The Czech-born pianist and writer August Stradal (1860–1930) – a Bruckner student and Liszt disciple– was one of the more prolific transcribers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He produced a vast quantity of phenomenally difficult piano music, including Liszt’s orchestral works, most of Bruckner’s symphonies, a good deal of the Baroque (a huge amount of Bach) and much more. This is the second in a series presenting his Wagner transcriptions, again featuring pianist Juan Guillermo Vizcarra. “Vizcarra makes a staggeringly powerful case for these transcriptions…” (Music Web Int’l)

Performances of The Flying Dutchman stand or fall by the ability of the lead bass-baritone to project the anguished, world-weary yet demonic nature of the accursed seafarer. I was not expecting a definitive reading from James Morris, whose Wotan has often tended towards the bland. But his darkly despairing Monologue is very impressive and comes closer to the superb Fischer-Dieskau (with Konwitschny, available on Berlin Classics) than most recent versions.

-- BBC Music Magazine

Consistently high musical standards...excellent sound quality too.

Mark Elder insists that he and the Hallé Orchestra are not in the process of recording a full Ring cycle. That's a great shame, as this Walküre is as fine a recording as their previous and much-lauded Götterdämmerung. Wagner recorded live in concert is rapidly becoming the rule rather than the exception, and full Ring cycles in that format from both Gergiev and Janowski are scheduled for the composer's bicentenary in 2013. No doubt both will be impressive offerings, but it is hard to imagine that either will have anything further to say on Walküre than Mark Elder has had to say here.
 
The performance was split across two consecutive evenings at the Manchester International Festival in 2011. There were no patch sessions, but the mics were in place at the rehearsals, and some of this has been edited in. The result manages to capture the best of both worlds - it's as note-perfect as a studio recording, but as atmospheric and dramatically coherent as a concert performance.
 
From Mark Elder's description of the project, the whole thing was much more precarious than the assured quality of the recording suggests. The concerts were only made possible through sponsorship hastily convened by the Manchester Festival. The cast includes three singers, Sarah Castle, Yvonne Howard and Elaine McKrill, who were drafted in as short-notice replacements.
 
Mark Elder is clearly the sort of conductor who would only embark on such a project if he knew he could do it full justice. He has rehearsed the orchestra magnificently, not only to follow his occasionally esoteric tempos, but also to maintain a consistency of spirit and tone across the huge spans of each of the acts. Elder also has that crucial operatic quality of being able to give his soloists, both vocal and instrumental, the space they need to shape their melodic lines, while still maintaining the symphonic logic of the whole. The orchestra repays his confidence in them with inspired playing at every turn. The horns deserve a special mention. They are kept busy throughout, but rarely have the horn parts sounded so fresh and vital as here. Great woodwind playing too. The woodwind soloists really benefit from the quality of the sound recording, which both balances them against the ensemble, and picks them out from the centre of the group with consistent clarity. You'll also hear better trumpets and trombones here than on most other recordings of the work.
 
The performance is very much an interpretation, with Mark Elder imprinting his musical personality on every phrase. Elder's pacing is similar to the way he speaks. It is steady, clear and undemonstrative. Clarity of phrase and rhythm comes though accentuation, from the heels of the strings' bows and from the brass, while the passion and drama are projected through the very wide dynamic range. The orchestral set pieces - the Act 1 Prelude, the Ride of the Valkyries, the Magic Fire music - are all on the steady side as far as tempos go. The definite and deliberate accentuation ensures that the slower speeds never threaten the atmosphere or drama. Everything feels like an emphatic statement, and nothing is ever treated as trivial or transitory. In the context of other famous recordings of the work, Elder's steady tempos resemble Haitink, the agogic weight from the orchestra approaches Solti, while the communication from the podium and the immaculate preparation are more akin to Karajan.
 
There are no huge names in the cast, which ironically helps to maintain consistent quality between the singers. Every one of them is equal to Wagner's challenges, and despite the concert hall setting, there is a real feeling of dramatic involvement from each of the leads. Susan Bickley is a suitably angry Fricka, while Susan Bullock's Brünnhilde sounds both wayward and emotionally complex. The singers also articulate the German with a rare clarity, another quality that benefits from the excellent sound engineering. The bass in the mix is particularly strong and well-defined, all the better to hear the excellent performances from the lower male voices, Clive Bayley as Hunding and Eglis Silins as Wotan.
 
