Wagner: The Ring - An Orchestral Adventure / Jarvi, Royal Scottish NO
Chandos
SACD
$21.99Feb 01, 2008
It is over 15 years since Neeme Järvi and the RSNO made a new recording for Chandos. So it is with great pleasure that we announce this recording which marks Järvi's return to Scotland in his capacity as Conductor Laureate at the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. This 67-minute, orchestra-only version of Wagner's famous opera cycle, 'Der Ring des Nibelungen' is arranged by Henk de Vlieger, arranger, composer and percussionist in the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. The work was commissioned by the orchestra ad the result is a 14-section fiery musical spectacle entitled 'The Ring, an orchestral adventure'. this symphonic 'compilation' compresses Wagner's four might Ring operas, yet includes all the major themes and 'leitmotifs'. The result is an overwhelming experience and a must for anyone who loves blazing orchestral colours. The Minneapolis Tribune wrote, 'The way that De Vlieger has created transitions between scenes and acts is quite ingenious...' 'Bits of Rheingold, Walkure, Siegfried and Gotterdammerung floated past, melded together as if some Wagnerian superman who understood the whole and articulated it in particular. Highlights were everywhere. Horns, sounded offstage and on, reminded listeners of the great arias, without the singers to sing it...Toward the end, it actually seemed like we had experienced the entire Ring cycle - a tribute to the orchestrator's talents,' wrote the Boston Herald following a performance of the work. Coupled to this mighty work is 'Siegfried Idyll', which is thematically related to the Ring, and although with quite a different subject matter, complements the 'Orchestral Adventure' perfectly.
The Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra is one of the most important orchestras in the Germans-peaking world. In 2001 it was selected Orchestra of the Year for the third time in succession in the critics' survey of the specialist journal Opernwelt. Currently they perform as a concert orchestra at the Museum Concerts organized by the Museum Society.
Following the Walhall release of Wagner’s Die Walküre, the label closes its legendary 1958 Bayreuth Festival Ring tetralogy publication with the 1st, 3rd and final operas, led by the mid-20th c. Bayreuth pit regular and esteemed Wagnerian conductor Hans Knappertsbusch. The sound, benefitting from 24bit/96kHz re-mastering technology is great, far better than any other label’s previous issue, Walhall also reaping the sound reward from the use of the original broadcast mastertapes. Featured Wagnerian vocal luminaries include Hotter, Windgassen, Varnay, Konya, Grümmer, et al.
The German conductor Hans Knappertsbusch and the Bayreuth Wagner Festival were nearly synonymous propositions in their respective performative and historical grandeur by the 1950’s, an era also looked back on from the present as a golden age of Wagnerian singing. + Furthering these propositions is the splendid Ring cycle of 1957, which hosted Knappertsbusch and a cast of incredible singers including Hans Hotter, Birgit Nilsson, Astrid Varnay, Ramon Vinay and Wolfgang Windgassen, amongst others, spread across these four 24Bit/96kHz re-mastered volumes from Walhall Eternity.
This new release has been long anticipated, and concludes Ars Produktion’s discographic documentation of one of the most outstanding German theater scene Ring productions. This production of Wagner’s Ring cycle from 1997/1999 received international enthusiasm from critics due to its amazing artistic interpretation and musical skill. This special release includes a bonus CD with an interview featuring famed opera journalist Thomas Voigt and the director of the Staatstheater Kassel, Michael Leinert.
Wagner: Lohengrin / Nelsons, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra
Opus Arte
CD
$34.99Jun 22, 2018
Lohengrin is staged by the enfant terrible Hans Neuenfels, and offers a thought-provoking production of brilliant visual clarity. The performance with Klaus Florian Vogt in the title role is staggering and impressive. There is beauty and purity in his voice, but in this role in particular, one truly senses something other-worldly, which fits superlatively both with the work and the production. Conductor Andris Nelsons brings out the best in the festival chorus and orchestra. It is a Lohengrin one does not easily forget and puts Bayreuth back in the vanguard of Wagner interpretation. "Great Wagner performances such as this give the sensation of looking down at the world from a sadly omniscient height... Vogt...gave a dreamlike performance... Dasch... was sweetly impassioned throughout. Petra Lang was a properly searing Ortrud... Andris Nelsons... conducted with blazing intensity." (Alex Ross, The New Yorker) ‘‘A magic moment of music theatre.’’ (Handelsblatt) ‘‘Bayreuth's incomparable chorus really deserves a medal for its performance here.’’ (International Record Review) ‘‘All six solo singers are musically excellent and dramatically persuasive, with Petra Lang's excoriating Ortrud and George Zeppenfeld's grave yet warm-toned King Henry particularly memorable...’’ (Gramophone)
For the first time, the complete Beyreuth Ring from 1962 is being released on this magnificent 4-volume collection. This legendary performance is conducted by Rudolf Kempe, and features Hans Hopf as Siegfried, Gottlob Frick as Hagen, and Birgit Nilsson as Brunnhilde. Gotterdammerung is the fourth of Wagner’s four music dramas that make up his epic Der Ring des Nibelungen.
Salzburg Marionette Theatre's condensed two-hour version of The Ring of the Nibelung was premiered in cooperation with the Salzburg State Theatre in March of 2012. Performing to the legendary recordings by Georg Solti and the Vienna Philharmonic, the unrivaled puppetry of the Salzburg Marionettes guides spectators through Wagner's epic masterpiece. This simplified version, which showcases the best known scenes, is perfect for Wagner beginners and younger audiences.
Wagner's genius is often associated with his unique feeling for orchestration. Yet the transcriptions and paraphrases for piano solo recorded here lay bare the beauty and boldness of his harmonic language, with an evocative power unrivalled at the time. Nikolai Lugansky, at once narrator and virtuoso, immerses us in a world where the heroes of legend tell us - and with what loftiness of spirit! - of the torments and aspirations of humanity.
