Wagner: Magic Fire Music

1. Tannhäuser, opera, WWV 70 Arrival of the Guests at Wartburg
Composed by Richard Wagner
Performed by Budapest Symphony Orchestra Conducted by Gyorgy Lehel

2. Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b Ride of the Valkyries
Composed by Richard Wagner
Performed by Budapest Symphony Orchestra Conducted by Gyorgy Lehel

3. Die Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods), opera, WWV 86d Siegfried's Rhine Journey
Composed by Richard Wagner
Performed by Vienna Symphony Orchestra Conducted by Yuri Akhronovich

4. Die Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods), opera, WWV 86d Siegfried's Death and Funeral March
Composed by Richard Wagner
Performed by Sofia Radio Symphony Orchestra Conducted by Vassil Kozandjiew

5. Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b Magic Fire Music
Composed by Richard Wagner
Performed by Budapest Symphony Orchestra Conducted by Gyorgy Lehel

6. Das Rheingold (The Rhine Gold), opera, WWV 86a Entrance of the Gods in Valhalla
Composed by Richard Wagner
Performed by Sofia Radio Symphony Orchestra Conducted by Vassil Kozandjiew

7. Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, opera, WWV 96 Prelude Act 3
Composed by Richard Wagner
Performed by Sofia Radio Symphony Orchestra Conducted by Vassil Kozandjiew

8. Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, opera, WWV 96 Procession of the Masters
Composed by Richard Wagner
Performed by Sofia Radio Symphony Orchestra Conducted by Vassil Kozandjiew

9. Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, opera, WWV 96 Dance of the Prentices
Composed by Richard Wagner
Performed by Sofia Radio Symphony Orchestra Conducted by Vassil Kozandjiew

10. Lohengrin, opera, WWV 75 Prelude Act 3
Composed by Richard Wagner
Performed by Budapest Symphony Orchestra Conducted by Gyorgy Lehel

Wagner: Magic Fire Music,Richard Wagner,György Lehel,Vassil Kozandjiew,Yuri Akhronovich,Budapest Symphony Orchestra,Sofia Radio Symphony Orchestra,Wiener Symphoniker,Delta,Classical,Classical Music,German/Austrian Romantic Opera,Miscellaneous Music,Opera,Orchestral & Symphonic

Average customer rating: An excellent classical CD A hidden diamond Wagner's Grandeur Ormandy is underrated! Excellent Recordings

The Best Of Wagner Manufacturer: RCA ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Wagner | Wagner, Richard | ( W ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music CDs Under $7 | Classical General | Classical | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music All Bargain Titles | Classical General | Classical | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music 4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music 4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music Classical Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Opera & Vocal | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: Twilight of the Gods: The Essential Wagner Collection Wagner: Overtures & Preludes Wagner: Overture & Preludes Wagner without Words Wagner: Tristan und Isolde/Parsifal/Die Meistersinger Von Nürnberg/Lohengrin/Tannhäuser ASIN: B000003F4J Release Date: 1991-06-06

Tracks:

1. Die Meistersinger: Prelude
2. Die Walkure: Ride Of The Valkyries
3. Lohengrin: Bridal Chorus
4. Siegfried: Forest Murmurs
5. Gotterdammerung: Dawn & Siegfried's Rhine Journey
6. Die Walkure: Magic Fire Music
7. Tristan und Isolde: Liebestod

Customer Reviews:

An excellent classical CD.......2007-01-28

Richard Wagner rightly deserves his high reputation as a classical musician. Like many people, I don't care for Wagner's racial or religious views, but don't let that stop you from enjoying his music. The CD starts off with my favorites the Prelude from Die Meistersinger & Ride of the Valkyries from Die Walkure, followed by a fascinating rendition of the Bridal Chorus (a.k.a. "Here Comes the Bride") from Lohengrin. I won't recite the rest of the list, but there are 4 other compositions, all somewhat varied in style, but very good. Whether you are classical music buff or simply want an introduction to classical music this CD is a good place to start.

A hidden diamond.......2001-10-03

This unassuming budget classic reissue is among the finest of its genre: The Wagner orchestral highlight album, and features the contents of 1973 LP recital the farthest thing from run-of-the-mill, spaciously recorded with the palpable feeling of the presence of the musicians, not merely an amorphously gorgeous orchestral sonority. The music unfolds without self-indulgent pointing, in a free-wheeling manner that is simply right.

The original Ormandy program is supplemented with a track by Robert Shaw doing a luscious rendering of the famous Bridal Chorus from with his divine women's chorus, a version as good or better than any ever anthologized or appearing in complete opera recordings, its 1959 atmospherically recorded sound barely showing its age.

My only caveat is that this stuff really merited more respectful packaging than this ersatz "Best of" series, but at the price, who should complain?

Wagner's Grandeur.......2001-08-24

Wagner was a great composer. His music and use of orchestra are grand and masterful. I am repulsed by his political views, but as an artist he was a genius. This compilation of Wagner is probably the best there is. I listen to it from time to time. The breadth of the orchestral palette, the elevation, and grandeur have been imitated but never duplicated.

Ormandy is underrated!.......2001-02-08

I did a test by listening to Szell, Klemperer, Karajan, Kubelik, Bohm, Jochum, Gerdes, Ozawa, Stokowski, and Ormandy play Wagner overtures and excerpts from "The Ring". My verdict: it's Ormandy. What can I say? I feel as is he's underrated, especially in the annals of Wagner worship. I like Stokowski's energy, but he plays around with scores (horrors!) too much. The Szell was great, but a tad limp. Other conductors have their high points, but Ormandy ranks consistently at the top. His conducting is full and rich and the orchestra always sounds great. I ranked the Szell orchestral music from Wagner at 5 stars, so Ormandy rates 6 stars.

Excellent Recordings.......2000-11-08

The selections performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra under Ormandy are excellent. One of the best. Highly Recommended.

Average customer rating: Great Cover Szell's Magical And Terrific Wagner Album Fabulous Wagner! Szell has not fallen! Precise, clinical performances in dated sound

Wagner without Words Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Wagner | Wagner, Richard | ( W ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music CDs $7 - $10 | Classical General | Classical | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music All Bargain Titles | Classical General | Classical | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music CDs $7 - $10 | Operas | Opera & Vocal | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music All Bargain Titles | Operas | Opera & Vocal | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music $6.99 and Under | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music All Classical Music Blowout | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Wagner, Richard | ( W ) | Composers, A-Z | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Opera & Vocal | Classical Music Blowout | Stores | Music Classical Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Opera & Vocal | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: Wagner: The "Ring" Without Words Twilight of the Gods: The Essential Wagner Collection Rossini: Overtures Verdi without Words: Grand Opera for Orchestra Opera without Words ASIN: B000002763 Release Date: 1991-07-01

Tracks:

1. Das Rheingold: Entrance Of The Gods Into Valhalla
2. Die Walkure: Ride Of The Valkyries
3. Die Walkure: Magic Fire Music
4. Siegfried: Forest Murmurs
5. Gotterdammerung: Dawn - Seigfried's Rhine Journey
6. Gotterdammerung: Siegfried's Funeral Music - Final Scene
7. Tristan And Isolde: Prelude - Love-Death
8. Die Meistersinger: Prelude To Act I

Customer Reviews:

Great Cover.......2007-06-06

This same album has had at least 2 identical incarnations except for the cover art. So if you have bought some of his Wagner orchestral suites before, beware and be aware! You just may be making a redundant purchase. This version has by far the best cover artwork.

I have several of Wagner's Orchestral suites lps (Szell, Stokowski, Klemperer, Ormandy, Karajan) They all sound just peachy, so do not ask me to choose based on the music. I like the Stokowski best merely because it is on the great sounding Phase 4 label plus it has art work similar to this Szell cd and it has substantial liner notes. But as far as the music goes, a pair of Klemperers/Szells will just about beat any hand.

If you are new to Wagner, this is a wonderful intro. Then you can rent some of his music drama operas thru Netflix and take advantage of the best thing since sliced bread, English subtitles.

If you are looking for the Wagner symphony section at Amazon, there aint any! These orchestral suites are as close as you will get. Look instead to his disciples, Bruckner for symphonies and Richard Strauss for symphonic poems.

