Die Walküre (Acts II and III)
- Episode aired Feb 28, 1983
- 3h
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Wagner's Ring: The Bayreuth Centennial Production: Part 2 (Die Walkure)
I have only known the Bayreuth Centennial Ring cycle performances from the live audio recordings. But I would be interested to see how the productions were like visually, mainly to see whether it matched the standard of the musical values and also to see what it was that was controversial about them. Judging from the production musically, I found it close to outstanding, with a cast more consistent than that of Das Rheingold.
The orchestral playing, helped by the excellent sound, has much of the extraordinary power and pathos that is a huge part of Wagner's magnificent music, sending up a storm particularly in Wotan's Farewell(or I believe Abschied in German). Fellow opera fanatics have huge appreciation for Georg Solti's famous Ring Cycle recording, though they remark that Solti was least impressive in Die Walkure. Here in 1983 for Bayreuth, I found Solti to be as enigmatic as he always was complete with fine musicianship and with a compelling sense of drama. True some of his tempos are a little too stately, Walkurenritt could have been more rousing, but his conducting of most parts is exemplary.
Casting and performances-wise, I found Die Walkure to be stronger and more consistent than Das Rheingold, which had Manfred Jung's underwhelming Loge. Siegmund Nimsgern's voice is not quite up to the climax of his monumental final scene and he has a tendency to bark, but they don't stop his Wotan from being noble and authoritative. Doris Soffel's matches him as a stylishly elegant and slightly shrewish Fricka. Siegfried Jerusalem is a fine Siegmund, surpassing every single one of the DVD Siegmunds, if not perhaps definitive. His entire characterisation of the role is full of heroism and his voice rings out with little strain.
Hildegard Behrens doesn't have the biggest of Brunnhilde voices, but she is nonetheless commanding and makes Brunnhilde powerful rather than passive. Jeanine Altmeyer for me is the best Sieglinde on DVD, and her performance here doesn't stop me from thinking that. Her singing is radiant and the poignant ardour needed for the role is there. Matthias Holle's Hunding is appropriately unyielding. The rest of the Valkyries are very strong, Anita Soldh, Anne Evans and Ingrid Karasch are particularly good.
Overall, musically outstanding and gives me high hopes for the next two. 9/10 Bethany Cox
The orchestral playing, helped by the excellent sound, has much of the extraordinary power and pathos that is a huge part of Wagner's magnificent music, sending up a storm particularly in Wotan's Farewell(or I believe Abschied in German). Fellow opera fanatics have huge appreciation for Georg Solti's famous Ring Cycle recording, though they remark that Solti was least impressive in Die Walkure. Here in 1983 for Bayreuth, I found Solti to be as enigmatic as he always was complete with fine musicianship and with a compelling sense of drama. True some of his tempos are a little too stately, Walkurenritt could have been more rousing, but his conducting of most parts is exemplary.
Casting and performances-wise, I found Die Walkure to be stronger and more consistent than Das Rheingold, which had Manfred Jung's underwhelming Loge. Siegmund Nimsgern's voice is not quite up to the climax of his monumental final scene and he has a tendency to bark, but they don't stop his Wotan from being noble and authoritative. Doris Soffel's matches him as a stylishly elegant and slightly shrewish Fricka. Siegfried Jerusalem is a fine Siegmund, surpassing every single one of the DVD Siegmunds, if not perhaps definitive. His entire characterisation of the role is full of heroism and his voice rings out with little strain.
Hildegard Behrens doesn't have the biggest of Brunnhilde voices, but she is nonetheless commanding and makes Brunnhilde powerful rather than passive. Jeanine Altmeyer for me is the best Sieglinde on DVD, and her performance here doesn't stop me from thinking that. Her singing is radiant and the poignant ardour needed for the role is there. Matthias Holle's Hunding is appropriately unyielding. The rest of the Valkyries are very strong, Anita Soldh, Anne Evans and Ingrid Karasch are particularly good.
Overall, musically outstanding and gives me high hopes for the next two. 9/10 Bethany Cox
- TheLittleSongbird
- Jan 1, 2013
- Permalink
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- Runtime3 hours
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