crazy, but maybe try it with “randomize” functionality on a complete Mahler symphony movements MP3 collection on one CD!
That is wild--a Mahler scramble! I'm sort of envious!
Thanks for the background on Wagner! I listened to the the old Naxos Recording by Eric Leinsdorf, with Tanhauser but do have to try Solti's! I already purchased some of your recommendations and they failed to disappoint. Solti's Siegfried and the rest of the cycle is also gold! Will get the Bohm for Tristan! Thanks
I've just discovered your channel, and love especially this video! I'm the one guy who actually came to love Wagner through his /drama/. Only when I got to a point to understand the drama, not on a synopsis level but line by line, the whole oversized package(s) began to make sense and gained the right proportions. "Tristan und Isolde" is great, rock-solid drama, especially the first act where people (especially coming out of bad productions) say "nothing happens and they drink the stupid potion and fall in love" -- nothing could be farther from the truth, it's really way more complex and interesting! And all the backstory that's really cleverly handled, not as boring exposition, but as character moments! Well, that's just me, I realize. Regardless, I love your take on Wagner, your passion and love, your stories and your natural eloquence! Take care, many thanks!
PS: For Wagner, and I'm being an asshole, my firm suggestion is: Do as at the time it was custom, read the libretto (das Textbuch) first, in your own time, in your own rhythm, simply read even what might seem boring or redundant. You might forget much of it consciously, but it might enhance your enjoyment of the opera experience infinitely! Even more may unconsciously come together later in the aftermath, be even more rewarding.
I agree with you.
My introduction to Wagner was via a recording of Wagner preludes and overtures when I was 17. The very first thing I heard was the Act 1 prelude to Lohengrin, which immediately mesmerized me and transported me to another world. 58 years later the effect has not diminished. Although I love all the Wagner operas, Dutchman excepted, and the less said about the bombastic Rienzi the better, Lohengrin is my absolute favorite. I was at Rene Kollo’s Met debut in the role in November 1976 and he was transcendent. Wotan’s Farewell was going through my head as I kissed my dad goodbye when he passed. What so many people fail to recognize is that for all the sturm und drang in Wagner there is also a side that movingly expresses the human condition. And, oh, the closing scene of Parsifal is unsurpassed -- incredibly gorgeous and deeply moving music.
Great to see Thomas Stewart appear more than once.
He is one of the reasons for my choice of Die Walküre being the Karajan DG. Wotan sung with a range of emotions and paired brilliantly with Crespin.
Guilty pleasure maybe but for me Rienzi and Liebesverbot are delightful summertime operas. But only in the uncut BBC performances broadcast in the 70s. Cuts take all the fun away. Tannhauser is only really bearable/enjoyable in the Paris version.
Good list, I agree, though I'd stick with the Solti for Gotterdammerung.
Thanks for another entertaining video! I share your sentiments about early Wagner, although I count myself as a 'Wagnerite'! Let me add another singer to the list of fantastic voices that found their way into Solti's Siegfried: Joan Sutherland as the Woodbird. That's got to be the ultimate in luxury casting, don't you think?
I agree--but I wouldn't buy the set for the Woodbird alone!
I recall a review when the album first was issued: “We all know what Siegfried drinks to make the forest bird comprehensible, but what is it that Ms. Sutherland drinks to make it incomprehensible again?”
@@peterheiman8621 He-he! A draft that caused all her consonants to disappear, maybe?
@@peterheiman8621 HAHAHAHAHA!!!
This is the one, the video that got me to subscribe. Love your style, don't always agree, but that makes it fun. keep up the passion and the attitude
I know you just hate pronunciation comments, BUT, it’s Gustav NIDE-linger. Thanks for all of the suggestions; found all as downloadable single operas except the Kubelik.
I know. That doesn't mean it will come out that way...
It absolutely is. Once you've got the message that the whole Ring cycle is pushed forward by "Neid" (envy) of Alberich, Wotan and the Giants, you will always remember that German word.
Hello guys, I would like to ask your opinion about Bernstein’s Tristan and your recommendations, I would love to get into Bohm’s Tristan!!!!!!