Szell's Magical And Terrific Wagner Album.......2007-05-21

This was Cleveland's most prominent condutor, the late George Szell's only Wagner album. True, he was at home conducting the music of Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, Dvorak and all the brand-name, top classical music, but he was, at the same time, a gifted interpreter of Wagner. While Szell's name is not mentioned in the same sentence as Herbert Von Karajan nor was he a conductor of opera, this album showcases the skill and artistry he achieved while conducting the score to Wagner's most important operas - The Ring of the Nibelungen and Tristan and Isolde. The Cleveland Orchestra is at the height of its powers and the music you will hear on this album overflows with passion, dignity, grandeur and beauty, all the elements that Wagner's larger-than-life operas are made of. The first track is the Entrance Of The Gods Into Valhalla, the final scene in Das Rhinegold, the first of the four Ring operas. Pity this album does not begin with the beautifully mysterious and spiritual Rhinegold Overture, which would have been more appropriate, as the music segues into the Entrance of the Gods. But even as it is, it's wonderful. The music describes the vainglorious Odin, his wife Freya and the other Norse gods ascending into the glittering golden palace of Valhalla, pride and downfall of the gods. The music is bombastic and grand, just like one hears it at the opera, a melage of trumpets and brass. But the music is also composed of melancholy strings (violins) describing the lament of the Rhinemaidens, bemoaning the loss of the Ring and foreshadowing the coming tragedy. Track 2: Ride Of The Valkyries: This famous war march has been heard in films (such as Apocalypse Now) and occurs toward the end of "Die Walkure". It's a militaristic, noisy, ebullient battle cry. In the opera, Brunhilde, Odin's immortal daughter, has rebelled against him and takes to the air on winged horses with her fellow Valkyries. This interpretation is quite different than others you'll hear because Szell discovered an additional bit of music that Wagner intended to be played but for the most part is not heard. If you're quick, you'll catch it. It's a repetition of the battle cry "Hojo-to-ho" on the trumpet, occuring toward the last portion of the piece. 3: Magic Fire Music: This "magical" music, mostly for strings, serves as the score to the final scene in "Die Walkure" in which Odin has cast a sleeping spell on Brunhilde and puts her in the middle of a ring of fire, where she will await the kiss of the hero Siegfried. The tristesse of the piece represents a father's grief for the loss of his most belove daughter. Track 4 and 5 Forest Murmurs and Siegfried's Journey: This music is taken from various moments in the opera "Siegfried" which relates the hero's adventures. He awakens the sleeping Brunhilde who has become mortal, slays the fearsome dragon Fafnir and wields as magical sword. The Forest Murmurs takes place in the immense forest where Brunhilde lies sleeping. Endowed with the gift of communicatin with nature, a bird tells Siegfried where he can find Brunhilde. If one does not overanalyze the music, merely strings and flutes, one can clearly feel the word-painting and characterization in the piece. The flute is the bird or birds and the forest itself, the more powerful chords represent Siegfried and the brief "Valkyrie" motif stands for Brunhilde. In "Rhine Journey" we hear the strings become the flowing river and we can see Siegfried journeying to a dangerous adventure, one which costs the hero's life. In "Siegfried's Funeral March" Siegfried has been betrayed and is slain by the Giants. The funeral music is dark, primal and powerful in its depiction of nobility and downfall. As it ends, we hear Brunhilde's love theme which then appropriately takes us to the Immolation Scene. Brunhilde, distraught over the death of her beloved, summons her horse and leaps over Siegfrie'ds burning funeral pyre, a grand act of love and sacrifice, the first hint of humanity and compassion in otherwise dark drama filled with greedy and wicked characters. This leads to Valhalla's demise by fire and water and the world ends. Only the Rhinemaidens remain, taking back the ring which had long been stolen from them. Though these are only portions of music from the supremely lengthy score, it is enough to entice the listener to seeing the Ring, the biggest feast of opera one can ever undertake. The Overture to Tristan and Isolde summarizes the work itself. It's a high romantic tragedy concerning the knight Tristan, the King he serves and Isolde the Queen, whom he falls in love with. Their love is doomed but the magic and transient bliss is perfectly captured in the luminescent Overture, which begins softly and mysteriously with the "Tristan Chord" and culminates with a ravishing rush of strings. The Liebestod, the Love Death, is Isolde's swan song, as she dies of love for the fallen knight. Szell does not play this too fast or too slow. It's done right, and it's heartbreaking, ethereal and magnificent, perhaps even at the level of Karajan's famous interpretations of it. The final track is the grand overture to Die Mastersanger Von Nuremberg, a lengthy paean to Mediveal chivalry, all grandeur and pomp.

Five Stars Well Deserved. Make this your first intro to Wagner. The music will seduce you into watching Wagner operas. Dreamy, romantic, grand, sad, larger than life, Szell has captured the essence of Wagner in a single album. Buy it now. It's cheap and affordable. It's highly recommended. Enjoy.

Fabulous Wagner!.......2006-10-07

This is certainly very good music-making, falling just a little short in the colors department - for which the Berlin under Karajan or the Philadelphia under Ormandy are the ticket. But that aside it's difficult to accept all this Szell bashing. People still listen to the Cleveland recording of the Dvorak Slavonic Dances and will for years to come. And unless you have to have original instruments it's tough to beat Szell and the Cleveland orchestra's brio and attention to detail in Mozart and Haydn.
Of course some of this carping may be the result of a little bit too much self-esteem and not enough appreciation for just what it takes to lead an orchestra at such a level. I remember in college I happened to be at a small gathering of literary people including a few novelists and poets and one critic,the august Edmund Wilson. Not knowing any better I walked right up to a stern-looking older man looking every bit the serious 'Dean of American Critics' and blurted out how much fun I had reading his story "The Man who Shot Snapping Turtles." Apparently this gushing adolescent accolade softened him a bit, and he talked with me for a couple of minutes. The last question I asked him was what did he consider the most important thing in writing criticism. Mr. Wilson blurted out bluntly, "Get it right!"
Over the years I have always thought there was a world of truth in that rather journalistic maxim. The reviews here are a perfect example. One could write and gush about this and that, but at the end of the day it doesn't matter how many names you drop, or airs you put on, if you cannot recognize quality you're no better than the crook in Gatsby whose idea of a small town where one could safely pass counterfeit bonds over the counter was Detroit.
In the Great Gatsby the crook passing false currency for real is picked up by the police. Unfortunately Amazon readers are easily mislead by glowing praise or, in the case of some of the reviews of the Wagner here, cold dislike. People react to harsh words, and especially when they are well written and sound based on experience. Let me assure you - no one is always right, and there are some people who, for whatever reason, have skewered taste.
The Szell Cleveland Wagner CD here is a series of showpieces, played very very well by the Cleveland orchestra. What sets this apart from many Wagner collections is the astonishing orchestra playing. Szell's orchestra, supreme in Dvorak, brings to Wagner's music a clarity rarely achieved by other orchestras. Superbly balanced, the virtousity of the players is on full display. It's a joy to actually hear all the myriad instrumental sounds in Wagner's score - Wagner played in tune, what a shocking concept. And particularly Wagner devoid of bathos! Tovey used to cite Wagner as perhaps the best of all orchestrators; here we have the Cleveland at the pinnacle of their glory days, a wonderful momento. Writing nasty dismissive words about performances of this caliber says more about the reviewers than it does about the recording.
This has been remastered for SACD and if you have a machine that will play SACDs then that is the one to purchase.

Szell has not fallen!.......2006-01-14

I quote from a previous review: "Perhaps no eminent conductor has fallen so far after his death as George Szell". To this comment, I say "Baloney". One great thing about Amazon is their sale of deleted CDs by independent sellers. When George Szell/Cleveland Orchestra CDs suddenly disappear, their price by the independent sellers skyrockets. As for the present CD, I have bought it on LP, cassette and CD and cherished it for years. The playing is sensational, the performances have plenty of passion and the sound is great. The Die Meistersinger and Tristan excerpts were recorded earlier than the Ring and have a little more spontanaiety but the Ring excerpts are also outstanding.

Precise, clinical performances in dated sound.......2005-10-29

Perhaps no eminent conductor has fallen so far after his death as George Szell. He was treated with enormous respect during his long tenure with the Cleveland Orchestra, and he couldn't appear in Carnegie Hall without getting raves from the New York critics (his reviews were much better than Bernstein's). On the evidence of this cold, unfeeling CD of Wagner excerpts, mostly from the Ring, one wonders why. Every excerpt is treated to the same strict, unyielding approach; there is no rubato or romanticism. In addition the sound is thin and full of hiss (Szell's LPs on Epic were infamous for their bad sound, and Sony hasn't bothered to improve things on their digitual reissue.)

I will remember Szell fondly from my formative years in the Sixties, but he has become a dead letter in the intervening decades.

