19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely complete. Get it now., March 2, 2006
This review is from: Wagner: Rienzi (Audio CD)
Richard Wagner's third opera, Rienzi, der Letzte Tribun, was never given complete in the composer's lifetime. Even the overture has three sections that never made it into print. This performance includes the first of those cuts, and absolutely everything else from the rise of the curtain on. That's why it is 4 cds at a more than reasonable price.
Past recordings have either been composites of two or more performances or the EMI recording. There aren't others to choose from. EMI had Rene Kollo as Rienzi. He's in good form, as are all of the other singers (except Siv Wennberg, who tries but ultimately ends up painfully sliding through some high tessitura). The performance "sounds" good, but it is just too studio bound. Everyone was giving a good recital of what they had learned, but they don't have much of a clue as to what is going on dramatically. Hollreiser is the conductor of that, and it's on his shoulders that the problem lies. Everyone needed a stronger hand because the opera is, frankly, never given. The recording follows the Eulenberg score. That score may be long, but it has many cuts, and the recording made a couple of more besides.
That recording was already passe when it came out because this performance had already taken place. It includes so much more music! And it is delivered with so much more understanding and panache! John Mitchinson is incredible as Rienzi - and the role makes Siegfried look desirable. He is noble, angry, loving and, ultimately fatalistic. He is surrounded by singers who, if less well known than those on the EMI, have done their homework. They shape phrases to great effect and the whole builds to a great fifth act. Act one runs over an hour, act two just at 90 minutes, act three and four at 50 minutes each, and act five tags in at around 15 minutes. This is Wagner trying to outdo Meyerbeer. Heard cut, the opera does this in the most banal way. Heard uncut, as here, the opera unfolds with some indication of the powerful music Wagner would write soon - Flying Dutchman was next. All Wagner lovers should be standing in line for this one.
(This review is based on an earlier, pirated tape copy. A few minor sound problems encountered on that tape are presumably rectified here.)
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Terrific Surprise!, September 10, 2007
This review is from: Wagner: Rienzi (Audio CD)
Many years back curiosity got the better of me and I purchased the Hollreiser recording of "Rienzi" with Rene Kollo. It was so boring that, try as I might, I couldn't slog my way through it. I eventually donated it the the local library. I was slow to buy this Ponto recording, in spite of the good reviews I'd read, because I thought the opera itself was a dud. Just goes to show how a good performance can totally change your mind about a work. Not only did I not have trouble getting through it, I was engrossed from the first note of disc 1 all the way to the end of disc 4. Unlike with Hollreiser, Downes performance actually sounded like real Wagner, and not like the work of some plodding Meyerbeer wannabe. I won't be giving this one to the library--it's a keeper. It's so inexprensive that I would recommend it as a must to those folks who have a more than passing interest in Wagner. Good sound, great conducting, very good singing (not a frayed voice in the cast--rare for any Wagner recording)...and (surprise!) a darned enjoyable opera in it's own right!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A supportive supplement to previous reviews, May 2, 2009
This review is from: Wagner: Rienzi (Audio CD)
There seems little point in writing a review that just repeats what has already been said. So I offer a few words of support, some odd corrections and comment on the strengths and weaknesses of the work.
This is the first opera Wagner wrote that was successful, a truly Grand Opera, and was performed with reasonable regularity up until a few decades ago. Now, all that is heard is the overture, - performances of the complete work are rare.
Authorities generally regard this as an uneven and derivative work. It's fun to listen to it, guessing who inspired each section, although Meyerbeer and Spontini are his principal sources of inspiration. But despite choruses that are often trivial, his orchestration very noisy and crude(I think he had just discovered trumpets: they feature prominently and often), his verse carelessly handled (a problem he never really overcame), but his skill at rising to dramatic demands was already in evidence, making the results more successful than the foregoing might suggest.
With a few arias, duets and choruses linked with recitative, this is a very different work to those which would follow later, and anybody who claims to clearly recognize the voice of Wagner has a good imagination. There is some indication of the Wagner to come: sections of long, unbroken melodic line and a good dramatic sense, but not the adventurous harmonies that lay in the future.
All of which sounds a negative review.
Now I am a Wagner fanatic, but I believe I can be impartial and recognize his weaknesses, (even the Ring has its flaws, yet I believe it to be one of the the greatest musical creations in existence - along with Parsifal, Tristan and Meistersinger). Despite its many weaknesses, there is much to enjoy in Rienzi - I wouldn't be without it. It's simple melodies make it easy to listen to, and the excessive orchestration can be fun.
As for performances, I doubt you will find very much better in the principal roles that are quite demanding, especially on endurance. Despite a claim above, this is not complete, as some of the score has been lost forever. However, it is the most complete version available. As well as principals, chorus and orchestra are also excellent. The only flaw in the 1976 recording is that the sound has a slightly harsh edge, although it has good clarity and the balance between soloists, chorus and orchestra is perfect.
No Wagner collection is complete without it as an illustration of his beginnings. Many non-Wagnerians will find this a pleasant diversion despite its 4 hrs 40 min, as well.
So in summation, a quite good although slightly imperfect, recording of a very good performance of Wagner's first successful opera, which I recommend despite its compositional weaknesses. The best choice from the available offerings.
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