I think you should just start listening to them.
Thank you for the reviews and thank you for your pity. It's nice to know that someone cares.
Wow thank you so much. I love all of Wagner's operas but I have had trouble getting myself to experiment and listen to new recordings of them instead of just falling back on the main Solti or Karajan recordings. This is just what I needed thanks!
You're very welcome!
Excellent as always and I can’t believe I hadn’t seen this video until now. I agree wholeheartedly, except to admit that I actually love Tannhauser. It was one of the first opera that I wanted to listen to when I was in high school. I find the music to be absolutely gorgeous, but I definitely do prefer the Paris version. It definitely Shows an improvement over the Dresden one. Overall, an excellent video and I love your stories!
Anna Russell remains my ideal Ring =)
"But that’s the beauty of Grand Opera, you can do anything so long as you sing it."
Anna Russell is great! I love her "Ring."
Thanks for the video. I would love to see a similar video of recommendations for available videos of the operas. I tend to prefer watching performaces along with the music when it comes to operas.
So happy you gave a shoutout to the Kubelik Lohengrin, which I adore beyond belief…(and his Meistersinger too…no contest for my money)…reason being the casting of Jones and Janowitz…Jones’s shrill, malevolent Ortrud paired with Janowitz’s heavenly pure Elsa is just the perfect casting for my money…they’re so totally on the opposite ends of the spectrum, that it makes for total magic…no other recording (for me…totally subjective of course) has the electricity of such a pairing for these roles…that (and Kubelik being his usual fabulous self with Wagner) is the magic of this Lohengrin…(am I totally wrong to thing that Ortrud and possibly Venus were Jones’s best roles??? …as a mezzo!???)
Nothing good in Tannhäuser after the overture and the Venusberg music? Oy vey! How about "Dich, teure Halle, grüss ich wieder" and "O du mein holder Abendstern" the latter being one of the most gorgeous arias ever written.
And don't forget the choruses. Mind you, there's a lot of fairly bog-standard recitative between the good bits - we perhaps have to wait until Das Rheingold before Wagner finds better ways of handling conversational/expository dialogue. There are flashes of it in Tannhäuser, Lohengrin and Holländer, but - for me - Wagner doesn't really get into his stride until the Ring.
and “ Entry of the Guests” . A very stirring set-piece.
@@MorganHayes_Composer.Pianist ... Entry of the Guests?
You beat me to it...I was in the process of correcting when you replied!
Nah, it's all garbage. Of course it has five or ten good minutes after the overture and ballet, but you can listen to excerpts and hear all you need to.
I had a great friend who said that "Wagner is like an orgasm which just doesn't want to happen".
All good risible, knock about fun. But some sound suggestions. Personally of course I also like the slower than crap Reggie Goodall for Tristan but there we are your choice was right. in fact I actually agreed with most of the choices. I was stunned. .
LOL - this is the funniest Wagner survey I have ever heard since Anna Russell.
Very entertaining. I seldom fall asleep at concerts but once Parsifal (orchestral excerpt version, not even the full with singers) got me. Think both my pulse beat and blood pressure was close to zero then. And certainly not a good one for long distance driving.
Interesting choices. I prefer Solti or Janowski for Das Rheingold and also think the Janowski Siegfried is very good, particularly the 1st act. My favourite Meistersinger is actually the Sawallisch with the Kubelik a close second.
All but one of these are classic performance that I love, and it's especially good to hear a shout for Leinsdorf's wonderful Die Walkure. The one exception is Kubelik's Mastersingers. Given all its accolades, I really have tried so hard over the years to love it, and beautifully sung and conducted though it is, I just can't get over the feeling that it all has a rather analytic feeling. To my ears Thomas Stewart just doesn't have the kind of warmth in his voice that you need for Hans Sachs and I don't feel transported to the Bavaria of my dreams (even though the forces are Bavarian!). After another failed attempt to get on with this recording I always return to Karajan 1951 or Kempe 1955, both of which have more than enough atmosphere to compensate for any sonic deficiencies. In fact, for all that it's in mono, Kempe's sounds really good. I found it in a Rudolf Schock boxed set that was one of the best bargains ever!