Average customer rating: Good starter collection of Wagner This is the better of the two Wagner Greatest Hits CDs

Wagner: Greatest Hits Manufacturer: RCA ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Wagner | Wagner, Richard | ( W ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music CDs $7 - $10 | Classical General | Classical | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music All Bargain Titles | Classical General | Classical | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music 4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music 4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music Classical Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Opera & Vocal | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: Tchaikovsky: Greatest Hits Mozart: Greatest Hits Bach: Greatest Hits Beethoven: Greatest Hits Vivaldi Greatest Hits ASIN: B000003F6C Release Date: 1991-09-06

Tracks:

1. Die Meistersinger: Prelude To Act One
2. Lohengrin: Bridal Chorus
3. Siegfried: Forest Murmurs
4. Grderung: Dawn And Siegfried's Rhine Journey
5. Die Walkagic Fire Music
6. Trstan And Isolde: Liebestod
7. Tannher: March
8. Lohengrin: Prelude To Act III
9. Tannher: Pilgrim's Chorus
10. Die Walkide Of The Valkyries

Customer Reviews:

Good starter collection of Wagner.......2006-10-02

This selection of Wagner's "Greatest Hits" is a great CD, with a good selection, overall, or Wagner's most representative work, and very good sound quality. The recordings are all by famous orchestras and conductors--including Eugene Ormandy, Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops--and the sound is terrific. Listen to this CD on a good stereo.

The tracks themselves represent some of Wagner's best work. "Chor der Pilger" from the opera Tannhäuser is sung in an English translation, but this doesn't detract from the power of the music itself. Of course, there are the requisite tracks of "Siegfrieds Rheinreise" and the "Walkürenritt," or "Ride of the Valkyries;" both of which are very good, and having both on the same CD is nice.

Highly recommended for anyone who likes Wagner or classical music in general. Again: listen to this on a good sound system.

This is the better of the two Wagner Greatest Hits CDs.......2001-08-08

It is certainly hard to appreciate Richard Wagner's musical genius through a Greatest Hits collection since his greatest strength was in achieving a heightened dramatic and musical unity in his operas through the use of leitmotifs, i.e., themes that presents the different characters and moods of the musical drama. So if you truly want to appreciate Wagner, you want to listen to Tannhauser or make your way through the entire Ring Cycle. Still, this CD offers you a decent introduction to Wagner's music offering up the "Bridal Chorus" from Lohengrin and "The Ride of the Valkyries" from Die Walkure. Furthermore, of the two Wagner Greatest Hit collections this is the superior one because it includes the "Pilgrim's Chorus" from Tannhauser, which may be the second most famous piece by Wagner after the Bridal Chorus because of a certain Bugs Bunny/Elmer Fudd cartoon. These things are important.

Average customer rating: An off day for a great conductor Minor League Wagner A Bargain Introduction to Wagner for Friends who Think They Don't Like Wagner! Wagner, Tennstedt, "Tannhauser", And "The Ring" Fairly decent, but lacking greatness.

Wagner: Orchestral Music from 'The Ring' Manufacturer: EMI Classics ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Wagner | Wagner, Richard | ( W ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra | ( B ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music 4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music 4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music 4-for-3 Opera & Vocal | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music ASIN: B00005NPK2 Release Date: 2002-08-13

Tracks:

1. Overture
2. Die Walkure: Ride Of The Valkyries
3. Gotterdammerung: Dawn & Siegfried's Rhine Journey
4. Gotterdammerung: Siegfried's Death & Funeral Music
5. Das Rheingold: Entry Of The Gods Into Valhalla
6. Siegfried: Forest Murmurs
7. Die Walkure: Wotan's Farewell & Magic Fire Music

Customer Reviews:

An off day for a great conductor.......2006-08-29

Klaus Tennstedt was famously insecure and erratic, a condcutor who could be incandescent in live performance but who could badly disappoint on CD--luckily, not very often. He had two outings with the Berlin Phil. in Wagner, but this is the inferior one. The brass section blats, the timpani crashes, the tempos waver, and there's a lack of depth in almost every excerpt.

Foortunately, Tennstedt made a second Wagner CD of overtures and preludes with the same orchestra that's much better. If you like everything he does, however, EMI has packaged both recordings in a bargain two-fer, now out of print but easily found on the used market.

Minor League Wagner.......2006-08-20

Despite having both superstar conductor and orchestra, this CD simply fails to excite. The performances are bland and the orchestral playing flat as a pancake. This reissue was made simply to make a few bucks for EMI. I can guarantee you will never see it in EMI's "Great Recordings" series. A good price but you can do so much better for the same money. The Szell recording is a perfect example.

A Bargain Introduction to Wagner for Friends who Think They Don't Like Wagner!.......2006-07-22

Klaus Tennstedt and the Berlin Philharmonic make a powerful team in this recording dating back to the 1980s. Yes, the re-mastering is evident on excellent equipment, but that is a small compromise for this extremely affordable and well-performed series of excerpts.

Though there are many 'mini-Rings' for orchestra available (and many of those pack more dramatic, stage-like energy than does this one), this CD serves as a terrific introduction for friends who think they don't like Wagner's big music. Oddly, despite the title of the recording, Wagner: Orchestral Music from 'The Ring', the most successful reading is the Tannhauser Overture which under Tennstedt's baton draws truly eloquent playing from the orchestra. It seems an odd opening for a CD focusing on the Ring of the Niebelungen cycle, but it is a moving performance.

Tennstedt's overall concept of Wagner's Ring is sound, solid, and gives amazing attention to details. The excerpts he has elected to include are not plyed chronologically and for some experienced Wagnerites that decision may feel disturbing. He opens with Die Walkure's 'Ride of the Valkyries', progresses to
Die Gotterdammerung's 'Dawn & Siegfried's Rhine Journey' followed by 'Siegfried's Death & Funeral Music', and then comes the usual beginning of Das Rheingold's 'Entry of the Gods into Valhalla'. 'Forest Murmurs' from Siegfried receives an especially poignant reading and the excerpts close with 'Wotan's Farewell and the Fire Music' from Die Walkure. The 'suite' may seem odd at first hearing, but Tennstedt makes it work.

For those who prefer the Solti approach, this recording may sound a bit cerebral, but finding any new insights to Wagner's masterpiece is always a joy. And for the price this CD is a perfect introduction gift! Grady Harp, July 06

Wagner, Tennstedt, "Tannhauser", And "The Ring".......2004-11-27

Denied the opportunity of taking over the Berlin Philharmonic at the end of the 1980s from Karajan because of poor health, the late Klaus Tennstedt nevertheless made a number of fine recordings with this world powerhouse during the decade, including the orchestral music from the operas of Richard Wagner.

This EMI "Encore" re-release of recordings Tennstedt and the Berlin Philharmonic made in the early 1980s focuses primarily on six orchestra excerpts from Wagner's immortal "Ring" cycle, and the overture to the composer's 1845 breakthrough opera "Tannhauser." Not surprisingly, given the Berliners' familiarity with Wagner under Karajan and Furtwangler, they perform the "Ring" excerpts, particularly the explosive "Ride Of The Valkyries" (which had its popularity with audiences boosted by its use in Coppola's APOCALYPSE NOW), with incredible power under Tennstedt's direction.

Equally remarkable, however, is how they and Tennstedt also handle the "Tannhauser" overture, certainly one of Wagner's most touching and popular single orchestral pieces, with the "Pilgrims Chorus" music from the opera bookending it. This ability to be romantic and restrained is also reflected in the Magic Fire Music from "Die Walkure" that concludes this recording. This is a remarkable introduction to the music of one of the most (if not THE most) provocative and controversial composers of classical music that ever lived.

Fairly decent, but lacking greatness........2004-05-27

Tennstedt's Wagner has some nicely detailed and impressive moments, though overall, I don't find myself carried away or terribly satisfied by his interpretations. There happens to be another conductor whose orchestral Wagner (not complete operas) I cut my classical teeth on, and who to this day still stands for me as a giant when it comes to revealing this music in all its glory---Otto Klemperer, whom Tennstedt cannot quite match in terms of commanding strength and grandeur. Even in many of his quieter passages, Klemperer conveys a vision of epic breadth. As climaxes build and pinnacle, there is a sweeping presence, a sense of immense power and weight. This, I feel, is the kind of music that absolutely needs Klemperer's more massive and majestic approach. His performances of various works by Wagner with the great Philharmonia Orchestra are readily available.

Average customer rating: Conversion Not to be missed Greatly improved sound, excellent performances Szell and Karajan were freinds!!! A classic Szell recording beautifully restored

Great Orchestral Highlights from The Ring of the Nibelungs / Szell, Cleveland Orchestra (SACD) Wagner , Cleveland Orchestra , and George Szell Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Wagner | Wagner, Richard | ( W ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Cleveland Orchestra | ( C ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Classical Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Opera & Vocal | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: Dvorák: The Slavonic Dances [SACD] Dvorak Symphony No. 7 & Carnival Overture & Smetana Die Moldau / Szell, Cleveland Orchestra (SACD) Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 39 & 40; Exsultate, Jubilate [SACD] Bach: The Four Great Toccatas and Fugues [SACD] Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition, A Night on Bald Mountain, and Other Russian Showpieces [Hybrid SACD] ASIN: B000044U19 Release Date: 2000-01-11

Customer Reviews:

Conversion .......2005-03-07

This is a very good recording of these works - all from Wagner's Nibelungen operas. Prior to purchasing this SACD, I did not totally agree with Szell's approach to Wagner. His approach, I thought, was too clear, too lacking on the bass line, and the accoustic at Severance Hall didn't help much. This SACD clarifies Szell in a very favorable way. Severance Hall doesn't sound nearly as bad of a place to record as I previously thought (though it's still debatable whether Szell's modifications to the hall in the late 50's were an improvement...) and the listener hears a much more balanced orchestral sonority, one which is without any congestion, clear as a bell, so to speak.

