Customer Reviews

Wagner: Flying Dutchmen (2 CD/CD-ROM)

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

 

 

Having recently heard Big Otto's Act I "Walkuere," I became curious about his 1968 "Fliegende Hollaender," his only complete Wagnerian operatic recording. It just MIGHT displace the great Keilberth Bayreuth set!
First of all, the cast is the best since Keilberth's, and may actually in some ways surpass it (well, maybe some of the time). Talvela's Daland is so good that it actually reminds me of Gottlob Frick in his prime; it seems that Talvela no longer allows the sheer volume of his voice to overcome the necessary articulation of words, so important to the Gesamtkunstwerk. Unger is a likable Helmsman, Kozub perhaps an over-vehement Erik, although his Cavatina is warmly sensuous, Burmeister is a warm Mary. But the main pair stand out: Silja and Adam.
First, Anja Silja: This is my first real hearing of her, and I understand why she created such a sensation. Her voice itself is not the most sensuous ever, but it is incisive and white hot in its intensity; she is certainly most convincing in portraying a determined teenage girl in her obsession with the Dutchman. And then there is Theo Adam, whom I saw as Wotan at the Met back in the late Sixties. He is simply the best Heldenbariton since Hans Hotter, whom in some way his voice resembles. His is possibly the most angered, agonized rendition I have ever heard. He certainly equals Hotter, Uhde and Fischer-Dieskau.
And then, there is Klemperer, ultimately, the real star of the recording. His must be the darkest, grimmest, most unnerving and eeriest rendition of the score on record. His handling of the great Monologue in Act I, taking and giving fire to Adam, is frightening. Tempi, broad and spacious, never seem to drag, but pull one into the music.
This set joins the great ones: Hotter/Krauss; Fischer-Dieskau/Konwitschny; Uhde/Keilberth. Each has its values and fascinations, but all in all, right now, I would recommend the Klemperer as a first choice.

From the start this recording pleases, and most everything about it is excellent. Klemperer delivers a truly white-hot performance in this masterpiece of Wagnerian opera, almost always hitting the right emotional chords and pulling the listener into a dark and brutish world.

Being Wagner's first true masterpiece, and written in the 1840's, the height of the bel canto era in Europe, the work is not as mature as his later works (Tristan und Isolde being his full maturity) and the music at times is decidedly Bellini-ish, but still backed by full Wagnerian force and anti-recitative writing. The opera is Wagner's easiest to comprehend, being his one of his only two operas to clock in at less than 3 hours, and also due to the fairly straight forward story, allowing for easy listening and viewing from almost anyone. The music is truly fantastic, with Senta's aria(!) in Act II being a deep and brooding ballad that has been unequalled in terms of brutality. The overture, the most famous part of the opera, is a tour de force introducing several of the major themes in the opera and displaying both the dark and jovial sides of the opera. The Steersman's theme "Mit Gewitter und Sturm" is a wonderfully delightful piece, as is the dance music from Act III. Wagner outdid himself here, and would not reach this level of sheer musical perfection again until Die Meistersinger 20 years later.

Klemperer's 1968 production came at a time when Walter Legge had just left the studio, allowing for the company to experiment with the sonic staging developed at Decca, a technique derided by Legge until his dying day. For the most part, they are successful. I honestly felt that they went a bit overboard at times (even Culshaw did now and again), especially with the spinning in Act II, but the sound effects with the Dutchman's ship chorus in Act III are fantastic. The sound is not as full as it could be (some of the singers seem a bit distant), and is a bit dry at times, but given the atmosphere of Klemperer's conducting, this is actually very nice. The ART remastering is better than I have heard of it being, but given how unlistenable part of Klemperer's Zauberflöte is, and how Giulini's Don Carlo is wanting, I am always wary of EMI remasters and have refused to even listen to some of their others. The New Philharmonia Orchestra handle the score well, but are not as adept as Vienna or even Chicago when it comes to Wagner (I've always felt they were more a Mozartian orchestra).

The production has a very expressionistic feel to it, and given the dry atmosphere and Klemperer's hot conducting, this is a great benefit as the work has some hallmarks of expressionism. The linear notes details a production from the 1920's that Klemperer did that was expressionistic, and this helps add to the feeling as well. Klemperer takes a large scale and brutish approach to the opera, and certainly lends to the big and powerful stereotype of Wagnerian opera, and even though he IS very slow at points, he never lets the score drag and always keeps everything large scale. I still, however, prefer Solti if only for his more lyrical approach, which is truer to the almost bel canto nature of the score. The edition of the score used here is the original premiere version, with a much shorter and more violent musical ending for both the overture and finale. It works just as well as the more known post-Tristan revision which owes more to the Redemption theme at the end of Götterdämmerung than to the rest of the original opera. I am still deciding which one I prefer since the revision gives a sense of the Dutchman's redemption.

The cast is excellent, even if they are not perfect. Anja Silja is a wonderful Senta, and she handles the score and acting well enough to earn the respect of anyone listening. Her voice may not be as beautiful as other sopranos, but it does come close, and she is wonderfully talented. Theo Adam is always an acquired taste, but his voice handles the role well, even if it is dry and stiff, and he is better here than he was for Haitink is his misguided attempt at Alberich. Ernst Kozub is not the greatest heldentenor I have heard, and like Ludwig Suthaus, his voice is not very lyrical and a bit too baritonish at times, but he handles the role well enough to be effective. I think anyone can agree that James King would have been a better choice, even if he had to bow out of the production. Martti Talvela and Gerhard Unger surpass all others as Daland and the Steersman, with Talvela's thunderous voice being used to the fullest extent and Unger's light, but fairly large, lyric tenor being as wonderful as ever. Burmeister is an enjoyable Mary, and helps round out the rest of the cast.

In total, this is a very good Dutchman, which captures the dark nature of the opera and all of its drama, with wonderful conducting, a nice cast, and an atmosphere that leaves everyone satisfied.