What opera have you been listening to, lately?

[Clayton]

Both very thrilling

Now where to go? I already helped myself to Siegfried and Götterdämmerung... but I want to finish the cycle

Fast forward to 1966/1967 and Böhm I think.

[Clayton]

It has been a while and I forgot how much I like the Böhm cycle.

It is the first Der Ring des Nibelungen that I heard and this recording was the one that made Siegfried sound so exciting. Wolfgang Windgassen was fifty-two years old by the time of this performance but I can hear youthful recklessness and Erwin Wohlfahrt's Mime is colourful enough to portray somewhere between the pantomime villain and just a despicable character that ties this between fantasy and a more human drama.

Recorded at the 1966 and 1967 Bayreuth festival (Siegfried was from 1966), sound technology has progressed so much from the decade before and this one can compete with many twenty-first century recordings.

This remains my recommended recording.

Siegfried
Wolfgang Windgassen (Siegfried), Erwin Wohlfahrt (Mime), Theo Adam (Der Wanderer), Gustav Neidlinge (Alberich), Kurt Böhme (Fafner), Birgit Nilsson (Brünnhilde), Vera Soukupova (Erda), Erika Köth (Waldvogel)
Chor und Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele, Karl Böhm
1966

[Hoffmann]

Ok, so where does the fabled Solti Ring figure into your calculation?

I haven't heard the Krauss, but acknowledge that your enthusiastic recommendation makes it sound very appealing. On the other hand, I'm not crazy about Böhm's Das Rheingold.

[Clayton]

Ok, so where does the fabled Solti Ring figure into your calculation?...

[Clayton]

Though having just listened to

Wagner: Götterdämmerung
Birgit Nilsson (Brünnhilde), Wolfgang Windgassen (Siegfried), Josef Greindl (Hagen), Gustav Neidlinger (Alberich), Thomas Stewart (Gunther), Ludmilla Dvoráková (Gutrune), Martha Mödl (Waltraute), Dorothea Siebert (Woglinde), Helga Dernesch (Wellgunde), Sieglinde Wagner (Flosshilde), Marga Höffgen (Erste Norn), Annelies Burmeister (Zweite Norn), Anja Silja (Dritte Norn)
Orchestra and Chorus of the Bayreuth Festival, Karl Böhm
Recorded live in concert in 1967



I decided I need to listen to the Karl Böhm Das Rheingold and Die Walküre as well, so I'm staring to see a pattern here... I could very possible end up at the Solti soon

and also possibly be stuck in a never ending... err... cycle...


I need Patricia Petibon, Jaroussky, Alcina and Handel to do battle with the forces of Wagner in my head

(just please make sure you tidy up after fighting; it's already pretty messy up there)

[Nekrotzar]

Siegfried from this wonderful box

[Clayton]

Siegfried from this wonderful box... [Solti]

I might join the prince of darkness here...

as having just listened to the Böhm Das Rheingold and Die Walküre I need to listen to the rest of the drama (as predicted)

[Clayton]

Ok, so where does the fabled Solti Ring figure into your calculation?...

It's big. It's magnificent. It's beautiful. No it's not superman, it's Solti's super studio stereo recording...


Siegfried
Wolfgang Windgassen (Siegfried), Birgit Nilsson (Brünnhilde), Hans Hotter (Wanderer), Gerhard Stolze (Mime), Gustav Neidlinger (Alberich), Kurt Böhme (Fafner), Marga Höffgen (Erda), Joan Sutherland (Waldvogel) 1962


So good it brings a tear to the eye.

[Clayton]

now if I can just fit in the final installment before the cricket starts again tomorrow...

[Hoffmann]

Maybe tomorrow will be a Ring day. In the meantime, I had this lying forgotten in my Unlistened to Pile:





This is a wonderful recording, maybe even surpassing the Gelmetti/Riciarelli. It's live, but with minimal applause (there is some..) and little or no stage noise. Voices are terrific! Anyone hesitating about this set should stop wondering and put this their list.

[Nekrotzar]

Siegfried from this wonderful box

Finding difficulties with having time to listen to each opera complete, unfortunately....I shall continue with act II of Siegfried today. I think that Siegfried is slowly becoming my new favourite of the four, replacing Die Walküre.....

[Clayton]

After mad day at cricket I finish the day with



Wolfgang Windgassen (Siegfried), Birgit Nilsson (Brünnhilde), Gottlieb Frick (Hagen), Gustav Neidlinger (Alberich), Claire Watson (Gutrune), Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Gunther), Christa Ludwig (Waltraute), Lucia Popp (Woglinde), Gwyneth Jones (Wellgunde), Maureen Guy (Flosshilde), Helen Watts (First Norn), Grace Hoffman (Second Norn), Anita Välkki (Third Norn)
Wiener Philharmoniker, Sir Georg Solti 1964

Finding difficulties with having time to listen to each opera complete, unfortunately....I shall continue with act II of Siegfried today. I think that Siegfried is slowly becoming my new favourite of the four, replacing Die Walküre.....

Clayton model predicts the prince of darkness will then lean towards Götterdämmerung...

another theory to expand on in the Wagner thread

once the insanity of the Ashes (cricket) finishes

[Hoffmann]

Finding difficulties with having time to listen to each opera complete, unfortunately....I shall continue with act II of Siegfried today. I think that Siegfried is slowly becoming my new favourite of the four, replacing Die Walküre.....

Great post! I don't rate Siegfried above the other Ring operas, but believe that it is decidedly under-appreciated and significantly more interesting than many peoples' complaints about its being tedious.

- - - Updated - - -

After mad day at cricket I finish the day with



Wolfgang Windgassen (Siegfried), Birgit Nilsson (Brünnhilde), Gottlieb Frick (Hagen), Gustav Neidlinger (Alberich), Claire Watson (Gutrune), Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Gunther), Christa Ludwig (Waltraute), Lucia Popp (Woglinde), Gwyneth Jones (Wellgunde), Maureen Guy (Flosshilde), Helen Watts (First Norn), Grace Hoffman (Second Norn), Anita Välkki (Third Norn)
Wiener Philharmoniker, Sir Georg Solti 1964



Clayton model predicts the prince of darkness will then lean towards Götterdämmerung...

another theory to expand on in the Wagner thread

once the insanity of the Ashes (cricket) finishes

Finished off with, perhaps, a swirl of Islay Single Malt?

[Nekrotzar]

Great post! I don't rate Siegfried above the other Ring operas, but believe that it is decidedly under-appreciated and significantly more interesting than many peoples' complaints about its being tedious.

Is it tedious? Really? The forging scene alone is pretty epic.....

[Festat]

Painting fake walls demands something to sing along too.