The performances themselves are top-flight - no question, by the late 1960's, the Cleveland Orchestra was the best orchestra in the U.S., outgunning everyone else. Szell lets the music speak for itself - no indulging in one's own self-centered interpretations here. Tempi are as specified and there are no orchestral rearrangements as there were in his Schumann recordings.

Now, if only Sony would release the rest of Szell's Wagner recordings on SACD, I'd be really happy to buy it.

Not to be missed.......2004-12-02

Hard to believe that these old Columbia/Epic LPs had this kind of sound in them. The sound stage is deep and wide and the string sound truly analogue. I find some of the ring excerpts not particularly to my liking musically, but the Tristan Prelude? A great recording by any measure. I was mesmerized by Szell's performance and have listened many, many times. SACD is so phenomenal. No ear fatigue and musically so involving. I haven't enjoyed listening so much since my LP days. This is the full measure of digital sound.

Greatly improved sound, excellent performances.......2004-09-17

I have been comparing this (non-hybrid, stereo-only) Sony SACD with the old Sony/CBS CD set - the 2 discs Maestro series from 1990, I've never heard a more recent Essential Classics CD incarnation coupled with some Ormandy Wagner. I suspect that was the same remastering.

The SACD replicates the second CD from that set (Ring excerpts plus the Tristan Prelude and Liebestod) and adds the Meistersinger Prelude, giving a total timing of 76'47.

I compared the tracks I know very well: the two Gotterdammerung excerpts. Unlike the other Szell SACD I have compared (Schumann Symphonies No 2 & 4, where the difference was discernible but slight), here the new disc sounds clearly different, and I think better.

On CD I always felt it was perhaps the slight aural 'edge' and hint of constriction that made these performances so thrilling (even though the sounds was rather flat in terms of front to back perspective), but this SACD removes that acerbity to some extent, to advantage I feel. There is much more depth to the sound and it is richer - and the orchestra sounds closer (perhaps even a tad smaller?) with greater detail. Strings sound more in focus. Maybe some of the ambience has changed, but perhaps this more realistically conveys the true acoustic of Severance Hall. Hearing the brief fanfare at 5'13ff in the Rhine Journey, here it is more rounded and realistic.

Tape hiss is absent from the SACD. In the Funeral March the advantage is clearer: the detail is much finer (the timpani strokes sound clearly at 2'55ff, whereas on CD they were blurred and the lighter ones inaudible).

For Wagnerians and Szell fans I think this SACD is worth getting as a supplement to the normal CD - I will of course retain the CDs as the SACD cannot be played elsewhere like the car changer.

Szell and Karajan were freinds!!!.......2004-06-07

In a recent bio on Karajan I was surprised to read the two were very good freinds and shared a alot in common. They also had similar approaches to orchestral sonority...

Suprisingly enough the approach to the Wagner here is very alike Herbert in some regards...I like the way Szell approaches the music in a more intense approach.

Karajan did get to do the Ring...but alas we may get to hear Szell with the Met from the 40s which some believe does exist in archive. As to the playing this is the finest Wagner record of exerpts out there.

It surpasses Herbert's any day!!!

The wonderful thing is how Cleveland is so transparent in it's textures...not as unlike Klemperer as one would think!!!

A classic Szell recording beautifully restored.......2002-01-25

There is very little to add to the excellent preceding review on this recording. I would just add an observation that the DSD transfer onto SACD brings a far greater level of realism and transparency as compared to the original LP or any subsequent CD transfer. We get as close as we likely ever will to hearing Szell's original intentions in the studio, which were obscured by Columbia's notoriously poor transfers of the original reel-to-reel master tape onto LP. In those days Columbia would artificially boost the mid-range on a recording to make it sound better on mediocre equipment -- not exactly an audiophile technique! This DSD transfer, by contrast, is untampered electronically, not even by noise reduction, which is also notorious for robbing analogue recordings from this vintage of their ambience and warmth. The result is a small amount of tape hiss, which I will gladly accept to be given the chance to hear what Szell and his fabulous Clevelanders actually recorded.

Average customer rating: Which Hofmann? Not to be missed Good for collectors, but not for samplers Dynamo of the Piano An interesting listening study

Josef Hofmann Manufacturer: Philips ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Polonaises | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music Waltzes | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music Nonets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Beethoven | Beethoven, Ludwig van | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Chopin | Chopin, Frédéric | ( C ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Gluck | Gluck, Christoph W. | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Grieg, Edvard | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Liszt | Liszt, Franz | ( L ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Rubinstein | Rubinstein, Anton | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Rachmaninov | Rachmaninov, Sergei | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Domenico Scarlatti | Scarlatti, Domenico | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Schubert | Schubert, Franz | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Robert Schumann | Schumann, Robert | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Wagner | Wagner, Richard | ( W ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Mendelssohn | Mendelssohn, Felix | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Etudes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Fantasies | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Preludes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Rondos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Character Pieces | Short Forms | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Nocturnes | Short Forms | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Sonatinas | Sonatas | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Incidental Music | Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music Scherzo | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music | Cantatas | Romances General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music | Forms & Genres | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Lullabies & Berceuse | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Caprices | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music | Cantatas | Romances Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Similar Items: Andrei Gavrilov Claudio Arrau 3 (III) (Great Pianists of the Century series) - Chopin / Debussy / Granados / Liszt / Mozart / Schubert (2 CDs) Rudolf Serkin Benno Moiseiwitsch Samson François ASIN: B00001X5AD Release Date: 1999-10-26

Tracks:

1. D. 733: Marche militaire No. 1 In D
2. Erlkong
3. Lieder ohne Worte, Op. 19: 'Hunting Song'
4. Lieder ohne Worte, Op. 62: 'Spring Song'
5. Polonaise in A, Op. 40 No. 1 'Military'
6. Valse - Caprice In E flat
7. Fantasiestucke, Op. 12 No. 3: Warum?
8. Liebestraum No. 3 In A flat
9. Etude No. 3 In C Minor, Op. 120
10. The Sanctuary
11. Lyric Pieces, Op. 43: Butterfly
12. Lieder ohne Worte, Op. 67: The Bee's Wedding
13. Capriccio espagnole, Op. 37 (Abridged)
14. Minuet celebre In G, Op. 14 No. 1
15. 'Annees de pelerinage': Tarantella
16. Waltz In E Minor, Op. Posth.
17. Waltz In A Flat, Op. 34 No. 1 'Valse brillante'
18. Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 14 (Abridged)
19. La jongleuse, Op. 52 No. 4

Tracks:

1. Fantasie - Impromptu In C Sharp Minor, Op. 66
2. 6 Chants polonais de F. Chopin: The Maiden's Wish
3. Berceuse In D Flat, Op. 57
4. Valse gracile
5. Birds At Dawn, Op. 20 No. 2
6. Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 In C Sharp Minor
7. Etude de concert No. 1 : Waldesrauschen
8. Paride ed Elena: Gavotte In A
9. Polonaise No. 3 In A Op. 40 No. 1 'Military'
10. Pastorale e capriccio
11. Mignonettes: Nocturne
12. Waltz In C Sharp Minor, Op. 64 No. 2
13. Nocturne In F Sharp, Op. 15 No. 2
14. Prelude In C Sharp Minor, Op. 3 No. 2
15. Prelude In G Minor, Op. 23 No. 5
16. Melody In F, Op. 3 No. 1
17. Scherzo In B Minor, Op. 20 (Abridged)
18. Die Walkure: Magic Fire Music
19. 6 Chants polonais de F. Chopin: My Darling
20. 'Die Ruinen von Athen': Turkish March

Amazon.com

Before he became the brilliant and charismatic virtuoso to whom Rachmaninov dedicated his Third Piano Concerto, Joseph Hofmann was a child prodigy. He was also the first pianist ever to make a record: in 1888, at age 12, he sat on Thomas Edison's lap and played into a prototype of the cylinder machine. That was a year after his New York debut at the old Metropolitan Opera house had caused general amazement among the public and the critics, but had also brought the wrath of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children upon the heads of his promoters. A wealthy New Yorker put up $50,000 (the equivalent of at least half a million today) to see that young Hofmann was educated rather than exploited; he was sent off to study with Anton Rubinstein in Dresden, and made his adult debut in the U.S. at the acceptable age of 22. By then, he was a finished pianist, capable of producing cascades of notes with his small hands (Steinway built a grand with slightly narrower keys just for him) as well as extraordinary effects of color and delicacy. His virtuosity was all the more hair-raising for its elegance and seeming effortlessness.