I'm down with those choices but try the 1950/51 Knappertsbusch Decca which I listened to a couple of years ago and loved. Definitely has the finest Sachs in Schoeffler and a radiant Eva with Gueden. But for a studio recording it's very atmospheric.
Both the CALIG and MYTO pressings of the Kubelik Meistersinger have real problems, either of compromised sonics or compromised pitch! The ARTS ARCHIV (sp.?) is a revelation, and if you want to get the full impact of the Kubelik, it's that A-A set you need. If you already got that pressing, then you've given it a fair shot, however. Was that the pressing you got?
Yes, it's the Arts Archive. I've tried really hard with it. The Sawallisch or the Dresden Karajan are my current favourites.
Have to agree that one needs to sample several recordings of the same work to really appreciate it. I own about 10 Ring Cycles and comb through them often with very specific agendas. What's clear in one is muddy in another, what's thrilling in this version is tedious in that. (No naming names, however.) Wish I had the time and money to know them ALL by heart.
I personally own three ring cycles on DVD/ Blu-Ray. The Kupfer Beyreauth production, (which I don’t really enjoy from a production standpoint honestly) the 1990 Met Production with James Morris as Wotan, and the 2011 Robert Lepage production that I’m currently working through and I’m really enjoying it so far.
My general test is Act 2.
With particular focus on Wotan's monologue, yes? Wagner himself agonized over that section but finally decided it could fly...but not without a truly remarkable interpreter which doesn't always happen.
I just listened to Solti's Ring cycle performed at Bayreuth in 1983, and I liked it even better than his earlier recording of The Ring with the VPO. Solti's Bayreuth performances convey more intensity and excitement than those he did with the VPO in 1967; possibly because they're live performances. Plus, Hans Hotter sounds somewhat wobbly as Wotan in Solti's VPO Ring, maybe because he was past his prime? The singer for Wotan in the Bayreuth performances sings with more steady tone and more assurance.
Meistersinger: also a great ‘long drive’ opera. thanks for the recommendation on the Kubelik. Sandor Konya was a revelation! Reminds me of Wunderlich, but more passion less preciousness... What a fabulous singer. Stewart and Janowitz are also unforgettable. My favorite Meistersinger is however, the Karajan/Dresden. There is something magical about that recording. The orchestra sounds just so wonderful. so much character in the playing. Also wonderful sonics.… the singing is not as great as in the Kubelik, but is still very good. The Chorus and ensemble work is just stunning.
Great, solid picks. I see the same thirteen are here as well. I hope they're not miserable.
The best Parsifal in my opinion is the quick one by Boulez, mostly because of Act II, which sounds really crazy and weird.
I remember when Disney Concert Hall opened for its first season with the LA Philharmonic, Boulez was set to guest-conduct a program consisting entirely of Act 2 of Parsifal. I've always regretted not finding a way to be there.
Well, David, I'm an opera nut and a Wagner nut, so this my list:
Dutchmann: Dorati, London, Rysanek, Decca.
Tann: Solti, but also love Sinopoli.
Lohengrin: Keilberth Bayreuth (Windgassen/Steber), but also Kempe for an studio recording.
Tristan: Böhm, Kleiber and I like the recent Pappano with Domingo and Nina Stemme.
Meistersinger: Kubelik, Sawallisch with Heppner and Weikl (but I'm a Heppner and Sawallisch nut). Also Karajan (Kollo, Adam) and the last Solti with...Heppner.
Ring: Kna cycle Bayreuth 57 live, Solti cycle, and Barenboim.
Love the Furt EMI studio (Walküre).
Parsifal: Kna Bayreuth with Windgassen. But I like Karajan, Solti, and the second Levine, with Domingo and Jessie Norman.
For the pre Dutch operas, the Sawallisch cycle including Rienzi is a must have for a Wagner ultranut as me.
Thanks!
