Wagner: Götterdämmerung/Siegfried [Excerpts]

Richard [Classical] Wagner (Composer), Arturo Toscanini (Conductor), NBC Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), Helen Traubel (Performer), Lauritz Melchior (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Helen Traubel, Lauritz Melchior
• Orchestra: NBC Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Arturo Toscanini
• Composer: Richard [Classical] Wagner
• Audio CD (August 25, 1992)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000003EXY
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #59,471 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Bleeding Chunks" of Wagner From a Great Conductor, January 28, 2002

By 

Tom Moran (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wagner: Götterdämmerung/Siegfried [Excerpts] (Audio CD)

It's a shame that Arturo Toscanini was never able to record a complete Ring Cycle, but this CD provides us with generous snippets (what they call in the trade "bleeding chunks") of two of the Ring operas, Siegfried and Gotterdammerung.

Helen Traubel and Lauritz Melchior are two of the greatest Wagnerian singers (only Freida Leider and Kirsten Flagstad can compare to Traubel in this era, and Melchior has always been in a class by himself), and they cause sparks to fly in their duet from Siegfried (from a 1941 NBC broadcast). The NBC Orchestra (created by David Sarnoff especially for Toscanini in 1937 -- can you imagine the head of a broadcast network doing something similar today?), gives impressive performances of the Forest Murmurs from Siegfried and Siegfried's Death and Funeral March from Gotterdammerung.

Traubel is electric in the final Immolation Scene from Gotterdammerung, and Toscanini conducts throughout both with his trademark intensity and with a lyricism that you seldom find in Wagner conductors.

As I've said, it's a real shame that we don't have a complete Toscanini Ring Cycle, but this is as close as we're going to get, so this CD is highly recommended. As a Wagner/Ring Cycle starter kit, this is surpassed only by the Bruno Walter Act I of Die Walkure, also featuring Melchior. I would grab this CD.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wagnerian Treasures, February 1, 2006

By 

Robert E. Nylund (Ft. Wayne, Indiana United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wagner: Götterdämmerung/Siegfried [Excerpts] (Audio CD)

This compilation of recordings of the music of Richard Wagner (1813-1883) is ample testimony of why the Wagner family invited Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957) to be the first non-German conductor to conduct at the legendary Bayreuth Festival in 1930. Siegfried Wagner, the composer's son, was particularly impressed with the work of Toscanini up to that point. Toscanini had already been conducting Wagner's music, including complete performances of Wagner's operas, in Italy, with great results.

Toscanini himself greatly admired the musical genius of Richard Wagner, even if strongly disagreed with Wagner's political views (as much as he detested Mussolini and Hitler). When Hitler became chancellor of Germany, Toscanini refused to return to Germany as long as the Nazis remained in power, despite personal appeals from Hitler himself.

Toscanini said that Wagner might be the greatest of all composers. It shocked some Italians that Toscanini actually placed Wagner above Verdi, the other great operatic composer who was born in 1813. Verdi himself, however, had expressed his admiration for Wagner and tried to meet the German composer when Wagner made one of his periodic visits to Italy. Toscanini certainly recognized the great genius of Wagner, who was among the most innovative and inspired composers of all time. Wagner's use of recurring musical themes or motifs was especially remarkable and often helps to identify a particular character, setting, or idea in many of his operas.

The "Forest Murmurs" from "Siegfried" is one of the most exquisite pieces of music that Wagner ever composed. Taken from a 1952 recording session in Carnegie Hall, this performance was particularly wonderful. The NBC strings shone especially in this recording. It was also given a fairly good performance in one of Toscanini's rare stereo recordings, during the troubled final broadcast concert of April 4, 1954. The best thing about the final concert performance was the sound; however the 1952 performance was recorded with exceptionally good sound, even if it was made in conventional high fidelity.

The excerpts from "Die Gotterdammerung" ("The Twilight of the Gods") are from a memorable broadcast concert in Carnegie Hall in February 1941. RCA Victor had the vision to record the broadcast for commercial release; unfortunately, the original discs were not up to RCA's usual high standards. The situation was remedied in the late 1960s when the same recordings were reissued on the RCA Victrola label. Digital remastering has further improved the sound of the performances.

American soprano Helen Traubel, who had an all-too-short career on the operatic stage, and Danish tenor Lauritz Melchior seldom sang as well together as they did for the Maestro. These are performances to treasure. The NBC Symphony played with great precision and excitement; indeed, the musicians played with their hearts, responding well to the strong leadership of Toscanini. I've seldom heard more exciting performances of this music than in these 1941 recordings, particularly in the extended "Siegfried's Rhine Journey." These are absolutely wonderful performances with spectacular playing by the NBC musicians.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great recordings, well restored, February 24, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Wagner: Götterdämmerung/Siegfried [Excerpts] (Audio CD)

I am very familiar with these recordings, from their earlier LP and CD issues. This issue is the best sounding of all. The interpretations are without parallel in their sheer dynamism and unanimity and the voices of Traubel and Melchior are heard at their best. I am particularly pleased with the quality of the release of the Immolation Scene recording, plagued by various defects in earlier issues, as described by the producer of these records, Charles O'Connell, in his book, "The Other Side of the Record". Here it seems we have for the first time the original masters, without the subsequent doctoring and re-recording which plagued the earlier issues of this recording. As a result the recording lives up to its reputation at last, sounding truly impressive in spite of its 1940 vintage, using the primiitive portable recording machines of the time. Here the voice of Helen Traubel, one of the great vocal instruments of the 20th Century, is heard to full advantage, and the sound of the NBC Symphony in Carnegie Hall is more realistic than it ever sounded in later records.