One gets a good idea of all that from this sampler of Romantic miniatures and encore pieces recorded between 1903 and 1923 (mainly 1916-23), in rather primitive but nonetheless revealing sound. Hofmann's unerring sense of line and pace are much in evidence, but so are his pronounced rubato and, in certain selections (like Rubinstein's Valse-caprice in E flat), more than a few slips and wrong notes--the price one paid for being engaged with the music and taking chances. --Ted Libbey

Customer Reviews:

Which Hofmann?.......2004-09-06

Hofmann - particularly late Hofmann - may be an acquired taste.
Despite having been the protégé of Anton Rubinstein, "the wonderful boy" was recognized from quite an early age as the exemplar of a modern style of playing - textually faithful, eschewing swooning or bombast. (See, for example, the references to Hofmann in Henry Lahee's wonderful survey from 1900, Famous Pianists of Today and Yesterday.)
Still, a number of younger colleagues expressed ambivalence. Horowitz was floored by Hofmann's keyboard command - everyone was - but he, Artur Rubinstein and Arrau, to name just three - seem not to have been terribly moved by Hofmann's musicianship.
But which Hofmann are we considering? His playing for the gramophone - as early as 1903 and as late as 1935 - was as disciplined as it was imaginative and dazzling. The late Harold Schonberg called it "perfection plus."
However, as Gregor Benko makes clear in his essays for the Marston reissues, Hofmann switched on what the pianist called a "spectacular" style for many public performances. This may sound cynical. Often it sounds terribly cynical. Hofmann was not speaking merely of the need to project in a large concert hall. In public performance - at least those performances we have from the late `30s and early `40s - the aristocrat often becomes a mountebank, lurching from the softest pianissimos to explosive fortissimos, rattling off passages or entire pieces even faster than Simon Barere boasted he could do.
Schonberg - and Hofmann's friend and admirer Rachmaninoff - reminded us that during this period Hofmann had many personal troubles, including a severe drinking problem. We must believe that at his greatest Hofmann played as scrupulously and with as much refined feeling in public as he did on many of his studio recordings, though his manner may have differed somewhat. And there are some marvelous live performances. The Rubinstein 4th from his Golden Jubilee concert beggars description.
So where does that leave us? As an introduction to Hofmann, I would recommend the early Columbia recordings, those he made somewhat later for Brunswick, and the American and British test pressings from 1935 - perhaps his greatest recorded playing. These are Volumes 3, 4 and 5 of the complete Hofmann series.
This Philips compilation draws from the earlier commercial recordings. It's a fine, economical introduction, but I would go for the Marstons. They are complete, the transfers are better, the notes superb, and the company is well worth supporting. Serious listeners will also want the ups and downs of the Golden Jubilee (Volume 2). The Chopin concertos in Volume 1 have some splendid moments, but the superlative (not spectacular; superlative) performance there is a fragment of the first movement of the E minor concerto performed in London -- far more poised and committed than its counterpart from New York. (I wonder if Hofmann played differently in America than he did in Europe? Some musicians - for instance, Mahler, Toscanini, Bernstein - for varying reasons apparently did.)
Having said all this, the entire Hofmann series is priceless. Heartfelt thanks to Gregor Benko and Ward Marston for making it available.

Not to be missed.......2003-11-03

You'll never hear playing so clean, polished, and technically perfect...modern pianists seem almost clumsy by comparison. Especially his Liszt is to die for; as a matter of fact his Tarantella is possibly my all-time favorite recording of anything. The Maiden's Wish and La Jongleuse are splendid too. In fact, although these are some of my favorite recordings ever, it's hard to know what to say about them because they are simply so perfect in both technic and understanding that they leave you breathless.

As for the bad sound...folks get over it...as for me, I know I'm silly but I kind of like it...it gives me a thrill as I remember just how many years this recording is taking me back over.

Good for collectors, but not for samplers.......2002-09-23

For an introduction to Hofamann, this volume is not the best. They contain mostly his earliest recordings (1910 to 1920) and they make for difficult listening. VAI and Marston Records' volumes of remasterings of Hofmann's later playing has better audio and better linear notes.

Dynamo of the Piano.......2001-12-25

First of all, I would part company with those who comment on the "recording quality" of a particular record. Naturally the sound technology was not advanced in those days, so the artist had to make do. Any listener who knows something about the piano should be able to get beyond this.

This CD should be bought by any listener interested in the golden age of piano giants. Rachmaninoff, whose name should be familiar as both composer and pianist to any piano afficoniado, actually preferred Hofmann's playing, especially in passages requiring clear fingerwork, to his own. Indeed, the clarity and lightness of Hofmann's fingerwork is astounding. Of particular note on this album is Chopin's Berceuse, arguably the greatest recording ever made of this particular piece. I will limit myself to describing his performance of this piece, since I think this is most indicative of the beauty of Hofmann's piano sound. The thirds are lighter and better articulated than Friedman's or Cortot's performances of the same piece. His tempos in general are held, with the addition of cleverly placed rubato. Hofmann's style for passagework can be called the "jeu perle" style, representing a touch in between legato and staccato which gives the passage a certain precise, smooth sound. His pedalling also is immaculate. Actually, he does not use very much pedal at all. He only uses it at junctures when it is absolutely needed, not to cover up poor technique and creating a sloppy "wet" sound which seems to be the dilemma of many modern pianists. In his several different recordings of the piece, the only place I consistently hear him using pedal is in the grace note/rolled chord variation of the theme, where the right hand's sound and harmony dictate it.

In short, buy this CD to get a glimmer of old school piano playing at its finest.

An interesting listening study.......2000-11-06

I would actually give this CD a 3.5, but you can't give out halfs. While his playing and his songs are phenomenal, the quality of the CDs is terrible. One would think that Sony would have taken the time to clean these CDs. While I admit it would be difficult since the songs were recorded between 1903-33, they could have cleaned it up. Hofmann's playing is absolutely amazing. Speaking from a pianist's p.o.v, how can he move his fingers that quickly? This is a CD for the music lover and classical collector....

Average customer rating: A substantial overview of Karajan's Ring Where is Karajan's Ring on amazon? not an introduction to The Ring A wonderful introduction, or a new experience good introduction

Highlights from Der Ring des Nibelungen Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Wagner | Wagner, Richard | ( W ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra | ( B ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Deutsche Grammophon: Music | Specialty Stores | Music Similar Items: Panorama (Highlights from der fliegende Hollander, Lohengrin, Tannhauser, Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, Parsifal, Tristan und Isolde) Wagner's Ring: Turning the Sky Round Wagner: The Compact Ring (Highlights from Der Ring des Nibelungen) / Levine; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra Wagner: The Best of the Ring An Introduction to Der Ring des Nibelungen ASIN: B00004XT2G Release Date: 2001-02-27

Tracks:

1. The Rhinegold: Lugt, Schwestern! Die Weckerin Lacht in Den Grund - Helen Donath/Edda Moser/Anna Reynolds/Zoltan Kelemen
2. The Rhinegold: Nur Wer Der Minne Macht Ensagt - Helen Donath/Edda Moser/Anna Reynolds
3. The Rhinegold: Der Welt Erbe Gewann Ich Zu Eigen Durch Dich - Zoltan Kelemen/Helen Donath/Edda Moser/Anna Reynolds
4. The Rhinegold: Haltet Den Rauber! - Helen Donath/Edda Moser/Anna Reynolds
5. The Rhinegold: Hor, Wotan, Der Harrenden Wort! - Karl Ridderbusch/Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau/Martti Talvela/Simone Mangelsdorff
6. The Rhinegold: Schwester! Bruder! Rettet! Helft! - Simone Mangelsdorff/Donald Grobe/Robert Kerns/Gerhard Stolze/Josephine Veasey
7. The Rhinegold: Wotan, Gemahl, Unselger Mann! - Josephine Veasey/Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau/Gerhard Stolze/Robert Kerns/Donald Grobe
8. The Rhinegold: (Transformation Music) - BPO/Herbert Von Karajan
9. The Rhinegold: Zur Burg Fuhrt Die Brucke - Donald Grobe
10. The Rhinegold: Abendlich Strahlt Der Sonne Auge - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
11. The Rhinegold: So Gruss Ich Die Burg - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau/Josephine Veasey/Gerhard Stolze
12. The Rhinegold: Rheingold! Rheingold! - Helen Donath/Edda Moser/Anna Reynolds/Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau/Gerhard Stolze
13. The Valkyrie: Der Manner Sippe Sass Hier Im Saal - Gundula Janowitz/Jon Vickers
14. The Valkyrie: Wintersturme Wichen Dem Wonnemond - Jon Vickers
15. The Valkyrie: Du Bist Der Lenz - Gundula Janowitz
16. The Valkyrie: O Susseste Wonne! Seligstes Weib! - Jon Vickers/Gundula Janowitz
17. The Valkyrie: War Walse Dein Vater, Und Bist Du Ein Walsung - Gundula Janowitz/Jon Vickers
18. The Valkyrie: Siegmund, Den Walsung, Siehst Du, Weib! - Jon Vickers/Gundula Janowitz
19. The Valkyrie: (The Ride Of The Valkyries) - BPO/Herbert Von Karajan
20. The Valkyrie: Leb Wohl, Du Kuhnes, Herrliches Kind! - Thomas Stewart
21. The Valkyrie: Der Augen Leuchtendes Paar - Thomas Stewart
22. The Valkyrie: Loge, Hor! Lausche Hieher! - Thomas Stewart
23. The Valkyrie: (Magic Fire Music) - BPO/Herbert Von Karajan

