From: conrad@brahms.udel.edu (Jon Conrad)
Subject: Re: Tannhauser
Keywords: Wagner, Tannhauser, Melchior, Szell, Konwitchny
Organization: University of Delaware
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 17:31:08 GMT

In article <By5yJI.2E0@sci.kun.nl> gerritse@sci.kun.nl (Bart Gerritse) writes:

>Can anybody (Jon?) name me a totally satisfying Tannhauser? (I would like to
>hear Melchior in a stereo recording by Walter Legge and Furtwangler
>conducting, but I'm afraid nobody can help me with that :-))

Tannhaeuser has not fared wonderfully well on records; there are a
number of duds on the market.  I can't think of a "totally satisfying"
one, so to that extent I must disappoint you, Bart.  But I can name 2
good choices, and there may be a third that I haven't heard.

All three are of Wagner's later revised edition for Paris as further
revised for (I think) Vienna, commonly called the "Paris version."  The
biggest difference here is a much expanded Venusberg scene, with Venus
singing in Wagner's ripest Tristan manner.  It makes for quite a
contrast when Tannhaeuser returns to the "real world!"  Oddly, this text
used to be standard in opera houses, then in the 50s the academics and
scholars got into the act and messed things up (I blush for my species
:-)  ) by touting the "greater stylistc homogeneity" of the original
Dresden text.  And most of the recordings follow the (IMHO) much duller
and plainer Dresden version.  Aside, probably, from the Szell you've
already heard (not sure about that), there are the 3 I'm about to
mention.

But it's not really because of their text; it's because they're the most
exciting and beautiful performances.  I guess it's just coincidence they
all chose to go with "Paris."  Anyway:

Available from the Metropolitan Opera Guide for a sizable donation ($125
a few years ago):  A live performance, quite well transferred to LP or
cassette.  Melchior is the main item, and he's as wonderful as you'd
expect; literally incomparable in this role (there's a good essay in the
deluxe booklet by Conrad L. Osborne, explaining from a technical vocal
standpoint just what makes Melchior so uniquely satisfying in Wagner).
But equally fine is Kirsten Flagstad as Elisabeth.  Wow!  A big,
beautiful soprano that wraps itself around this music like you've never
heard.  And you can hear that even when she's sailing over the full
orchestra and chorus that she's not straining a bit -- so to speak, her
amplifier is only turned up to 2.  Others in the cast are Kerstin
Thorborg, Herbert Janssen, and Alexander Kipnis, so this is the cream of
Wagnerians of the 1930s-40s.  I believe Erich Leinsdorf is conducting.

More accessible and less expensive is the one conducted by Solti on
London records.  This is probably the best all-around recommendation.
It has the benefit of Decca/London's best sonic handling of the Vienna
Phil, Opera Chorus, and Boys Choir (one of whom sings the shepherd --
an idea I dislike in principle, but this boy is very good).  Solti's
energy and propulsion are very welcome here, for truth to tell this
score can meander if not firmly directed from the podium.  This was Rene
Kollo's first big-time recording, and he rises to the occasion well; his
voice was still sounding fresh and young, and his interpretation is a
very solid, impressive first try at the role.  He certainly outsings all
his predecessors (Hopf, Windgassen) on commercial recordings.  The rest
of the cast is excellent:  Helga Dernesch is one of her best soprano
outings, Christa Ludwig as a luscious Venus, Victor Braun in one of his
too-few exposures on recordings delivering a beautifully molded "Evening
Star," and Hans Sotin an ideal Landgraf.

I hear good things about the fairly recent Sinopoli on DG, but have not
heard it except for the first soprano aria played over a store's
speakers.  Cheryl Studer sounded marvelous in that bit, and I'm sure
she's fine throughout.  Sinopoli can sometimes get overinvolved in
private concerns of his own, and go for superslow microscopic
examination of every detail; I don't know if this was such an occasion.
As for Placido Domingo, who learned the title role just for this
recording, I would guess that he outsings all his commercial rivals in
terms of easy vocal command -- not to be sneezed at.  But in this sort
of assignment he tends to deliver a generalized readthrough with little
nuance or variety.  Does anyone find that to be the case here?  The rest
of the cast -- Agnes Baltsa, Andreas Schmidt, Jan-Hendrik Rootering --
looks promising.

So I recommend the Solti.

>PS. Talking about sound quality. I bought Kempe's Ariadne auf Naxos. I have
>never heard such good sound before!

YES YES YES!!!!  This is one of the alltime great opera recordings, and
it's been unavailable for too long.  The cast is certainly very good in
all roles, with my favorite Ariadne (Gundula Janowitz).  But it's the
*wonderful* conducting, the *incandescent* orchestral playing (Dresden), 
and the *perfect* sound", that raises this recording to an exalted
level.  I turn to it every so often just to renew my love of music.
Everybody must grab a copy now that it's out on CD.  That's an order!
:-)

Jon Alan Conrad