The
Operas of Richard Wagner:
Audio Encyclopedia AE003
Reviewed
by Mike Leone
From Die Feen
to Parsifal: A Complete Survey of Wagner's Operas
The purpose of
The Operas
of Richard Wagner, the
first in Mike Richter's Audio Encyclopedia series to be dedicated
to a single composer, is to provide all the Wagner operas and
libretti complete and in a readily accessible form. Such an
undertaking would have been impractical on standard CDs, let alone
LPs or 78s.
However this CD-ROM is not
merely a reference work. It is also intended to provide the
listener with enjoyable and not-otherwise-readily-available
performances in acceptable (if not high-quality) sound. All of
Wagner's operas have been released in commercial recordings, most
of them many times over, and the sound quality of the performances
on this CD-ROM is well above the minimum that most collectors of
non-commercial recordings are willing to accept in order to hear
important performances. Sound quality shouldn't deter those
interested in obtaining this disc.
The works are presented in
chronological order with Tristan and Meistersinger appearing after
the Ring (though Wagner actually composed those two works in
between the second and third acts of Siegfried). The main
advantage in listening to all the works in order of composition is
that the gap in style between Rienzi and Der Fliegende
Holländer is no longer as stark as it usually appears to be.
Instead the two works appear as part of a logical progression
extending all the way from Die Feen to Parsifal.
Wagner wrote
Die
Feen, his first opera, in
1833-34 although it did not receive its world premiere until 1888,
five years after the composer's death. Its model was the standard
German romantic opera, represented by Weber's Der Freischütz
(written between 1817 and 1821). Like Der Freischütz and
other German romantic operas, the plot contains supernatural
elements: Ada, the principal soprano role, is half fairy and half
mortal. She marries the mortal Arindal, but forbids him to ask her
identity. Anybody familiar with Lohengrin (or Esclarmonde,
Massenet's most Wagnerian opera) knows immediately that Arindal is
going to ask the forbidden question and lose Ada. However, after
going through a series of trials, including following her to the
underworld where she has been condemned to be a century-long stone
statute, Arindal restores Ada to life, achieves immortality and
goes off to reign with her in Fairyland.
The performance of Die Feen on
this disc, like those of the next two operas, is from the complete
series of Wagner operas that the BBC presented in 1976. The common
source of these three operas is evident from the fact that four of
the six leading singers in Die Feen, as well as the conductor,
also appear in either Das Liebesverbot or Rienzi. April Cantelo,
the Ada, is best known for her performances and recordings of
works by baroque composers, but sounds completely at home in
Wagner's romantic idiom. John Mitchinson, the Arindal, is also the
very dramatic Rienzi on this disc, successfully lightening his
voice for this more lyrical role. Paul Hudson and Lorna Haywood
both display solid voices in the lesser roles of Gernot and Lora.
Edward Downes conducts authoritatively.
After Die Feen, Wagner
stretched his artistic wings and tried his hand at Italian opera
buffa., choosing an unusual subject for
Das
Liebesverbot. Shakespeare's
Measure for Measure, one of his darkest comedies, is turned into a
bright, sunny comic opera. Not only is this inherently odd, but
the play has shown itself to be peculiarly resistant to operatic
treatment. Wagner's was in fact the only operatic version until
one by J L Seymour in 1973. Why did Wagner choose it? Well, in one
way at least, Wagner's interest in the original play may be clear:
it is all about sex and death.
Someone once said that
Wagner's entire philosophy could be summed up in seven words: 'If
you have sex, you must die'. Many of Wagner's characters suffer
deaths directly related to their sexual behavior: Tannhäuser,
Siegmund and Tristan for example. Amfortas comes close to dying
but is saved by Parsifal, who himself only survives to the third
act because he avoids sex in the second. These are just the
obvious cases: arguments could be made for others.
The premise of the story of
Measure for Measure, and its attraction to Wagner, was the
enforcement of a Viennese law declaring the death penalty for
anyone guilty of extra-marital sex. From this sombre starting
point, Wagner fashioned a charming, comic, and not very
Italianate, work, transferring the action from Vienna to Palermo
and adopting some external trappings of Italian opera.
April Cantelo's lyric soprano
dominates the proceedings as Isabella, a role that might have
belonged to a dramatic soprano in a more faithful adaptation of
the source material. (Incidentally, on Isabella's first appearance
we hear a theme that Wagner was later to associate with Elisabeth
in the third act of Tannhäuser.) As Isabella's unfortunate
brother Claudio, we have Ian Caley, a lyric tenor whose voice is
even lighter than that of the Luzio, Alexander Young. Sung by
Raimund Herincx, Friedrich the hypocrite sounds like a precursor
of Beckmesser. Edward Downes leads the BBC forces in a lively
rendition of the score.