Tracks:

1. Siegfried: Dass Der Mein Vater Nicht Ist - Forest Murmurs - Jess Thomas
2. Siegfried: Nun Sing! Ich Lausche Dem Gesang! - Jess Thomas/Catherine Gayer
3. Siegfried: Prld To Act III. - BPO/Herbert Von Karajan
4. Siegfried: Wache, Wala! Wala! Erwach! - Thomas Stewart
5. Siegfried: (Brunnhilde's Awakening: Intro) - BPO/Herbert Von Karajan
6. Siegfried: Heil Dir, Sonne! Heil Dir, Licht! - Helga Dernesch/Jess Thomas
7. Siegfried: Siegfried! Siegfried Seliger Held! - Helga Dernesch/Jess Thomas
8. Twilight Of The Gods: (Orchestral Interlude) - BPO/Herbert Von Karajan
9. Twilight Of The Gods: Zu Neuen Taten, Teurer Helde - Helga Dernesch
10. Twilight Of The Gods: Mehr Gabst Du, Wunderfrau, Als Ich Zu Wahren Weiss - Helge Brilioth/Helga Dernesch
11. Twilight Of The Gods: (Siegfried's Rhine Journey) - BPO/Herbert Von Karajan
12. Twilight Of The Gods: (Funeral Music) - BPO/Herbert Von Karajan
13. Twilight Of The Gods: Starke Scheite Schichtet Mir Dort - Helga Dernesch
14. Twilight Of The Gods: Mein Erbe Nun Nehm Ich Zu Eigen - Helga Dernesch
15. Twilight Of The Gods: Fliegt Heim, Ihr Raben! - Helga Dernesch
16. Twilight Of The Gods: Conclusion 'Zuruck Vom Ring!' - Karl Ridderbusch

Customer Reviews:

A substantial overview of Karajan's Ring.......2007-07-11

One could debate for a brief eternity which conductor should be labeled "the best." Numerous magnanimous interpreters come to mind: Gustav Mahler, Arturo Toscanini, Otto Klemperer, Carlos Kleiber, Karl Böhm, Herbert von Karajan, Sir Georg Solti, Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez, Daniel Barenboim, Giuseppe Sinopoli, and James Levine are just a potpourri of renowned orchestral masters. Toscanini and Karajan were probably the most influential in redefining the nature in which one should approach a piece of music; both insisted that traditional conducting, in which a piece was essentially performed in the same manner continuously, was neither healthy nor appropriate for the music in question and, they laid the foundation for conductors to develop their own characteristic conducting and interpretative styles.

One now comes to Richard Wagner, often considered the master of Romantic music and one of the definitive composers to ever set foot on the soil of this planet. If one were to painstakingly evaluate the two conductors' collective Wagnerian works, one would most likely come to the conclusion that Hungarian-born Sir Georg Solti was a "more perfect" Wagnerian conductor than the Austrian musical megalomaniac Herbert von Karajan. Solti's style of conducting, which lent itself to the works of Ludwig van Beethoven, Mahler, and Richard Strauss, was obviously within the atmosphere of Wagner, and his John Culshaw-produced rendering of Der Ring des Nibelungen can easily be considered one of the greatest achievements in modern recorded sound. Nonetheless, Karajan's brilliance came not from his ability to conduct Wagner perfectly, as one might arguably suggest for Solti, but rather from his ability to approach every composer with a certain level of comfort and singularity while simultaneously retaining his format of interpretation. Karajan was just as comfortable with the works of Johann Sebastian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as he was with Jean Sibelius and Arnold Schoenberg, and his expertise transcended every medium, from choral works and masses to symphonies to operas to concerti. It was also his singular smoothness, his uncanny ability to gloss and refine the roughest and most vulgar of music (which, occasionally, in a work such as Carmen, had a derogatory effect) which made his Wagnerian music so spectacular a beacon and link within the chain mail of the musical world.

This is the reason why this recording of Der Ring des Nibelungen features what critics have called a "chamber music approach" to the Wagner score; Karajan dissected the music (as he did with everything he conducted) and took every measure to present, at all times, the beauty inherent in the music, even at the most violent and explosive instances. No fault is obvious in this, and with the operas of Rossini or Donizetti, no problem would have occurred; however, with Wagner, placing too burdensome an emphasis on beauty could, possibly, have an acidic effect on the overall drama of the work. This became an almost debilitating fault near the end of his illustrious career, but here the results are stunning. Karajan's interpretation is not sluggish (by the standards set by Solti, it is actually fairly brisk) and the orchestral performance from the imperial Berliner Philharmoniker is beyond betterment.

Thus, one must wonder why this recording of the Ring Cycle, with arguably the best conductor in the world leading one of the finest groups of musicians ever assembled, is frequently dogged by critics as weak and woefully idealistic. The answer lies in Karajan's casting which is, overall, inferior to Solti's. However, jewel-bedecked performances can be found in Karajan's cast with which Solti's cannot compete. Jon Vickers and Gundula Janowitz bring new definition to the twins Siegmund and Sieglinde. Operatic roles may have existed which Vickers did not perfect, but those which he performed (Peter Grimes, Samson, Tristan, Aeneas, Otello, Don José) were forever standardized by his interpretation. Siegmund is no exception, and though James King was a golden-toned, amorous youth on the Solti Die Walküre, Vickers is mightily Zarathustran and gloriously introspective during "Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond." Janowitz, who could make the harshest, most brutal German phrases drip with the smoothness and creamy elegance of French, brings radiance and gleaming simplicity to her Sieglinde which no other soprano could dare attempt. Their ecstatic, and eventually orgasmic, love duet ("Du bist der Lenz" ... "O süsseste Wonne! Seligstes Weib!" ... "Siegmund, den Wälsung, siehst du, Weib!") may be the greatest moment of Karajan's entire Ring Cycle.

The character of Wotan, the ruler of the gods, should, theoretically, be performed by a commanding, sonorous bass-baritone such as George London, Hans Hotter, Theo Adam, or James Morris, the most superb modern Wagnerian baritone. However, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who was so praised for his vocal delicacy and aristocratic gentility, is surprisingly successful as the ambitious god whose ageless wisdom was blinded by his opulent rapaciousness in Das Rheingold. Fischer-Dieskau was often fussy and blusterous on the operatic stage, but brief instances of vocal waywardness are often excusable through Wagner, and he will have no difficulty pleasing the most caustic critic during his wondrous musing as the gods enter the celestial fortress of Valhalla ("Abendlich strahlt der Sonne Auge...So grüss ich die Burg"). Thomas Stewart, a severely under-recorded American baritone, excels as Wotan in Die Walküre and Siegfried. Wotan's eminent farewell to Brünnhilde in Die Walküre ("Leb wohl, du kühnes, herrliches Kind!...Der Augen leuchtendes Paar") could easily buckle many baritones; Stewart, however, sings with unfettered passion and mournful abandonment as the pained father. He is less thrilling (due to the context of the music, not his voice) in his conjuring of Erda in Siegfried ("Wache, Wala! Wala! Erwach!").