No cast for a Wagner opera is completely flawless. Susan Bullock is considered one of the finest Brünnhildes of today, but I find her wide, penetrating vibrato excessive, especially on the top notes. That said, her performance is less abrasive than on the recent recording of the work from Frankfurt Opera (Oehms Classics OC 936). Despite the fact that the opera was divided across two nights, some of the singers can be heard to tire, which is perfectly understandable given the duration and intensity of many of the monologues. Stig Andersen's Siegmund sounds much fresher at the start of Act 1 than at the end. Eglis Silins has similar problems towards the end of Act 2, although he's back on form for Act 3, and then manages to maintain the tone right until the end.
 
These are minor quibbles though, and the overall impression this recording gives is of consistently high musical standards from singers and orchestra alike. Excellent sound quality too, all of which suggests significant investment to make the recording the best it could possibly be. The packaging is a little less opulent. The booklet gives only a track-listing, a very brief synopsis and an orchestra list, all on unlaminated paper. An additional CD-ROM is included with images of the concerts and a pdf libretto. In fact, there are only three photos, a cursory offering at best, and the libretto seems redundant, considering that it is widely available online. Personally, I'd rather a pdf of the full score, which could easily be added at no further expense to anybody.
 
The packaging is the only concession to economy here, and if the qualities of the recording itself were not enough to recommend the release, the budget price tag ought to seal the deal. Even the reissues of Solti and Karajan conducting the opera cost more than this brand new one. So here's hoping that the resources and opportunities will be found for a Rheingold and Siegfried in the same series. Should they materialise, this could become one of the great Ring cycles of our times.
 
-- Gavin Dixon, MusicWeb International

This is not a historical recording. Yet mysteriously the music is performed in an interpretation which is historically authentic down to the last detail. The key to this mystery is: The original performer was present at the recent recording session, but not physically: The music is heard on a modern Steinway. Never has music stored in the Welte-Mignon system sounded so "right" or so good. Thanks to TACET's much-praised recording technique, and because the Welte-Mignon memory system and sound production mechanism have now been newly adjusted for the first time by the leading expert in the field - and are thus able to meet TACET's requirements. (Welte-Mignon was invented in 1904.) the Welte-Mignon mystery can now speak to US without distortion.

Recorded live in Manchester's Bridgewater Hall over two evenings in May, 2009, this concert recording of Wagner's Götterdämmerung easily stands among the work's three or four finest on disc. For starters, it is sumptuously yet naturally engineered, with voices and instruments in ideal perspective, and there's realistic depth and definition to the orchestral image no matter how texturally complex or threadbare. As with Reginald Goodall, Mark Elder's tempos are slow, but they never, ever drag because the conductor's strong inner rhythm fuels the carefully coaxed and painstakingly balanced linear strands.

This is mainly apparent in orchestral interludes. In Siegfried's Rhine Journey, for example, notice the churning string accompaniment's pronounced dynamic gradations, and the rarely heard leitmotivs that bubble to the surface. The myriad tempo changes and drawn out rests in the hunting scene leading up to and including Siegfried's dying words are taken on faith as they often are not, and the conductor plays up the gnawing half-step steerhorn dissonances in Act 2 while letting the low strings slightly drag, creating a kind of primeval sound world that couldn't be more appropriate for the moment. It also allows for the choral antiphony to build momentum and maintain full comprehensibility.

And what a cast! Lars Cleveman's multi-leveled vocal acting and musical security add up to an impressively tender, proud, and vulnerable Siegfried. Katarina Dalayman's Brünnhilde holds equal allure, and equal tonal command in all registers. In Alberich's brief scene at the start of Act 2, Bayreuth veteran Andrew Shore is a little too guttural at times, but Attila Jun's dark yet agile Hagen nearly steals the show--and that's not to take anything away from Peter Coleman-Wright's sensitive singing as Gunther. Some listeners may find Susan Bickley a more understated, less emotive Waltraute than "tradition" deems, yet her impeccable diction and legato control speak for themselves. I also should mention the Norns and the Rhinemaidens--what splendid and superbly blended vocal trios!