After Das Liebesverbot, Wagner
turned his attention to French grand opera.
Rienzi,
which he wrote between 1838 and 1840 (premiered in Dresden in
1842), was a very influential opera. Even Verdi's 1846 opera
Attila, perhaps subconsciously, uses a couple of plot devices from
the German work. Wagner repudiated his Roman tribune later in
life, forbidding that the opera ever be performed at Bayreuth,
nonetheless Rienzi is one of those charmed third operas (along
with Nabucco and Manon Lescaut) where the composer's raw energy
and passion carries him through whatever weaknesses there may be
in the score.
While MRF Records released the
1976 BBC performances of Die Feen and Das Liebesverbot contained
on this disc, it did not, for some reason, release the Rienzi,
probably because of the existence of the recording on Angel with
René Kollo, Siv Wennberg and Janis Martin under Heinrich
Hollreiser that, according to Schwann, was recorded between 1974
and 1976. It is a shame that MRF did not complete their series of
early and rare Wagner performances with this Rienzi because it
would have been a major addition to the catalog. While the Angel
recording has some good qualities and is much more complete than
other versions that have appeared on LP and CD, the BBC Rienzi is
complete - or as complete as is possible at this remove. The
manuscript score of this opera, which last belonged to Adolf
Hitler (an admirer of the work) is now missing. The version we now
have has been reconstructed from Wagner's composition draft and
the 1844 vocal score based on the Hamburg performances of that
year. Almost one-fifth of the score has had to be reconstructed,
as pointed out in the spoken essay by John Detheridge included
with the broadcast. The reconstructed version recorded here is
based on the 1844 Hamburg version, presumably already cut from the
missing 1842 Dresden version. Nonetheless, even with the cuts,
Rienzi is still Wagner's longest work.
A complete Rienzi is not
superior from a structural standpoint in the way that, for
example, a complete Semiramide is. Still it is fun to hear the
extra music. There's quite a lot of it. For example, the complete
ballet in the second act runs exactly 40 minutes, divided in two
sections of precisely 20 minutes each: the first part tells the
story of the rape of Lucretia and the second half allegorizes the
union of classical and modern Rome. The Angel recording by
contrast gives us less than 15 minutes of the second section, more
than the live 1983 performance on Orfeo, also with Kollo, which
only contains six minutes of the second section. This performance
also includes the legendary 'Silbergroschen' ensemble in the third
act for which the performers paid Wagner for each rehearsal, but
which the composer eventually cut, and which is missing from the
Angel set.
Just for completeness this
would be an important recording, even if the performance were not
particularly good, but fortunately it is excellent. John
Mitchinson, a much underrated tenor, has a darker voice than Kollo
and is in outstanding form throughout. Likewise Lorna Haywood
brings her dark-hued soprano to the mezzo role of Adriano with
great success, and Lois McDonnall, a performer otherwise unknown
to me, is likewise a good Irene. The level of all the soloists,
among whom is David Ward (the Hunding on Leinsdorf's recording of
Die Walküre), is generally higher than that on Angel, and
Edward Downes is once again an exciting conductor. If any
performance on this disc cries out for commercial release (in
stereo) it is this Rienzi.
The performance of
Der
Fliegende Holländer is
from a 1975 British telecast sung in English and conducted by
David Lloyd-Jones. It was apparently recorded directly from the
television rather than from an FM simulcast, judging by the
background hum in some of the softer passages.
The Dutchman, Norman Bailey,
has impeccable Wagner credentials, having recorded many of the
important bass-baritone roles both for Georg Solti (including the
Dutchman) and Reginald Goodall. He captures perfectly the
Dutchman's desperation and weariness, and his English diction is
good as well. Gwyneth Jones, who made her debut only three years
before this recording, already betrays some of the tremolo that
was to become more pronounced later. Another of her habits, that
of beginning a long-held note as a straight tone and gradually
allowing the vibrato to infuse the note, is also occasionally in
evidence here. Keith Erwin, the Erik, sings well but is rather
light-voiced, sometimes sounding as though he has wandered in from
a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta. Stafford Dean is a bluff,
likeable Daland. David Lloyd-Jones conducts the opera in an
effective straightforward fashion.
This atmospheric performance
uses the one-act edition, but the CD-ROM breaks the performance in
between the first and second acts, for reasons unknown, since Das
Rheingold, which is a few minutes longer, is uninterrupted.
No date is given for the
Italian Radio performance of the Dresden version of
Tannhäuser.
My research indicates that it was recorded on 14-16 November 1957,
the earliest performance on this disc. The conductor Artur
Rodzinski died just over a year later, on 27 November 1958.
