Wagner: Gotterdammerung / Janowski, Ryan, Lang, Haller, Salminen, Bruck

$44.99
Label
PENTATONE
Release Date
November 19, 2013
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      WAGNER
    • PERFORMER
      Marek Janowski, Rundfunkchor Berlin, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin
    Product Details ⌄
    Works ⌄

    1. Prologue: Welch Licht leuchtet dort? (The Norns)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Susanne Resmark, Christa Mayer, Jacquelyn Wagner

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    2. Prologue: Treu beratner Vertrage Runen (Second Norn)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Christa Mayer

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    3. Prologue: Es ragt die Burg (The Norns)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Susanne Resmark, Christa Mayer, Jacquelyn Wagner

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    4. Prologue: Zu neuen Taten, teurer Helde (Brünnhilde)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Petra Lang

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    5. Prologue: Willst du mir Minne schenken (Brünnhilde, Siegfried)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Petra Lang, Lance Ryan

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    6. Prologue: O heilige Gotter! (Brünnhilde, Siegfried)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Petra Lang, Lance Ryan

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    7. Prologue: Siegfrieds Rheinfahrt (Siegfried's Rhine Journey)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    8. Act I Scene 1: Nun hor', Hagen, sage mir, Held (Gunther, Hagen)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Matti Salminen, Markus Brück

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    9. Act I Scene 1: Wen ratst du nun zu frein (Gunther Hagen, Gutrune)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Markus Brück, Matti Salminen, Edith Haller

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    10. Act I Scene 1: Jagt er auf Taten wonnig umher (Hagen, Gunther, Siegfried)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Matti Salminen, Markus Brück, Lance Ryan

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    11. Act I Scene 2: Wer ist Gibichs Sohn? (Siegfried, Gunther, Hagen)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Lance Ryan, Markus Brück, Matti Salminen

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    12. Act I Scene 2: Begrusse froh, o Held (Gunther, Siegfried, Hagen)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Markus Brück, Lance Ryan, Matti Salminen

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    13. Act I Scene 2: Willkommen, Gast, in Gibichs Haus! (Gutrune, Siegfried, Gunther)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Edith Haller, Lance Ryan, Markus Brück

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    14. Act I Scene 2: Gutrune - Sind's gute Runen (Gunther, Siegfried)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Markus Brück, Lance Ryan

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    15. Act I Scene 2: Bluhenden Lebens labendes Blut (Siegfried, Gunther, Hagen)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Lance Ryan, Markus Brück, Matti Salminen

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    16. Act I Scene 2: Frisch auf die Fahrt! (Siegfried)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Lance Ryan

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    17. Act I Scene 2: Hier sitz' ich zur Wacht (Hagen)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Matti Salminen

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    18. Act I Scene 3: Altgewohntes Gerausch (Brünnhilde, Waltraute)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Petra Lang, Marina Prudenskaya

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    19. Act I Scene 3: Hore mit Sinn (Waltraute)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Marina Prudenskaya

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    20. Act I Scene 3: Welch banger Traume Maren meldest du Traurige mir (Brünnhilde, Waltraute)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Petra Lang, Marina Prudenskaya

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    21. Act I Scene 3: Was leckt so wutend (Brünnhilde)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Petra Lang

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    22. Act I Scene 3: Brunhild'! Ein Freier kam (Siegfried, Brünnhilde)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Lance Ryan, Petra Lang

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    23. Act II: Vorspiel

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    24. Act II Scene 1: Schlafst du, Hagen, mein Sohn? (Alberich, Hagen)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Jochen Schmeckenbecher, Matti Salminen

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    25. Act II Scene 2: Hoiho, Hagen! Muder Mann! (Siegfried, Hagen)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Lance Ryan, Matti Salminen

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    26. Act II Scene 2: Heiss mich willkommen, Gibichskind! (Siegfried, Gutrune, Hagen)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Lance Ryan, Edith Haller, Matti Salminen

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    27. Act II Scene 3: Hoiho! Hoihohoho! (Hagen, Vassals)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Berlin Radio Choir, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Matti Salminen

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    28. Act II Scene 4: Heil dir, Gunther! (Gunther, Vassals)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Berlin Radio Choir, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Markus Brück

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    29. Act II Scene 4: Gegrusst sei, teurer Held! (Gunther, Chorus)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Berlin Radio Choir, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Markus Brück

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    30. Act II Scene 4: Einen Ring sah ich an deiner Hand (Brünnhilde, Siegfried, Gunther)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Petra Lang, Lance Ryan, Markus Brück

