George London Sings Offenbach, Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Verdi & Wagner
Orfeo
CD
$16.99Aug 05, 2022
The present album is a re-release of Bavarian broadcast recordings of 1953-56 featuring legendary bass-baritone George London at the height of his career. Upon its initial release, the album received glowing reviews from critics and fans, and this now can be enjoyed by a new generation of listeners. “(The) collection is vintage London all the way“ (American Record Guide) “The extracts from Aida and Die Walküre with Astrid Varnay are electrifying“ (BBC Music Magazine) “This is a worthy representation of a singer whose career was ended too soon.“ (International Record Review)
REVIEWS:
The excerpts on the present disc are uniformly excellent, and the recorded sound is surprisingly good. … London is a sensitive and expressive Dr. Miracle, and with excellent assistance from Teresa Stich-Randall and Maria von Ilosvay. With Russian speaking parentage, London had a special leaning towards Russian operas…
That London was a great Wotan is very obvious, even more so in the concluding farewell, where his sensitiveness and beauty of tone is striking. One rarely hears such legato singing in Wagner.
London sings Prince Igor’s aria with great dignity and feeling but it is the three final items with Varnay that form the high point of this album, in that they contain both the greatest music and the finest partner.
The playing of the BRSO is fine throughout and all three conductors ensure idiomatic execution.
-- MusicWeb International
London’s voice was massive, focused and dark, with an exciting and secure top. In these recordings he never blusters, and he sings with verbal acuity, noble tone and dramatic verve…The remastered sound is excellent.
-- Opera Now
It’s good to see a dedicated London CD appear on Orfeo, which concludes with the closing sections of Die Walküre, where the great American bass-baritone is heard in duet with Varnay under the direction of Varnay’s husband, Hermann Weigert, who is especially sensitive with accompanying lower string lines near the start of Wotan’s Farewell. London’s deep rolling voice…makes a strong impression.
Although Knappertsbusch conducted “Lohengrin” many times, until now no recording by him has been issued, so the welcome discovery of this live performance from Munich fills a gap in the discography... We first hear Knappertsbusch pushing the Prelude on, refusing to linger but instead urging the singing strings to create what is almost a sense of tension and expectation, culminating in the great chordal climax by the brass. The Act II Prelude, too, is wonderfully played, the orchestra producing a dark, brooding sound proleptic of Ortrud’s calling upon the “Entweihte Götter!” --MusicWeb
Wagner: Der Ring Des Nibelungen - Die Walkure (Bayreuth, 1962)
MYTO Historical
CD
$13.99Mar 11, 2016
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 Otto Wiener as Wotan, Grace Hoffmann as Fricka, Gottlieb Frick as Hundig, Fritz Uhl as Siegmund, and Astrid Varnay as Brunnhilde. Die Walkure is the second of Wagner’s four music dramas that make up his epic Der Ring des Nibelungen.
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde / Vinay, Varnay, Malaniuk, Jochum
Andromeda
CD
$13.99Aug 14, 2015
Wagner's German opera: Tristan und Isolde. Performers include: Ramòn Vinay (Tristan), Astrid Varnay (Isolde), Ludwig Weber (König Marke), Ira Malaniuk (Brangäne), Gustav Neidlinger (Kurwenal), Hasso Eschert (Melot), Gerhard Stolze (Ein Hirt), Theo Adam (Ein Steuermann), Eugene Tobin (Ein Junger Seemann). Choir & Orchestra of the Bayreuth Festival, Eugen Jochum. Recorded live at Bayreuth in 1953.
The Walhall Eternity label is for the first time releasing in it's entirety the legendary 1959 Covent Garden Ring cycle of Richard Wagner conducted by Franz Konwitschny, performances that feature the finest Wagnerian voices of the 1950's, including Wolfgang Windgassen, Hans Hotter, Astrid Varnay, Ramon Vinay, Amy Shuard (student of Eva Turner and Covent Garden regular), Gottlob Frick and more. Franz Konwitschny's gripping interpretations lie comfortably between those of Fürtwängler's commanding heights supremacy and Solti's fire and spontaneity. Re-mastered 24bit/96kHz.
The Walhall Eternity label is for the first time releasing in it's entirety the legendary 1959 Covent Garden Ring cycle of Richard Wagner conducted by Franz Konwitschny, performances that feature the finest Wagnerian voices of the 1950's, including Wolfgang Windgassen, Hans Hotter, Astrid Varnay, Ramon Vinay, Amy Shuard (student of Eva Turner and Covent Garden regular), Gottlob Frick and more. Franz Konwitschny's gripping interpretations lie comfortably between those of Fürtwängler's commanding heights supremacy and Solti's fire and spontaneity. Re-mastered 24bit/96kHz.
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.
Following the Walhall release of Wagner's Die Walküre, the label closes it's 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.