Nothing wrong with Stowkowski’s Wagner Transcriptions. These days I tend to take my Wagner an Act at a time. The days of sitting through The Ring in one sitting are long gone.
This is a fabulous talk Dave! You have excelled yourself! As usual a little late!
OMG the first 7 minutes of this video is the best thing ever. Happy birthday Thelma! She sounds like a party. When are you gonna do the best Pachelbel Canon in D? 😂
It's done. Have a look.
@@DavesClassicalGuide ha really???? I was actually joking.
The Korean Venias box with Kna's Parsifals has 23 recordings. It is OOP. I own all 4 Venias Kna' boxes and enjoy recordings out of all four immensely.
I'm not a Meistersinger fan, I find it a solemn bore, and yet I have three recordings (Kempe 1956, Dohnanyi 1975 and Barenboim). I guess I'll have to insist a bit, one disc at a time. I'm more into the Dutchman (4 recordings), Tristan (4), The Ring (3) and Parsifal (3, including one in Italian with Maria Callas). I attended a live performance of Parisfal in Madrid in 2000 with Plácido Domingo singing the title role, and Luis Antonio García Navarro conducting. He was struck with cancer and it was his swansong as a conductor. I enjoyed it greatly, and said afterwards, Plácido, you're forgiven for all your misdemeanours, for instance the collaborations with Luis Cobos (look him up, he's crappy) and the Three Mamarrachos ad nauseam. And the rest we all know about. No forgiveness there, not when you get to decide about casts.
You're a scream. I'm with you on Dutchman and Tannhauser-- they're only worth having highlight recordings of.
great picks. could make slightly different selections here or there, but for a starter set, or if you just want one of each, that list is as solid as any.
I have a similar story to your Parsifal story, I was 16 when I went to the met first time 1966, meistersinger. Act 3 last scene a flag holder dropped
Dead on stage and they carried the body off the stage in time to the music. Feh!
Then there's the one where Dr. Kolenaty (Richard Versalle) in the Met premiere of The Makropoulos Case had a heart attack on a ladder and fell to the stage dead, ending the performance.
You could try to specify "commercially available stereo recording" operas to keep the rare live mono stuff at bay but anyway. I have all the recordings mentioned. Glad to hear Kubelik's Lohengrin get mentioned because it's wonderful although I like all of Kubelik's Wagner. In addition to Klemperer's Dutchman I like Solti as well. The Ring there's so many worth hearing I won't bother going into that. I absolutely adore Parsifal and just as your talk about composer vs. composer we are total opposites, I would happily sit through back to back performances of Parsifal than a single act of Aida any day of the week. Most Verdi I find exceptionally boring and dull where Wagner is the total opposite.
David, you are hilarious! I enjoyed this more than of any of your reviews I have seen, hahahahahahahaha! "A screechy version of 'We Three Kings." Hahahahahaha! You are the BEST! Sincerely, from a man who has makes his living working in Opera and with Opera singers! P.S. Your choices are A+!
Notwithstanding the fact that Goodall is slow, slower and slowest, the overture and opening scene of his Siegfried Act III is absolutely riveting. And speaking of Erda, is there a recording anywhere of Siegfried and/or Rheingold with Ewa Podles?
I got the Parsifal of Kubelik after watching this video. I think the whole performance conducted by Kubelik was fine. Even Kurt Moll performed better with Kubelik than the recording of DG with Karaja. I got another one conducted by Boulez. Also I have got the Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg conducted by Kubelik from OperaDepot. I can’t get the version of ArtsArchives.
Amazing Parsifal story... crazy.
This ended a chaotic day on a really good note - Thank you !
Loved your Marta Modl impression (Senta's Ballad). Also your take on those voice kooks who endlessly compare, say, the Callas live Bismarck, North Dakota Violetta to the next night's performance in Pumpkin Flats, Scandahoovia.
48 CDs of 12 Knappertsbusch PARSIFALS? Heaven forfend...Life and time are too precious for that. But that being said, I admit I have three of them (1951, 1962, 1964 - which, overall, strikes me as the greatest). Plus the Kubelik - which is almost perfect. (I say "almost," because Kubelik's Flower Maidens are too prim & pure to be the naughty tarts Wagner meant them to be. But as Kate Hepburn once said, "You can't have it all.")