Rodzinski was generally considered to be a second-tier conductor
at best. His reading tends toward stateliness, very appropriate
for the 'Entrance of the Guests', rather then passion.
Rodzinski's conducting is
possibly part of the reason why the 'Hymn to Venus' of Karl
Liebl's Tannhäuser never really catches fire though he has an
excellent voice, a bit taxed occasionally at the top, and would be
more than welcome on the Wagnerian stage today. Grè
Brouwenstijn, the Elisabeth, is best remembered today as
Leinsdorf's Sieglinde. She is ecstatic in 'Dich teure Halle',
passionate in her defense of Tannhäuser and touching in her
third act prayer. She and Liebl do manage to rouse Rodzinski at
the end of their duet. The Venus, Herta Wilfert, whose other major
Wagnerian role was Freia (!), has a voice of some edge, and so her
goddess is rather shrewish, a valid approach to the role. Eberhard
Wächter, only 28 at the time, turns in a beautiful 'Hymn to
the Evening Star'.
The performance is slightly
cut, and the cuts are indicated as indented portions of the
libretto. Richter might have found a performance of
Tannhäuser that looked more impressive on paper, but it is
good that he chose this one. There is a lot of beautiful singing,
and Rodzinski often exceeds expectations. Apart from the second
half of Act One, the sound is good.
Poor sound and occasional
waver does plague portions of the 6 October 1964 Lovro von Matacic
Lohengrin,
from the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. But as the notes
indicate, the performance is good enough to warrant putting up
with other failings.
Fritz Uhl's Lohengrin is among
the chief virtues of the recording. Here he is singing a Wagnerian
role much more congenial to him than the Tristan he recorded under
Solti. He evidently sees Lohengrin in relation to the bel canto
heroes. His voice is not always under perfect control but his
intentions are never in doubt. Similarly, Victoria de los
Angeles's Elsa is sweet and innocent from start to finish, but she
has spirit too, avoiding the sappiness that's an easy trap for
singers of this part. With these two leads, the good versus evil
aspects of the story are even more obvious than usual. Christa
Ludwig relishes her role as the villainous Ortrud: her 'Entweihte
Götter' brings the house down. She brings even more power to
Ortrud's final outburst. Carlos Alexander's Telramund is
well-sung, but it is clearer here than in most performances how
fully Ortrud dominates him; it's inevitable that he meets his
death submitting to her will. The other soloists are good, as is
the chorus, who sings in Italian here, necessitating that notation
of the cuts be only approximate. Von Matacic follows his singers
in emphasizing good and evil: one of the central aspects of this
work.
Richter gives several reasons
for his choice of the early 1970s Italian Radio
Ring:
the sound is good, but not so good that anything much is lost by
publishing it in a CD-ROM format. It is an honest, straightforward
interpretation of the score with singers who have not otherwise
been well recorded. Each role, with one exception, is cast with
the same singer throughout the cycle. This follows the original
practice at the world premiere, though nowadays there is often
double casting. For example well-known singers will be cast as
Mime, Erda, and Waltraute in Siegfried and
Götterdämmerung, but not in Rheingold and Walküre,
where these roles are smaller. The singers who take these roles in
the later operas generally want bigger parts in the earlier ones.
In this performance, the only role that is double-cast, probably
through some unavoidable situation, is Woglinde.
I can only touch upon some of
the major singers here. I commented on Nadezda Kniplova's
Brünnhilde in my review of the San Francisco Opera's
Walküre. Suffice it to say that here her voice is generally
steadier and less strident than on her commercial recording of the
opera. Jean Cox is a singer not immediately associated with
Siegfried - he sang Walther in the Philips Meistersinger from
Bayreuth - but he reveals a strong voice, and just about holds his
own with the powerful Kniplova in the two duets. He starts to tire
toward the end of Götterdämmerung, where he is more
closely miked, but not distressingly so. Eberhard Katz is
comfortable in both 'Winterstürme' and Siegmund's more
dramatic music, while Hildegard Hillebrecht's Sieglinde is a good
foil for him. Among the others, Gerd Nienstedt stands out with his
portrayals of Fasolt, Hunding and Hagen, his giant being less
sympathetic than most, and Helga Dernesch as the Second Norn
already shows her potential as a future Brünnhilde. And it's
worth mentioning that Thomas Tipton accomplishes the
Donner/Gunther pairing as at the first Ring performance. There are
no weak links in this performance, and Sawallisch, as noted by
Richter, is excellent. However there are occasional problems with
the sound, particularly in Act Two of Die Walküre.
I remember the excitement
occasioned by the 1977 live broadcast from Bayreuth of
Tristan und
Isolde under Horst Stein.
