Thank you for recommending this! I purchased a copy it's every bit as good as you say. The rhythmic momentum under Dohnányi gives the whole opera a feeling of coherence and dramatic inevitability.
There was a Cleveland Siegfried done concertante as a pilot prior to the cancelled recording. Interesting if the tapes from that event could be dug out and issued by somebody. Siegfried was on that occasion sung by Danish tenor Stig Fogh Andersen.
I actually attended one of those performances of Siegfried. If memory serves, this was Dohnanyi's swan song before he left the orchestra as music director.
I bought this when it came out before the deletion guillotine (I know a lot of us will remember the dreaded Schwann catalog black diamonds, a perusal of which list was as mandatory as the new releases section.) It's still one of my favorite Rheingolds and for exactly the reasons Dave talked about. I didn't buy the Walkuere set because the vocal requirements are of an entirely different order. Cue another plea for a complete Dohnanyi Cleveland box.
it was a great partnership! someone I know her husband was associate concertmaster under Szell two years and then the master died and was there ever since and under Dohnanyi too!
Dave, why is it that there aren't Wagnerian singers today on the same level as in the 50s and 60s? I've seen that opinion elsewhere before and, listening to more recent Wagner recordings, I tend to agree, but I can't put my finger on why. On an unrelated note, doesn't "seemless" mean something like "unseemly"? Doesn't seem (ahem) to fit your favorable opinion of the recording. Cheers!
Everything's too pollitically correct and polite these days, especially in the concert halls. Wagnerian singers are gross, overblown, and über-teutonic.
Seemless: not in good style or taste; unbecoming Seamless: Overall, the word seamless means having a consistent relation of parts, being unbroken or having an unnoticeable transition
Although she stayed in Berlin during a rather unfortunate period, wouldn't you consider recording by Kirsten Flagstad top rate during the early part of that period?
@@eddihaskell I do, but the sound quality of the recordings aren't. She was a great Hollywoodian Brunnhllde. Are you sure she was in Berlin during the unfortunate times, though? I remember she returned to occupied Norway during the war, but not her performing in Germany.
Seen the Cleveland four or five times, London and Vienna. Dohnanyi conducting Bruckner 8 without the score at the RFH was one of the concerts. What an orchestra! The last time I saw them, in Vienna, FW Most chose to perform some endless piece by Messiaen. What Did Stravinsky say about Messiaen?
DECCA. When are you making us a dohnanyi box? Could possibly be your best seller. Ever!!
Thank you for recommending this! I purchased a copy it's every bit as good as you say. The rhythmic momentum under Dohnányi gives the whole opera a feeling of coherence and dramatic inevitability.
What I would do for a box that included Dohnanyi's Cleveland and Vienna recordings...
There was a Cleveland Siegfried done concertante as a pilot prior to the cancelled recording. Interesting if the tapes from that event could be dug out and issued by somebody. Siegfried was on that occasion sung by Danish tenor Stig Fogh Andersen.
I actually attended one of those performances of Siegfried. If memory serves, this was Dohnanyi's swan song before he left the orchestra as music director.
I attended a concertante performance of Die Walküre in Cleveland with Dohnanyi and Ana Silja. Spectacular as always with the CSO of the late 1980s.
I bought this when it came out before the deletion guillotine (I know a lot of us will remember the dreaded Schwann catalog black diamonds, a perusal of which list was as mandatory as the new releases section.)
It's still one of my favorite Rheingolds and for exactly the reasons Dave talked about. I didn't buy the Walkuere set because the vocal requirements are of an entirely different order.
Cue another plea for a complete Dohnanyi Cleveland box.
it was a great partnership! someone I know her husband was associate concertmaster under Szell two years and then the master died and was there ever since and under Dohnanyi too!
Most highly recommended this great set.
Good enough for me 🙂 I'm diving in
Dave, why is it that there aren't Wagnerian singers today on the same level as in the 50s and 60s? I've seen that opinion elsewhere before and, listening to more recent Wagner recordings, I tend to agree, but I can't put my finger on why.
On an unrelated note, doesn't "seemless" mean something like "unseemly"? Doesn't seem (ahem) to fit your favorable opinion of the recording. Cheers!
I believe it should be "seamless."
Everything's too pollitically correct and polite these days, especially in the concert halls. Wagnerian singers are gross, overblown, and über-teutonic.
Seemless: not in good style or taste; unbecoming
Seamless: Overall, the word seamless means having a consistent relation of parts, being unbroken or having an unnoticeable transition
Although she stayed in Berlin during a rather unfortunate period, wouldn't you consider recording by Kirsten Flagstad top rate during the early part of that period?
@@eddihaskell I do, but the sound quality of the recordings aren't. She was a great Hollywoodian Brunnhllde. Are you sure she was in Berlin during the unfortunate times, though? I remember she returned to occupied Norway during the war, but not her performing in Germany.
Not everything. You can't get the Grumiaux box. Assuming that you could get it the first time. Sorry, I'm still annoyed by that. Stupid Decca.
Seen the Cleveland four or five times, London and Vienna. Dohnanyi conducting Bruckner 8 without the score at the RFH was one of the concerts. What an orchestra! The last time I saw them, in Vienna, FW Most chose to perform some endless piece by Messiaen. What Did Stravinsky say about Messiaen?