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    31. Act II Scene 4: Heil'ge Gotter (Brünnhilde)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Petra Lang

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    32. Act II Scene 4: Helle Wehr! Heilige Waffe! (Siegfried, Brünnhilde, Chorus)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Lance Ryan, Petra Lang

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    33. Act II Scene 4: Gunther, wehr' deinem Weibe (Siegfried)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Lance Ryan

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    34. Act II Scene 5: Welches Unholds List liegt hier verhohlen? (Brünnhilde)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Petra Lang

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    35. Act II Scene 5: Vertraue mir, betrog'ne Frau! (Hagen, Brünnhilde)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Matti Salminen, Petra Lang

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    36. Act II Scene 5: Auf, Gunther, edler Gibichung! (Hagen, Gunther, Brünnhilde)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Petra Lang, Matti Salminen, Markus Brück

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    37. Act III: Vorspiel

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    38. Act III Scene 1: Frau Sonne sendet lichte Strahlen (Woglinde, Wellgunde, Flosshilde)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Julia Borchert, Katharina Kammerloher, Kismara Pessatti

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    39. Act III Scene 1: Ein Albe fuhrte mich irr (Siegfried, Woglinde, Wellgunde, Flosshilde)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Lance Ryan, Julia Borchert, Katharina Kammerloher, Kismara Pessatti

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    40. Act III Scene 1: Was leid ich doch das karge Lob? (Siegfried, Woglinde, Wellgunde, Flosshilde)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Lance Ryan, Julia Borchert, Katharina Kammerloher, Kismara Pessatti

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    41. Act III Scene 1: Siegfried! Siegfried! Siegfried! (Siegfried, Woglinde, Wellgunde, Flosshilde)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Lance Ryan, Julia Borchert, Katharina Kammerloher, Kismara Pessatti

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    42. Act III Scene 2: Hoiho! (Hagen, Male Chorus, Siegfried)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Berlin Radio Choir, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Matti Salminen, Lance Ryan

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    43. Act III Scene 2: Trink, Gunther, trink! (Siegfried, Gunther, Hagen)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Lance Ryan, Markus Brück, Matti Salminen

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    44. Act III Scene 2: Mime hiess ein murrischer Zwerg (Siegfried, Hagen, Vassals)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Berlin Radio Choir, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Lance Ryan, Matti Salminen

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    45. Act III Scene 2: In Lied zu dem Wipfel lauscht' ich hinauf (Siegfried, Hagen)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Lance Ryan, Matti Salminen

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    46. Act III Scene 2: Brünnhilde, heilige Braut! (Siegfried)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Lance Ryan

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    47. Act III Scene 2: Siegfrieds Trauermarsch (Siegfried's Funeral March)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    48. Act III Scene 3: War das sein Horn? (Gutrune, Hagen, Gunther)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Edith Haller, Matti Salminen, Markus Brück

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    49. Act III Scene 3: Hoiho! Hoiho! Wacht auf! (Hagen, Gutrune, Gunther)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Matti Salminen, Edith Haller, Markus Brück

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    50. Act III Scene 3: Nicht klage wider, mich! (Gunther, Hagen)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Markus Brück, Matti Salminen

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    51. Act III Scene 3: Schweigt eures Jammers (Brünnhilde, Gutrune)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Petra Lang, Edith Haller

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    52. Act III Scene 3: Starke Scheite schichtet mir dort (Brünnhilde)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Petra Lang

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    53. Act III Scene 3: Mein Erbe nun nehm' ich zu eigen (Brünnhilde)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Petra Lang

      Conductor: Marek Janowski

    54. Act III Scene 3: Fliegt heim, ihr Raben! (Brünnhilde)

      Composer: Richard Wagner

      Ensemble: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

      Performer: Petra Lang

      Conductor: Marek Janowski




WAGNER Götterdämmerung • Marek Janowski, cond; Lance Ryan ( Siegfried ); Petra Lang ( Brünnhilde ); Matti Salminen ( Hagen ); Markus Brück ( Gunther ); Edith Haller ( Gutrune ); Jochen Schmeckenbecher ( Alberich ); Marina Prudenskaya ( Waltraute ); Julia Borchert ( Woglinde ); Katherine Kammerloher ( Wellgunde ); Kismara Pessatti ( Flosshilde ); Susanne Resmark ( First Norn ); Christa Mayer ( Second Norn ); Jacquelyn Wagner ( Third Norn ); Berlin R Ch & SO • PENTATONE 5186 409 (4 SACDs: 243:42 Text and Translation) Live: Berlin 3/15/2013