Gerhard Stolze, the consummate character singer, is not featured on this set of highlights as Mime, Alberich's toiling, gnomish brother, in Siegfried; his unique caricature of Loge in Das Rheingold is inserted instead. Loge, the mischievous demigod of fire, is a part usually performed by a heldentenor, such as Wolfgang Windgassen, Set Svanholm, or Siegfried Jerusalem, and for those strictly concerned with vocal beauty, these singers would be highly appropriate. However, for those seeking a more burlesque, stupendously acted performance (merely listen as he warns the gods not to enter Valhalla ["Ihrem Ende eilen sie zu"]), Stolze is perfectly idiomatic and certainly does not "bark" his lines, though he is occasionally criticized for doing so. Hungarian bass-baritone Zoltan Kélémén's career began, for the most part, with Karajan casting him as Alberich. The most inimitable interpreter of the dwarf fiend was Gustav Neidlinger; his Alberich was explosively, thunderously vindictive, a Caligulan nemesis. Kélémén's Alberich was a twisted, grisly deuce, and though he may have lacked the vocal robustness of Neidlinger (and the malignant guffaw), his retort against the mocking of the Rheintöchter ("Der Welt Erbe gewänn ich zu eigen duch dich") is a petrifying outburst. Helen Donath, Edda Moser, and Anna Reynolds are the most perfectly tuned Rheintöchter available on disc. No other trio can compare with their beguiling chatter in the first scene ("Lugt, Schwestern! Die Weckerin lacht in den Grund") nor with their wrathful longing in the finale ("Rheingold! Rheingold! Reines Gold!"). Liselotte Rebmann, Daniza Mastilovic, Ingrid Steger, Lilo Brockhaus, Carlotta Ordassy, Barbro Ericson, Cvetka Ahlin, and Helja Jenckel are similarly victorious during the Walkürnritt ("Hojotoho!"), which is sure to conjure an image of helicopters napalming seaside Vietnamese villages vis-à-vis Francis Ford Coppola or hellish, armed and armor-bedecked maidens soaring about on flying horses.

Josephine Veasey possessed an elegant, matronly tone which was perfectly suited for Fricka, Wotan's bickering wife, the goddess of marriage. Donald Grobe, a Karajan regular, is insipid but secure as Froh in his brief monologue ("Zur Burg führt die Brücke"). Martti Talvela and Karl Ridderbusch (another Karajan regular) shared the four main bass roles in the saga: Fasolt, Fafner, Hunding, and Hagen. Talvela is noted as one of the most sympathetic Fasolts on record; one must wonder how Talvela, the gargantuan Finnish bass, could not be suitable as a giant in any opera. His performance is woefully truncated here, alas. His Hunding, which was surely brutish and bovine, is not heard at all. The iniquitous villain Fafner's greatest moment comes not in Das Rheingold as the bellowing lummox but in Siegfried as the leering, yawning dragon; this is also left out of the collection. Ridderbusch's performance as Hagen, often heralded as one of his finest, is represented here by little more than his final outburst of "Zurück vom Ring!" After Dame Joan Sutherland's "cameo" appearance as the Waldwogel in Sir Georg Solti's Siegfried, all other performances are bound to fall short. Nonetheless, Catherine Gayer is notably lovely and chirpy.

Most criticism concerning the soloists is invested in insulting Jess Thomas, Helga Dernesch, and Helge Brilioth. Thomas, a regal Lohengrin and Tannhäuser in his youth, has forever been the recipient of spiteful banter reviling his performance as Siegfried in the third opera of the cycle. It is true that Windgassen owned the role in much the same way that Birgit Nilsson was the executor of Brünnhilde (after Flagstad and Varnay); however, their performances were sublime in the locality of their vocal precision and dramatic prowess, which were sublime. In the sector of vocal attractiveness (which is, one must concede, Karajan's principal area of focus), Windgassen fell short of the golden-throated Thomas, and Nilsson's steely voice, though it possessed its own rampageous eroticism, was also inferior to Helga Dernesch's richer and milder tone. As examples, Thomas is marvelous during the darkly impressionistic, meandering Waldweben ("Dass der mein Vater nicht ist"); Dernesch is ravishing in the Awakening Scene ("Heil dir, Sonne! Heil dir, Licht! ... Siegfried! Siegfried! Seliger Held!") and in the apocalyptic finale of Götterdämmerung ("Starke Scheite schichtet mir dort...Fliegt heim, ihr Raben!"). Poor Brilioth is often criticized for simply sounding dull and inadequate as Siegfried in Götterdämmerung, and one must concede that it would have been more prudent for Karajan to cast Windgassen. [Régine Crespin, who is not featured on this collection, performed Brünnhilde in Die Walkure. This had mixed results, for most held her performance as the Valkyrie in juxtaposition to her gorgeous interpretation of Sieglinde on the Solti recording. I, personally, found her Brunnhilde delightfully witty and humane.]

Perhaps the greatest fault of this collection of highlights is that it is what it is: a collection of excerpts. Der Ring des Nibelungen is an expansive masterpiece which is not suitable for a two-disc collection of noteworthy tracks. This compilation, nevertheless, is indeed superb (as are most Deutsche Grammophon/Panorama releases), as is the set of highpoints from Karl Böhm's Ring Cycle, released through Philips. One should, by all means, disregard the hateful criticism placed upon Karajan's work here. It is not his finest, but it is Karajan, and his worst level is a pinnacle of excellence which most conductors can only hope to achieve, particularly in a Wagnerian sphere.

Where is Karajan's Ring on amazon?.......2005-09-05

I can't find any of the four Ring operas here at amazon.com. This is very peculiar, but in case you, too, are looking for them, I can say that the Rheingold and Die Walkure are superb, but the Siegfried is vocally a catastrophe, beginning with the woeful Jess Thomas in the title role, and the Gotterdammerung is hampered by an inedequate Siegfried and a not veyr inspired dernesch as Brunnhilde. DG has remastered them all at mid-price, and the mid-Sixties analog sound was good to begin with.

not an introduction to The Ring.......2005-04-18

This is absolutely the best "highlight" collection out there -- no others come close to the range and depth of material provided. But beware, this is not an "introduction to The Ring", as some claim -- the notes are skimpy, the titles of the excerpts are untranslated, there is no libretto, no description of the excerpts -- their context or meaning -- so what you have is a great summary of the works -- one that is most useful if you already know them -- something to take along with you in the car or while jogging or walking the dog to remind you of the real thing. Bear in mind that whatever the deficiencies of this collection, the others have the same faults also.

A wonderful introduction, or a new experience.......2004-02-14

Admittedly, it is a daunting task to try to "get into" opera, and even more so with Wagner's Ring. This CD is perfect for the beginner and the more experienced listener for various reasons. First of all, it spoils you somewhat in presenting you with the best pieces of the various operas. These "bleeding chunks" certainly give you a wonderful introduction to the various motifs, and most importantly, are very long pieces. The CD manages to capture several of the different flavors present in Wagner's opera.

Secondly, the CD is worth its price mainly due to Karajan's conducting. After listening to Solti's version of the Ring (also wonderful), I was suprised by the subtle hints he seems to charge through. You can literally hear the galloping of the horse, or subtle musical hints which add a great appreciation and character to the opera. Thus, if you have experienced several other conductors, but have not had the pleasure of Karajan, it would be worth the price.

Unfortunatly, some of the singing is kinda weak. Again, after Solti's Valkyries, you will have a hard time getting into the singing. And again, Karajan's Brunhilde isn't as strong as Solti's, but she still holds her own. Loge, here, sounds like a trickster (though he does sing/speak his words), and the Wotan's are alright.

In conclusion, this is perfect if you want to add flavor to your Wagner listening experience, or just want to know what the big deal is. I, of course, suggest getting one of the DVD's to get the big picture of what is going on (Levine's MET is a good start). So buy and enjoy.

good introduction.......2002-06-11

this is a good way to see why it is worth getting the full Der Ring opera--all 15 CDs! having just the highlights shows you the power and majesty of Wagner's music, but skips the depth and true emotion you get out of listening to the whole opera.

Average customer rating: My first Wagner CD and it remains a favourite Wagner for the rest of us A soundtrack for heroes a hit and miss affair this one is a hit and miss

Wagner: Highlights from "The Ring" Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Wagner | Wagner, Richard | ( W ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Wagner, Richard | U to Z | Featured Composers, A-Z | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Operettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Caballe, Montserrat | Divas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music 4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music 4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music Classical Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Opera & Vocal | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: The Rite of Spring /Igor Stravinsky / New York Philharmonic / Zubin Mehta (CBS Masterworks/Sony) Wagner: The "Ring" Without Words ASIN: B0000026OJ Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

1. Das Rheingold: Entrance Of The Gods Into Valhalla
2. Die Walkure: The Ride Of The Valkyries
3. Die Walkure: Magic Fire Music
4. Siegfried: Forest Murmurs
5. Gotterdammerung: Dawn & Siegfried's Rhine Journey
6. Gotterdammerung: Siegfried's Funeral Music
7. Gotterdammerung: Brunnhilde's Immolation Scene

Customer Reviews:

My first Wagner CD and it remains a favourite.......2006-07-10

I got this 16 years ago and it was my very first Wagner CD.

Now I have a large number of Wagner CDs but this remains a favourite.

There are many arrangements of Ring excerpts around, but this has the best versions, in my view, especially for Dawn & RJ.

Mehta's pacing is excellent, particularly for the Goetterdaemmerung tracks, and the sound is superb: so much detail is revealed very clearly.

The Immolation Scene with Caballe was recorded separately (the stereo placing is clearly different from the others) and she is nothing like a Nilsson, but it's OK.

So, overall, a wonderful introduction to some of the key Highlights of the Ring.