What about the ideal Strauss operas?
I was happy to hear that you like DIE SCHWEIGSAME FRAU...The end of Act II is one of Strauss's most beautiful moments, bar none. And practically no one knows it. It's the comic opera Strauss always wanted to write.
You're spot on about Knappy's '64 Parsifal: sublime.
When I was a boy you could only dream of owning one Ring, now you can own so many disc sets never mind the UA-cam vids of full performances
What? No Melchior and Flagstad?? Their Wagner is, for me, unsurpassable, orchestral stumbles and sound quality are easy to ignore given the magnificence of the singing. And I love Tannhäuser, especially the 1941 with Melchior, but for a modern recording, the Barenboim is pretty nice with good singing.
Nonsense.
Nonsense? How about your selection of the puny Rene Kollo as an acceptable tannhauser? I laugh! With all due respect, I am not alone in my view that Melchior and Flagstad were the supreme Wagnerian artists. Add Herbert Janssen. Other than your perplexing wagner reviews I find you a cuddly pleasure to listen to. Lovable but needing to be locked in a room with acceptable Wagner recordings. ❤
I enjoyed that it was genuinely funny hahahaha
Your humor is as great as the great information you impart!
I’m an instrumentalist-I don’t really care who’s singing or how. What I’m after is the sound of the orchestra. New to the ring so I’m not too familiar with too many recordings but Barenboim brings the heat when you want it. Also a really big fan of the engineering
Barenboim is an excellent Wagner conductor, but it's really much, much better when both the singing and playing are great. There are acres of Wagner in the Ring where nothing much happens in the orchestra.
How happy I am to have the same favourites in almost 50% of them! Parsifal, Meistersinger, Lohengrin, Hollander ... spot on! I have been reluctant to listen to Leinsdorf. I am taking your word for it and give it a try. However ... Karajan? I was so disappointed with his Ring, it sounded like a chamber performance to me, I did not get into it. Plus I don’t feel the heroic / legend sound. Sorry about that.
What about the Carlos Kleiber Tristan?
What about it?
@@DavesClassicalGuide do you think it's any good?
These are great yarns. I could listen to this video all day. The operas themselves on the other hand...The Ring for a day of driving is a nice idea, I’ll say that. If I ever do another long haul drive solo, probably going to a Bruckner or Shostakovich symphony cycle for me.
Dave, did you ever see the Wagner miniseries starring Richard Burton? Its too long and often boring. But Burton is perfect casting for Wagners narcissistic rants. Wagners leitmotif's, conducted by Solti, are used biographically and it has a stellar cast. Anyway, I'm curious of your take on it or any other classical movies/series like Amadeus, Lisztomania, Mozart in the Jungle or what have you?
I've seen them and ignore them. They aren't about music, and the personalities don't really interest me at all.
The Isolde you saw at the Met was probably Jane Eaglen. Big lady, but she had the sound for it.
Yes, she did, and she looked terrific in that production--she's very tall and regal, and in the Liebesnacht the two of them sort of melted into each other in the semi-darkness, and it was intensely moving (when I wasn't laughing on account of the words).
Overall a very nice list, Dave!
Given your strong feelings about Furtwangler’s consistency as a conductor, I was holding my breath to see if you might actually pick his Tristan since it is unquestionably one of his best recordings. In fact, his Wagner legacy is quite wonderful and much more consistent than his recordings of other composers (ahem, Beethoven!)
Regarding the giant Kna Parsifal set - I don’t have it but have heard all of the performances and, in one of the biggest disappointments of my opera-listening life, discovered that the commercially released versions (1951 and 1962, you selected the latter) really are the best ones and the others are mostly redundant. That’s many hours of my life I’ll never get back!
Well, as I said, I didn't pick his Tristan but I might have. The reason is that I don't believe operas should be selected primarily on the basis of conductors--even Wagner operas--but on the strength of the singers.