In the fall of 2010, PentaTone announced plans to release new concert recordings of Wagner’s 10 mature operas—all with the same conductor, orchestra, and chorus plus top Wagnerian singers—by the end of the composer’s 200th birthday year. A given was that, as with all PentaTone releases, these would be hybrid multichannel SACDs featuring the best possible sound that the Polyhymnia engineering team could muster. Well, they did it. My copy of Götterdämmerung , recorded in May of last year, arrived on my doorstep on December 11, 2013. Almost three weeks to spare. It’s a successful conclusion to an ambitious undertaking, even if a couple of key singers here were not in top form.


Marek Janowski, as usual, favors brisk tempos. He brings in this Götterdämmerung in about 4:04:00; a quick check of five other audio-only versions of the work, of various vintages, revealed a range of 4: 17:00 (Keilberth, 1955) to 4:34:00 (Thielemann, 2010). Sometimes, this penchant for speed is quite evident, as with a third act Funeral March that’s something other than a dirge. Mostly, Janowski’s tempo choices translate into an increased sense of dramatic urgency rather than seeming rushed or perfunctory.


As signaled above, two key performers were not at the top of their game. Lance Ryan sang Siegfried for Zubin Mehta in the Valencia Ring —my favored video version—and, as I noted there, while no Melchior, he gave a dramatically effective account of the misguided hero. Here, his voice seems closed-in, pinched, sometimes even a little nasal in character—though his softer singing, as when he remembers his history to Hagen’s men right before he’s murdered, is better. Petra Lang is a top-tier Wagnerian who always brings intelligence and strong sense of character to her portrayals. Best here is her scene with Waltraute (capably sung by Marina Prudenskaya) where she begins with the same aura of radiant happiness she manifested when she waved goodbye to Siegfried in the Prologue—and then evolves into defiant fury. Lang’s Brünnhilde is set up perfectly for the gigantic disappointment in the form of Siegfried-as-Gunther who is the next visitor to her rock. “Verrat!”—“Betrayed!”—she cries out, and really sounds like she means it. In the last act, though, Lang’s vocal instrument does show some wear in more demanding passages: The voice is a little rough on top with some imperfect intonation. Violeta Urmana was the Brünnhilde for PentaTone’s Siegfried and she’s more technically secure—but, of course, the role in Götterdämmerung makes very different and more extreme demands on a vocalist than does the earlier drama.


But then there’s Hagen. Give me a choice between a grade B-plus Brünnhilde/Siegfried combination with a grade B Hagen, and a B-minus Brünnhilde/Siegfried with an A Hagen, and I’ll take the latter deal every time. And Matti Salminen is an A-plus Hagen: As Peter Rabinowitz noted in a review of the Valencia Ring in Fanfare 34:2, “he virtually owns the part these days.” Salminen’s act I monolog “Hier Stiz’ ich zur Wacht” is darkly horrifying, dripping with contempt not just for Siegfried but for the rest of humanity as well. Janowski backs him up with tritone-laden brass declamations of crushing power.


Markus Brück and Edith Haller capably sing Gunther and Gutrune. At least vocally, there’s no obvious attempt to make the former into a puffed-up fop and the latter into a floozy, as is so often the case in staged productions. They are there to function mechanistically in the scheme Alberich and Hagen have devised to recover the ring and there’s really no need to vilify them further. The trios of Norns and Rhine Maidens are dramatically and musically effective as well.


The choral work in act II is thrilling—and the recording lets you hear everything. Orchestral sonorities are wonderfully warm and richly textured: Listen to the blend of the eight horns in the music between scenes 1 and 2 of the second act (after Alberich and Hagen’s exchange), or to the glowing majesty of the work’s closing pages. The packaging is in the same luxuriant mode as the preceding nine releases: PentaTone provides a 320-page bound booklet that holds the four hybrid multichannel SACDs as well as a German/English libretto, another lengthy essay from Steffen Georgi, and plenty of information on the cast. By the way, I did it. I managed to hang onto the vouchers that came with the nine earlier releases in the series, so I’m entitled to a “special CD collection box.”


As the final D? chord so handsomely recorded by the Polyhymnia engineering team fades away, one is left marveling at the achievement of Marek Janowski and the many top-notch singers who joined him for PentaTone’s project. But mostly, one is left in awe at the remarkable staying power of the music penned by one Wilhelm Richard Wagner.


FANFARE: Andrew Quint