Wagner for the rest of us.......2005-02-10

This CD gives you some of the best highlights of Wagner's "Ring" and includes some powerful vocals, but the emphasis remains with the dramatic symphonic music. The entrance into Valhalla and the Ride of the Valkyries are obviously going to be the favorites of guys like me who like Wagner, but don't like Wagner every day. Like cheesecake, Wagner is not meat and potatoes music, it is pure dessert, gushing with cream and carmel sauce.

Though not an opera officianado, I really enjoyed Brunhilda's Immolation scene in this CD. The dramatic ending to the Ring is one of the greatest musical accomplishments in the history of music.

A soundtrack for heroes.......2001-02-04

I will begin by saying that I am not an opera fan and did not buy this album for the vocal parts. For anyone who is interested in the quality of the vocals, they should read the other reviews. The power of this music is incredible on this album. The "Entrance" is stirring. Of course, one cannot help but wave imaginary spears about as they hear the Ride of the Valkyries. Mehta conveys all the power of Wagner through his conducting. Instead of playing fortissimo throughout the movement, he employs more convinving dynamic variations. These dymamics are most evident in Mehta's interpretation of Siegfried's Funeral Music. He does not overplay the beginning, but allows the orchestra to state the important themes with all the appropriate grace and grandeur. He brings the orchestra down low, then stuns the listener with the staccato notes of Siegfried's murder. Mehta then presents a heroic climax that does not disappoint. As I said, I am no fan of opera. I purchased this album for the orchestral pieces. Mehta and the NYPO are hard to beat, and I would recommend this album to anyone who wants a first-rate Wagner highlight album.

a hit and miss affair.......2000-06-19

Most of the items on this recording are very well done and recorded, but regrettably the CD is let down by Caballe's peformance in the Immolation Scene. I am an admirer of her work as many others are, but find her German is not very idiomatic (one could make the same observations about Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau's Italian), and she does not sing the top notes cleanly but scoops them from below instead. In this price range you could do better with the Bohm, Solti, or Karajan - or perhaps Szell best of all - highlights recordings.

this one is a hit and miss.......2000-06-13

The orchestral playing and conducting is good but not particularly memorable. I would not rank it equal to that of Szell with the Cleveland Orchestra. Wimsberger in the Farewell is decent but not great, and Caballe is regrettably not successful in the Immolation Scene. She scoops the top notes from below rather than singing them cleanly, and her German diction is suspect too. Although I admire many of her other recordings, I do not play this one frequently. Good sound quality and documentation. Probably indispensable for Caballe fans, for better or worse. At this price range I would choose instead the Szell, Solti, Karajan or Bohm (on 2CDs) highlights recordings from the complete operas.

Average customer rating: Healthy chunks of Wagner... A great Wagner collection from Stokowski in his nineties

Wagner: Orchestral Works Manufacturer: RCA ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Wagner | Wagner, Richard | ( W ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music London Philharmonic Orchestra | ( L ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music 4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music 4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music Classical Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Opera & Vocal | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: The Fantastic Leopold Stokowski: Transcriptions For Orchestra Wagner Weekend - The Ride of the Valkyries Bach - Stokowski Debussy: Nocturnes No1-3; Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune ASIN: B0000DBDMV Release Date: 2004-01-13

Customer Reviews:

Healthy chunks of Wagner..........2007-02-20

This near 80min. budget/German compilation, comprises of most of Meastro Stokowski's RCA/BMG stereo recorded Wagner output, from 1961-1974. The 2003 German remastering engineers do not add any significant sound enhancement to what were considered state of the art recordings from their era. Furthermore some of the tracks are either coarse or too heavy in the bass, requiring treble bass adjustments. Stokowski's great interpretation of "Ride of the Valkyries", with sopranos and contralto performers is included. My old LP of the same recording was just as thrilling. Included are orchestral excerpts from each of the "Ring" operas, as well as the Romanesque overture to "Rienzi". The disc is poorly annotated not even mentioning Stokowski's idiosyncrasies of interpretation, instrumentation, and tempo. So, the whole project has a half-hearted faceless effort put on it. Add a star if your a true die-hard Stokowski fan.

A great Wagner collection from Stokowski in his nineties.......2005-12-18

Stokowski grew to be very old but never venerable. Capable of chasing secretaries around his desk at 94, what problems could Wagner pose? None--these recordings from London (1973-74) when the conductor was only 91 and 92 are vigorous, sweeping, immensely enjoyable performances. RCA has bounced this material around in several previous releases, and the sound was always spectacular. Both the LSO and Royal Phil. sound terrific, and without wallowing in the sonic Mardi Gras of Phase 4 Stereo, the kind he got form Decca during this period, this CD throws the music at us, as Stokowski himself did.

As to the famous Stokowski penchant for taffy-pulling, his tempos are almost straight here, and when he does lean into the rubato, as in the Tristan Prelude and Liebestod, one feels the ghost of Wagner smiling down. Stokowski must be his kindred spirit for romantic fervor. Five stars for a cllection rivalled only by Furtwangler, Karajan, and Klemperer (really).

Average customer rating: Well sung and varied repertoire from a legend. Terrifying, Thrilling, Gorgeous! Satanic!

Of Gods and Demons Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Berlioz | Berlioz, Hector | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Boito, Arrigo | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Borodin | Borodin, Alexander | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Gounod | Gounod, Charles | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Massenet | Massenet, Jules | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Mussorgsky | Mussorgsky, Modest | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Rubinstein | Rubinstein, Anton | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Wagner | Wagner, Richard | ( W ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music London, George | ( L ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music Romances | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Berlioz, Hector | A to B | Featured Composers, A-Z | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Boito, Arrigo | A to B | Featured Composers, A-Z | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Borodin, Alexander | A to B | Featured Composers, A-Z | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Gounod, Charles | C to G | Featured Composers, A-Z | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Massenet, Jules | M to P | Featured Composers, A-Z | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Wagner, Richard | U to Z | Featured Composers, A-Z | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music English | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Russian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Classical Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Opera & Vocal | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: Ljuba Welitsch The Complete Columbia Recordings Famous Voices of the Past Eileen Farrell Sings Verdi Russian Album ASIN: B0000029U5 Release Date: 1997-01-14

Tracks:

1. Faust: 'Le veau d'or'
2. La Damnation de Faust: 'Mephistopheles' Serenade'
3. Mefistofele: 'Ecco il mondo'
4. The Demon: 'Ne plach', ditya'
5. Patrie: 'Pauvre martyr obscur'
6. Thais: 'Voila donc la terrible cite'
7. Don Quichotte: Act V (Complete) - Massenet
8. Prince Igor: 'Ni sna, ni otdykha'
9. Boris Godunov: 'Dostig ya vysshei Vlasti'
10. Boris Godunov: 'Uf, tyazhelo! Dai dukh perevadu'
11. Das Rheingold: 'Abendlich strahlt der Sonne Auge'
12. Die Walkure: Wotans Scheidegruss und Feuerzauber
13. The Emperor Jones, Op. 36: 'Standin' In The Need Of Prayer'
14. Goethe: 'Pesnya Mefistofely o blokhe' - Mussorgsky

Customer Reviews:

Well sung and varied repertoire from a legend........2005-09-21

I first heard London as Wotan in a recording of das Rheindgold under Solti. I remember the voice as if resembling molten lava containing vast amounts of energy yet never too quick to release it. The voice was magnificent! When I read that its owner was passed his prime at the time of recording the role, I got quite excited and looked forward to getting to know this voice at the highpoint of its years portraying ( as is it is nicely put) gods and demons.

I value this CD mostly as a historic document of an artist not too well known, because I am missing the emotional build up and thus my own emotional engagement in the music. This is ofcourse often the case with anthologies such as this.

This being said, as I tread my way through more and more complete productions of operas I can see myself coming back to this recording comparing styles, textual insights and ofcourse the vocal techniques used by the different singers in the arias.

It does not sound as if George Londong did anything half heartedly and I believe his renditions are most definately to be reckoned with.

Terrifying, Thrilling, Gorgeous!.......2003-08-29

George London is my idol as far as singing goes. I'm a bass-baritone, myself and I've always admired him. I particulary love the Mussorgsky and Wagner selections. The 'Clock Scene' was absolutely terrifying and the two Wagner songs were majestic and powerful.
London could take any song and do amazing things simply because of the sheer vocal quality of his voice. Not to mention his great acting ability.

Satanic!.......2003-07-14

This is an excellent collection of a some of London's best roles, plus the recordings are clear and lively. His voice is very focused and totally overwhelming. While his "Le veau d'or" can't compare to that of Christoff, London still makes for a great devil.. and his acting is superb. It's unfortunate that they didn't include London's Scarpia (see the 1960 recording of Tosca with Tebaldi and del Monaco) or one of his villains from the Tales of Hoffmann. This CD is a necessity for all fans of one of the century's finest bass-baritones and actors!

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