Rightfully so! Totally agreed that the Bohm is superior in almost every other respect and you have to take these performances as a whole. Just glad that Furtwangler got some love.
@@peterbarar5890 I can understand if your prefer Nilsson to Flagstad (I don't), but Suthaus is far superior to Windgassen.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Ironically, the singers are stonger on the Furtwangler recording.
Furtwangler's Tristan was my first Wagner recording - Hearing it at age 19....The performance is magnificent. I like the Bohm performance for is "Passion" but I always come back to Furtwanger. It is played so well and "so right" ...probably Legge played a significant role in how the performance came out. Flagstad has always been my go to singer. I did not appreciate Nilsson until I heard her in live performances - very exciting voice.
I was at that performance of Tristan too 1999; it was Jane eaglen and she was even bigger than Ben heppner!
Who cares? They could sing it!
That was it! But wow, they sang fabulously, and the orchestra was gorgous. I loved it, when I stopped laughing,
@@DavesClassicalGuide My biggest pet peeve is when people criticize great singers about their appearance. Talk about ungrateful!
@@UlfilasNZ Well, I think you can do it with good humor--I would not suggest they are wrong for their roles, but physical appearance does matter and can be ridiculous under some circumstances. As long as the jokes aren't cruel or malicious, no harm done. What other art form has given us a phrase in general use like "the opera isn't over until the fat lady sings?" It just comes with the territory.
@@DavesClassicalGuide I'd take a fat lady who can actually sing any day.
I love The Ring, too. My favourite Wagner.
Dave - From a huge fan, please take it easy with my Wagner addiction. It is not easy to shake!
While I agree with much of your comments - dramatically chaotic, repetitive, overly bombastic and not as musically sophisticated as others - I think you are missing the point. Perhaps you and others are taking Wagner too seriously (understandable in that Wagner and others took himself too seriously). I use Star Wars as an analogy. When I challenge my kids about the plot inconsistencies or level of dialogue compared to other sci-fi movies I love more, they tell me “Dad, you are missing the point. This is not supposed to make sense like that”. Clearly, they have an emotional attachment that Mr Lucas was able to convey somehow. I feel the same way about Wagner. I know it is not terribly sophisticated and in reality, I don’t even know why I like it so much - but it hits a chord. Perhaps there is a small amount of “mad King Ludwig” in me. It doesn’t make sense - Ludwig didnt make sense - maybe that’s OK.
I think Wagner is great, so I really don't know where this is coming from...
@@DavesClassicalGuide Probably coming from me trying to figure out why I like this. Maybe I need a Wagner therapist to tell me to get over it and just enjoy. Do you know a good one?
@@CvS2016 Yes. Francis Poulenc.
Your rendition of Senta's ballade actually made me burst out laughing.
Didn't you break one of your own rules just now? Not going for the same conductor twice! (Where is Keilberth, Barenboim, van Zweden, Sawallisch,...?) So, perhaps not the best of your "ideal" lists, but surely entertaining.
You weren't payiing attenion I did break the rule: Böhm twice, Solti twice... And why do any of those others have to be mentioned? It's my list. It has no weak links. It's not a discographic survey. Feel free to propose your own.
sorry David ,your prejudices come out . You are obviously not a Wagner freak . Most opera has ludicrous plots . We look beyond that to a spiritual /artist high . Why is Wagner one of the most popular opera composers now ? You are missing out . Anyway your hilarious stories have made my day .
The fact that I am not a Wagner freak does not make me "prejudiced." You should look up the meaning of the word. It is the Wagner freaks who are prejudiced. I enjoy Wagner very much.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Thank you David for the correction . I was hoping that one day you would do a best DVD recording . My late partner's favourite was Parsifal . After putting up with Katerina's atrocities at Bayreuth we gave up going . What a joy to see a video of the Met Otto Scene production . Kurt Moll, Siegfried Jerusalem , a young Waltrud Meir . I thought Levine's overture very slow but the rest of the opera perfect . A very moving production for a bourgeois in search of mysticism .