Although the opera could have fit onto four CDs, a five-disc deployment allows Act 2 to stand alone on one disc, and for Act 3 to be logically divided across two discs as Act 1 usually is. The fifth disc contains a full libretto and English translation as a PDF document. Even if you already own Solti (Decca), Keilberth (Testament), or Barenboim (Teldec), Elder's Götterdämmerung adds up to a most fulfilling and modestly priced dramatic and musical experience that no serious Wagnerian should miss.

--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

While I was thoroughly enjoying myself listening to this disc an analogy sprang to mind regarding 19 ^th Century war-horse piano transcriptions. It struck me that – from a 'modern' perspective – they are rather like a great steam locomotive, totally redundant and outmoded but actually rather inspiring and a triumph of engineering!
 
I have written before that I have an enduring pleasure in hearing a good transcription of something utterly preposterous ... and what could be more preposterous than transcribing Wagner’s Ring for solo piano? The key to raising both the transcription and indeed the performance of it hangs on several far less absurd considerations. These are as follows. How well does the transcriber retain the essence of the work in question? How successfully does the transcriber satisfy the twin musical imperatives of writing a work pleasing as both a virtuoso piano piece and as ‘simple’ music? Lastly, how well is the performer able to surmount the vast technical hurdles implied by the genre whilst producing a performance of real musical value? The reason for my pleasure in this disc is that on every count I would have to say: very well indeed.
 
To start with the composer/transcriber; August Stradal was yet another of those acolytes of Liszt who seem to have spent a good part of their creative careers trying to out-arrange their master. One can imagine an unspoken conflict between Liszt’s many disciples each trying desperately to produce piano music of ever greater complexity and virtuosity. Along the way Stradal had Bruckner as a teacher and in later life provided important biographical information on both those masters. He also transcribed Bruckner’s Symphonies 1-2 and 5-8 for piano … now there’s a project for Toccata to consider! For those interested the Bruckner transcriptions as well as the 2 Liszt Symphonies, Brandenburg No.3 and other works too can be viewed and downloaded from the IMSLP website – unfortunately none of the works recorded here can be so viewed.
 
I quite enjoy playing a little game when listening to transcriptions such as this – it’s called “count the imaginary fingers”. The closer you get to twenty the better. Pianist Juan Guillermo Vizcarra makes a staggeringly powerful case for these transcriptions and he is no mean interpreter of Wagner either. The six excerpts from the Ring are grouped sensibly together in chronological order. Hence the disc opens with three selections from Die Walküre. The first two are rather dwarfed by an extended transcription of its closing pages. Siegmund’s Love-song comes first and shows Stradal’s skill at retaining the original voicing of the opera with the hero ‘singing’ in the middle register of the keyboard and the ‘orchestra’ fully represented above and below. Vizcarra is especially skilled at layering the dynamics within these complex textures ensuring that the ear is guided to primary and secondary material. He is a very dynamic player – his performance had me thinking back to the days of LPs and Michael Ponti’s trail-blazing discs on Vox-Turnabout of various Opera paraphrases. Occasionally I did wonder if Vizcarra was overly-muscular which, allied to a quite close and dynamic recording, does risk ‘virtuosity-awareness-fatigue-syndrome’. Conversely, this is music that should overwhelm one in whatever format it is performed. Vizcarra goes on to prove that he is by no means ‘just’ a virtuoso. Indeed I found his pacing of the seventeen minute selection from the end of Die Walküre very impressive. Likewise the single excerpt from Siegfried – Forest Murmurs – is beautifully paced. I say this even if just occasionally the leading melodic line feels a fraction heavy in comparison to the accompanying material but I do feel rather mean-spirited mentioning this.
 
Malcolm MacDonald in his predictably fascinating and insightful liner cites the two Götterdämmerung excerpts as representing the apogee of Stradal’s art with regard to Wagner. Certainly the sheer complexity of textures that he is able to retain from the original version of Siegfried’s Rhine Journey is astonishing. Again I find Vizcarra’s pacing of the closing pages which then lead with seamless skill into Siegfried’s Funeral March wholly convincing. Given that so much of the orchestral texture in this extraordinarily valedictory passage is built on long-held chords building crescendi this is the one time a piano struggles to maintain the illusion of the original. This is for the simple and obvious fact that a piano cannot play a crescendo without repeating a note or chord. That aside Vizcarra is a very impressive interpreter and Stradal’s transcription builds to a remarkably powerful climax replete with little sky-bursts of keyboard flurries and virtuoso gestures.
 
