Customer Reviews

Overtures & Preludes

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Chicago Symphony has always been famous for its brass playing and Wagner, with Solti's recordings the standard for the industry. Barenboim has now surpassed that standard in a recording that will astonish those familiar with the difficulties of the music, setting a standard of excellence and musicality (with one exception)that will be hard to exceed. The exception is where speed is chosen to display athleticism. And that has its own pleasure.

Having just read "Wagner Remembered" by Stewart Spencer, my first real contact with Richard Wagner, I felt compelled to at least listen to some of the music and with this CD I purchased my first listen at Wagner. Subsequently wanting to hear more than just the overtures I purchased the "Twightlight of the Gods" Cd (Apocalypse Now Helicopters on the cover-Orchestra and Conductor unidentified), so there is some basis for comparison. Had Richard Wagner listened to Twighlight of the Gods he would have thrown up, his systems would have been overcome. Questionable playing destroys even the best music. I mention this as a basis to compare The Chicago Sympony Orchestra on Richard Wagner, Overtures and Preludes. Without saying that somewhere it has been done better, it is difficult to imagine a rendition of this music more accurately in tune with what Wagner must have intended. There is a subtlety and scope to this recording, a beauty and breadth that makes one believe that you are looking through the mind of the composer. This is other than to say you would be unable to argue with tempo here or style there or other acquired tastes. Richard Wagner, for all his personal flaws, was one of the best composers. Use of Orchestra, imagination, emotion, melody and use of melody, etc. etc., existed in the mind of this man as in few others. CSO superbly conducted, give perfect playing and to this novice re Wagner do full justice to this great music.

The CSO plays these pieces with the power, fire and passion they deserve. The sounds is impeccable...first rate modern performace and recording!

I don't know how many performances of the Tannhauser Overture I've heard in my life, recorded and live. Too numerous to count. So I'm a real critic. THIS performance is one of the top two or three I've heard. Why? First, the audio itself is massive !! Crank this up on a first class stereo system and stand back !! The engineers have done a terrific job with the technology. Second, Barenboim, a Wagner expert if there ever was one, knows how to squeeze the maximum emotion out of this piece. He extracts the best from arguably America's greatest orchestra. The finale, which is THE test in judging a performance of this, is accomplished with thunderous intensity. It's almost too much to take. I can only listen to it twice in a row before dissolving into jello.
So I give this recording 5 stars based on this amazing performance. Interestingly, the other top recording of this piece is also by Barenboim conducting the Berlin Staatskapel 10+ years after this Chicago performance. They guy really knows his Wagner.

Barenboim's interpretations are competent, but hardly touch the potential of this music, especially the Tannhauser and the Tristan.

The recording quality is average. Lacks detail and is often overwhelmed by boomy tympany; really a shame considering the richness of Wagner's use of horns.

If you're a casual Wagner listener, this recording is OK and may satisfy you. If you're a serious Wagner fan or audiophile, you'll probably be disappointed.

It would be an understatement to say that some tracks on this CD are performed better than others. Barenboim is inconsistant in his interpretations. His best recording is Die Meistersinger and it is quite good. He uses an acceptable pace and does not limit the orchestra's sound. Nor does he try and institute sudden tempo fluctuations that make absoulutely no sense whatsoever. The selections from Lohengrin are pretty good. The prelude to Act I is deliberate but convincing. It is not heavy handed and both Barenboim and the orchestra do manage to produce positive results. The prelude to Act III is driven and fast. The one negative aspect of the recording is that in one section the playing is incohesive and the orchestra does not sound together. Der fliegende Hollander is fair. Barenboim makes the mistake towards the end of the piece by using ritards and accelerandos that do not come off effectively. The beginning of the work is fine however. Tristan und Isolde is okay when the prelude is played but the Love Death is too constricted and lacks the passion needed to make it convincing. The orchestra's sound is very limited in scope. The turkey on this CD is the overture to Tannhauser. Barenboim takes the work at an agonizingly slow tempo and uses frazing that is underlined in blood. The orchestra is not permitted to bring out a powerful sound that is a necessity for this composition and at times they do not manage to stay together. This Tannhauser overture is to be avoided at all costs, even if it is the last recording available in the store.

I love these pieces, but was very disappointed by the performances on this CD. The conductor seems to have no conception of subtlety. He excels at grossly exaggerated gestures--transitions are ham-fisted, fast tempi are blasted through full bore, slow tempi are dragged out painfully. Orchestral textures that are finely balanced in other renditions are a muddled blur in this recording, even at ultra slow tempo. Listen on headphones and hear someone (the conductor, presumably) grunting along with the melody line (Lohengrin, Act III prelude, Meistersinger). I would recommend other versions of this great music (i.e., Solti).

Barenboim is not my favorite conductor and his ham-fisted attempts at producing a subtle atmosphere produces its fair share of cringes. The overture to "Tannhauser" (sorry, my keyboard has no umlaut), is rendered here without discernible emotion or feeling, the whole performance is maddeningly flat. Barenboim does a better job on the overture to "Der fliegende Hollander," (again, apologies for no umlaut) but the string section goes off on some shrill tangent halfway through the piece. It's a little like a cat stumbling over piano keys smeared with butter.

My most brutal criticism is reserved for the tepid, chilly and uninspiring "Liebestod." This is one of the most exquisite and exciting pieces of music ever produced, but one would scarcely know that listening to this version. I'd never thought it possible to nod off during the "Liebestod," but Barenboim actually achives this unenviable feat in this dismal recording.

Wagner fans will know this disc is a bomb, so I say this to the uninitiated: look elsewhere to hear Wagner's genius. This is like the Beatles being played on an organ grinder.

Listening to Wagner's "Tannhauser" overture over a dry , chilled martini is one of the most spiritually levitating experiences this side of the grave .Having said that , this particular recording leaves a lot to be desired_____ it is competent but mediocre . It lacks that armor piercing elan for which we worship Wagner's music . The tempo just does not sound right and the sound falls flat on the eardrum . This recording fails to convey the throbbing grandeur & the palpable sensuality for which this music is justifiably revered .My favorite recording of these pieces is the much cheaper Excelsior recording on CD_____now that is something!