Schenk
27:10, I'm sitting here, kind of passively listening to your stories... and then WHAT!!!!?!?!?!?? OMG.
I count two (three?) instances of your wishing you could hear the operas without the words. So how do you rate the various "symphonic syntheses" as alternatives?
Stay tuned...
great video. love your sense of humor.
As much as I love opera I don't particularly care for Wagner. With one or two exceptions: Die Walküre 1st act. This is opera at its most intense and sublime. It grabs you by the throat. No 1 for me Furtwängler on EMI or better Pristine, with the best cast in recorded history (Leonie Rysanek, Ludwig Suthaus- what a tenor- and Gottlob Frick a truly menacing Hunding). There surely are others like Walter with Lotte Lehmann and Lauritz Melchior, Leinsdorf with Vickers or Gergiev with Kampe and Kaufmann. But Furtwängler does it for me. And: the Kubelik Meistersinger with the wonderful Sandor Konya is as good as it gets. Thank you for having turned to opera, please continue with Verdi and Puccini and Strauss and ....
That would have been Jean Pierre Ponnelle's staging of the Flying Dutchman at the MET, circa 1978-79. I was there with my friend Frank in the standing room section. We stayed through to the end. )
Love Wagner's orchestral stuff from the operas. Listened to the Solti 'Ring' once. A veritable marathon and test of stamina! I do, however have a recording of 'Rienzi' (!)which I love, simply because it's so nuts, and full of 'real tunes!'. Conducted by a certain Heinrich Hollreiser. I just wish his name was HELLreiser - would be even more fun.....
Dave - if I may be so informal - Verdi wrote operas by the truckload; what about doing YOUR ten Verdi opera 'must haves?'
Something like that will be coming.
@@DavesClassicalGuide I'll look forward to that, even though opera is not totally my 'thing'
Hello there. Do you have a best/worst Tristans?
Not yet.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Sure looking forward to it
I have a soft spot for Sawallisch in Tannhäuser and Lohrngrin as partners to Knappertsbusch's '62 Parsifal. Yeah, they're boring as hell, but the chorus was having a stellar year under Pitz and the Philips crew did a great job recording them all.
I'm sure that everyone is familiar with that old quote, "Parsifal is an opera where, after nearly four and a half hours, you look at your watch and realize that only three minutes have passed."
I am not a fan of Wagner. But I think, you should know his music. So I put my ideal list together:
Der fliegende Holländer / Dorati, Dohnanyi and Janowski (I was in the concert in Berlin)
Tannhäuser / Solti
Lohengrin / Kempe and Kubelik
Ring / Solti
Tristan / Böhm and Kleiber
Meistersinger / Sawallisch
Parsifal / Solti and Knappertsbusch
Best wishes from Northern Germany
As a certifiable Wagner nut, but not insane (I swear!). I agree with most of your suggestions. If anyone of you hasn't heard the Ring but doesn't want to spend a lot of money, get Janowski's Dresden set (with a solid cast) on RCA from the early 80s, NOT the one he made in Berlin in 2013; it's way too expensive. Anyone interested in a historical Ring should check out Keilberth's 1955 Bayreuth Ring on Testament. It has all of the major Wagner singers of the era in their primes; Windgassen. Hotter, Varney, etc. Recorded by Decca in stereo, the sound is astonishing and emphasized by the magnificent Bayreuth acoustics. Thanks for mentioning Kubelik's Lohengrin and Meistersinger. His Wagner is highly underrated; his Parsifal is nearly as good as his Meistersinger. The Karajan Ring with BPO has some of the best orchestral playing I've ever heard. The strings especially in Das Rheingold are flawless. They make the ungodly difficult music sound easy. For Götterdämmerung, I prefer Solti's as I think it's one of his finest efforts. There's a box with all of Kna's Bayreuth Parsifals? I have a sizable collection of Wagner operas, but I'm not insane enough to buy that!
Never hear Sentas ballad the same way ever again after your story
Not a big FH fan, but the Steuermann bit at the start of the third act is better than the overture IMHO.