Sensibly, the final third of the disc is devoted to a far less rhetorical and grandly dramatic transcription of the five Wesendonck Lieder. These do already exist in the original version for piano and voice. MacDonald explains that Stradal stays essentially faithful to Wagner’s original except in two respects; he changes the order of the songs and moves the vocal line into the middle register again whilst at the same time moving Wagner’s right-hand piano part up the octave. This has the twin effect of making that element of the accompaniment sound immediately more ‘brilliant’ whilst keeping the now inner vocal line clear of conflicting part-writing. Vizcarra is beautifully poetic throughout the cycle although again I occasionally wondered if he strove too hard to give the inner/vocal line prominence. Especially since the placing of this line in a tenor/baritone register changes the feel quite significantly from their mezzo-soprano original. Again this seems like minor carping when one has been given the opportunity to hear such startlingly effective transcriptions in such convincing performances.
 
Toccata Classics is one of my favourite labels with the questing and quirky nature of the repertoire they offer very much a reflection on the tastes and passions their founder and executive producer Martin Anderson. This disc is another excellent example of his sure-fire sense of rare and unknown music well worth restoring and exploring. More Wagner please but a set of the Bruckner transcriptions really would be something.
 
-- Nick Barnard, MusicWeb International

This collection presents the under-rated tenor Siegfried Jerusalem in a program of favorite arias: Wagner, Weber, Mozart and Weinberger as well as selections by Smetana, Meyerbeer and Tchaikovsky, all sung in German. Jerusalem, the tenor of choice in Wagnerian repertoire in the late 70s and 80s, is always an intense performer on stage, but under-recorded in some of his key roles. There is steel in his voice and, of course, this is necessary in much of Wagner, but there is also a need for lyricism and Jerusalem sings with an almost italianate elegance. The arias from 'Lohengrin' achieve this elegance, while the "Prize Song" from 'Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg' is suitably ecstatic.
Jerusalem shines in non-Wagnerian works, too. His Tamino from Mozart's 'Die Zauberflöte' is just right, and "Dies Bildnis is bezaubernd schön" is full of fresh, youthful vigor. His rendition of Lensky's aria from Tchaikovsky's 'Eugene Onegin' is heartbreaking and well-characterized--a high point of the disc. Duets from Weinberger's 'Schwanda, der Dudelsackpfeifer' with Hermann Prey and the late, magnificent Lucia Popp are a real treat. If you want to discover a great artist in an interesting program, you should grab this one.

Superlative Wagnerian singing - Toscanini keeps the music swiftly and taut, while giving the soloists plenty of room for the most telling, eloquent turns of phrase.

The Walküre Act I excerpt was not published until several years after Toscanini's death, when it was partnered by Götterdämmerung excerpts taken from the same 1941 concert. It would have made this disc still more attractive if both had been included, but as it is we have here a glorious example of superlative Wagnerian singing. Melchior was 51 years old at the time of the broadcast, although you would never guess this from his marvellously youthful, ardent tones, and Traubel was in superb form, too. Toscanini moves the music on quite swiftly and the orchestral phrasing is fairly taut, but neither soloist seems under the slightest pressure, and each has plenty of room for the most telling, eloquent turns of phrase. The balance favours the singers, and I rather fancy that background noise has been suppressed a little too much, but the sound is not at all bad for its date.

I liked the Siegfried Idyll performance very much, for it has an attractive sense of repose and gentle affection, with some very poetic contributions from the solo woodwind. The sound here is pretty good, as it is in the Tristan Prelude and Liebestod, which are played in a lean, clean fashion, beautifully balanced, but rather lacking in passion and atmosphere. There is a slightly cramped sound in the Ride of the Valkyries, but better that it should be here than in the most important items. A most desirable disc, which offers many rewards.

-- A. S., Gramophone [12/1991]

On this disc Chandos bring together some of the highlights from Neeme Jarvi's five-volume Wagner series with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. As an added bonus, they included the Overture to Der fliegende Holleñnder, a piece not before released as part of their Wagner series.