Customer Reviews

Wagner: Lohengrin

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
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The cast of this Lohengrin is superb. Windgassen presents a genuinely moving portrayal of Lohengrin, especially in the monologue. In her debut season at Bayreuth, Nilsson offers a beautifully sung and well-characterized Elsa. Her silvery tone is perfect for the naive and inexperienced young woman. Varnay is an unparalleled Ortrud. Her frightening intensity makes other interpreters of this role pale by comparison. The climax of this recording is Act II, with Varnay's harrowing duets with her well-matched Telramund (Uhde) and Nilsson. Just listen to the way Varnay spits out the word "Gott." It will send shivers up your spine. She was a magnificent singing actress, and her performance is one factor that makes this recording such a gem.

Eugen Jochum leads an incredibly dynamic and powerful Lohengrin recorded live at Bayreuth in 1954. The entire cast is strong: Windgassen is good in the title role, and Birgit Nilsson is great as Elsa. However, I actually find the other "couple" in this opera, Friedrich and Ortrud (portrayed by Hermann Uhde and Astrid Varnay), to be even better. Their machinations are gripping and Varnay really sings the pants off her role. They make Act II one of the most enjoyable opera experiences I've heard on disc. In a limited role, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau is perfectly cast as The Herald. The orchestral playing is classic Jochum, rugged and never dragging. Considering its age, the recording quality is really quite good. Highly recommended.

I cannot say enough about this recording, so in order to not write on and on I will be as breif as possible. The cast is excellent!!! Just amazing! It is great to see the torch being passed from Varnay to Nillson! Act Two is a non-stop tour-de-force. Anyone who refers to Lohengrin as "Slow-and-grim," will be eating crow after listening to this performance. Varnay is THE Ortrud in my opinion, only challanged by Leonie Rysanek in the latter half of her career. Varnay's gargantuan voice personifies the blood-thirsty presence of Orturd, and the curse is simply amazing.

Any Wagnerian should rush to purchase this set before it goes out of production. Hands-down the best "Lohengrin" on record, it preserves a performance from the golden age of Bayreuth. (Alas, look at the place now . . . ) Nilsson is incandescent, and Varnay's Ortrud is the standard by which all others are measured. Sound is good for its time.

If only the 1954 Bayreuth Lohengin had been blessed with Karajan, Bohm, Kempe, Sawallisch, or basically anyone besides the utterly routine, unimaginative Eugen Jochum. Except as a Bruckner specialist, Jochum's recordings have rightfully faded from the catalog. In this production he had a great singing cast, not ideal but probably better than any that oculd be assembled today.

Nilsson was a chilly singer but is not so cool here that she's off-putting. She keeps all the steel out of her tone and has thorough command of the notes. Windgassen's voice, even in its prime, was far from lovely, but he is a real musician and does the best with what his voice can do; personally I vastly prefer a beaautiful voice for this holy knight (Domingo, Jerusalem, Konya, Heppner). Fischer-Dieskau is definitive as the Herald, and Astrid Varnay blows all the gaskets as Ortrud. Hermann Uhde, so frighteningly intense as the Flying Dutchman, is too toned down as Telramund, who should be snide, haughty, vicious, and menacing. Uhde isn't any of those things. Theo Adam is prosaic and neutral of voice as Heinrich--he never achieved much more in any role.

The Bayreuth orchestra sounds fine for the early postwar era, not remotely as good as the Vienna Phil. under Solti (Decca) or any other modern orchestra in the various stereo versions of later decades under Kempe, Davis, Abbado, etc. The chorus can't match the best of studio recordings, either, but does a good job under live stage conditions.

The sound is excelent mono, with lots of space around voices and real fidelity. The microphones peak at climaxes, especially if the chorus is involved--no surprise there--but Nilsson and Windgassen sound very present and fresh. At Opera d'Oro's ultra-bargain price, this is a very good Lohengrin on the whole. It just so happens that I want a great conductor in the pit, and Jochum has a hard time breaking into more than a comfortable trot.

arrived promptly and as promised. was in excellent condition and well packaged. a thoroughly satisfactory transaction. five stars to the vendor and my thanks!