This particular broadcast was in honor of the first hundred years
of recorded sound. Much of the interest was occasioned by the
Tristan of Bulgarian tenor Spas Wenkoff. We were, as we still are,
looking for the next great Wagnerian tenor, and for a short period
it appeared that Wenkoff would fill this role. He hit his stride
for a few years around the end of the 1970s when he was already
moving into his 50s, and he disappeared just as suddenly as he
appeared. He left us some magnificent performances during that
brief period, of which this Tristan is an example. Caterina
Ligendza, despite occasional shrillness at the beginning, provides
a thrilling Isolde, with rock solid Bs and Cs. Yvonne Minton is a
dependable Brangäne. Donald McIntyre, best known as the
Wotan/Wanderer in the video of the Chèreau Ring under
Boulez, is a very masculine Kurwenal, and Karl Ridderbusch is
suitably grave in his utterances as King Marke. He does sound
rather old, but that is not entirely out of place. In any event,
this show belongs to the two lovers, Wenkoff and Ligendza ably
supported by Horst Stein.
As a bonus, we also have a
10-minute commentary that took place after the second act of the
broadcast. The speakers are: Fred Calland, formerly of the NPR
World of Opera, who repeats Milton Cross's famous comment about
Lily Pons singing 'Es with ease' (in the Lakme Bell Song)
referring to Yvonne Minton; Father Owen Lee, before his days as a
regular commentator on the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts; and
Michael Schulman, Toronto music critic. They are generally very
enthusiastic although they disagree about Karl Ridderbusch's
Marke.
With the
Meistersinger
we are back in England. It is a 1968 performance from Sadler's
Wells, once again in English and once again with Norman Bailey,
here as Sachs, another of the roles for which he was justly
famous, which he also recorded for Solti. He lives up to his
reputation completely. In particular, his introduction to the
famous quintet is very beautiful and moving.
Just as our Siegfried on this
disc is better known as Walther, here our Walther, Alberto
Remedios, is better known for his Siegfried - some indication that
the two roles may not be as far as part as generally considered.
He sounds a bit uncomfortable with the flowing lyricism of the
Prize Song, but not unduly so. Margaret Curphey, who sang roles
ranging from Mimi to the two sopranos leads in Die Walküre,
is a lovely Eva. Derek Hammond-Stroud is a pompous Beckmesser with
good enough diction to bring out the comedy in his attempt to sing
the song he has stolen from Walther. Gregory Dempsey and Ann
Robson are an attractive couple as David and Magdalena, and
Stafford Dean, early in his career, has that same warm quality as
the Night Watchman that he would later bring to Daland. It is
frustrating that the performance is missing the great final chord
that brings the second act to a close.
The most recent performance on
this disc is the Amsterdam Parsifal
under Sir Simon Rattle of 9 February 1997, a little less than 40
years after the Tannhäuser. Rattle leads a good,
middle-of-the-road performance, neither too fast nor too slow.
Poul Elming, best-known for Siegmund and Parsifal, is most
comfortable in the purely lyrical sections of the role, such as
'Nur eine waffe taugt'. The more dramatic outbursts, such as
'Amfortas! Die Wunde', don't come as easily to him, mostly because
of the heavier orchestration. Robert Lloyd is a dignified
Gurnemanz, Carsten Stabell an intense Amfortas, Gunther von Kannen
is effective as Klingsor, and Wolfgang Schöne sounds suitably
aged as Titurel. While the disc provides biographies for these
five singers, the other lead Violeta Urmana, who sings Kundry,
does not rate a biography, being little-known at the time this
disc was released. Her Kundry, determined and womanly at the same
time, doubtless had much to with her subsequent rise to fame, and
her high B on 'lachte' and the other high notes in Act Two are
probably the most thrilling ones on this disc.
Besides the recordings, the
disc also contains German (only) texts of all thirteen works, most
useful for those seldom recorded early works, least useful for the
two in English. There are also, as mentioned above, lengthy
biographies of a number of the more important singers on the disc,
indicating the roles that each singer takes throughout the disc.
With the exception Gerd Nienstedt, who takes three different roles
in the Ring, and the other singers who appear in the same role in
three Ring operas, no singer appears more than twice on the disc.
The only works that are performed with cuts, albeit minor, are
Tannhäuser and Lohengrin.
Playing through this disc from
start to finish, the final chords of Parsifal lead us straight
back to the opening notes of Die Feen. The thirteen stage works of
Wagner are almost as much of a piece as the nine symphonies of
Beethoven, and I am glad to have them all on one disc.
_________________________________________
The Operas of
Richard Wagner is a CD-ROM published by Mike Richter, AE003 US$
10.00.
Additional information and a
source for ordering can be found at the Mike Richter website
www.mrichter.com/
