Wagner: Siegfried ~ Keilberth (1955) [Import, Live, Box set]

Wolfgang Windgassen (Artist), Astrid Varnay (Artist), Hans Hotter (Artist), Paul Kuen (Artist), Richard Wagner (Composer), Joseph Keilberth (Conductor), Bayreuth Festival Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Bayreuth Festival Orchestra
• Conductor: Joseph Keilberth
• Composer: Richard Wagner
• Audio CD (April 11, 2006)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 4
• Format: Import, Live, Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Testament UK
• ASIN: B000E4FI54
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #210,103 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This live-from-Bayreuth 1955 Siegfried, in stereo, was professionally recorded by Decca's engineers as part of what was to be the first full Ring Cycle on records. Contractual disputes and producer John Culshaw's desire to produce an "ideal" Ring in the studio killed the release of this Ring, and the tapes were locked away in some dark chamber until now. The result is breathtaking: Hotter, Windgassen (playing his first Siegfried), Neidlinger (as Alberich), and Varnay at their best, with Joseph Keilberth at the helm. Keilberth was not one for "interpretation" or anything other than telling a good story with drama, fine pacing, and musical accuracy. His tempi are invariably quick without ever being rushed, and he has some of Böhm's intensity, some of Solti's visceral excitement, and some of Furtwängler's grandeur, while at the same time presenting a Siegfried that is very much its own. I'm not certain that this is the "best" performance of this opera, but if it were the only one you owned, it would be enough. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Siegfried for the Ages, May 14, 2006

By 

Philip Chase "piqueroi" (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wagner: Siegfried ~ Keilberth (1955) (Audio CD)

I do not mean to gush but I must confess I was so taken with this release in genuine Decca-engineered stereo of a 1955 Bayreuth performance, I have listened to it once a week in the past 5 weeks that I have owned it. Only two other recordings of Siegfried have so enchanted me and they were the Solti and the Goodall. Varnay, Windgassen, Hotter, and Kuen are in their prime, Keilberth turns in a perfectly led performance capturing the drama and grandeur of the music without indulging in other excesses enjoyed by certain conductors. In view of Windgassen's performance, it seems ludicrous that Culshaw and Solti went to extreme lengths (which in the end proved futile) not to have Windgassen as their first choice for Siegfried. And what can I say about Kuen? His exemplary Mime (so well sung) is a welcome relief from Stolze's overly-whiny contribution to the Solti set. Mind you I don't really mean to bad-mouth the Solti wich for over 40 years has been my Siegfried of choice, but the impact of this Keilberth performance is bound to win many fans for all these performers who, alas, have either retired or passed away. Varnay was a magnificent artist and should be better known today. Thanks to the Testament label we can now experience these artists of the past in glorious stereo sound.

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What was Culshaw thinking?, May 4, 2006

By 

Howard G Brown "brownswan" (Port St. Lucie, FL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wagner: Siegfried ~ Keilberth (1955) (Audio CD)

RING RESOUNDING, Culshaw's book on the making of the Decca RING, came with the Big Box I bought back in the 70's. In it he mentions the various Bayreuth RINGS, and 'sadly' concluded none were worth releasing as commercial recordings. At one point he dissed the Green Hill for using trombones instead of steer horns in Gotterdammerung.

True, Neo Bayreuth was never about the bells and whistles, and I fear it is the bells and whistles that nearly undo the Solti/Culshaw RING.

This recording of a live performance fror 1955 is another matter entirely. The singers are at the peak of their powers -- especially Hotter and Windgassen -- and Astrid Varney IS the woman within the Valkyrie. That final scene with her nephew (let's face it, this is incest) blazes with more heat than the ring of fire that Siegried storms through to arouse her from slumber.

I intend to get this entire RING as it is released; I have already ordered DIE WALKURE. The sound is sensational. It reminds me of the Reiner/CSO Strauss benchmarks recorded about the same time.

If Joseph Keilberth was a 'Kappelmeister' we could use a dozen such craftsmen today! All concened are alert, alive and on form for him.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A rare find from the archives--a singer's Siegfried, May 17, 2006

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wagner: Siegfried ~ Keilberth (1955) (Audio CD)

Over the decades the Ring cycle has been evenly split between the two installments that have succeeded quite often on disc (Rheingold and Walkure) and the two that have succeeded very rarely (Siegfried and Gotterdammerung). When critics hailed the 1951 Bayreuth Gotterdammerung as an unearthed treasure a few years ago (also on Testament), I felt burned. The Siegfried in that performance, Bernd Aldendorff, was the epitome of a dreadful Heldentenor--beefy tone, constant shouting, no acting ability, little musicianship. Nor was I thrilled with Knappertsbusch's unimaginative, often lumbering conducting or the sloppy ensemble of the Festival orchestra. It was an expensive disappointment.

This Siegfried is altogether different. The reviews below offer the relevant praise: good stereo sound (amazingly so for 1955), workmanlike but agreeably brisk condcuting from Keilberth, whose beat provides an expressive underpinning for the singers, and above all, a cast that can sing their parts. The exemplary Mime, Wanderer, and Brunnhilde deserve only praise. However, the crux of the matter is Windgassen, because his older self sounds leathery and strained in Solti's recording. In 1955 Windgassen was a decade younger, and it makes all the difference in the world. He isn't really a Heldentenor, but Siegfried is a youth, and here we get a lyric, youthful voice put forth with infectious energy and enthusiasm. If you can forget Melchior (I certainly can, since he retired before I was born), Windgassen is every inch a musical singer and fine vocal actor in this inhumanly taxing part.

For all these reasons, one can feel secure laying out the considerable price of this set, even on the used market. If Keilberth had been Karajan, this would in all probability have ranked as the finest modern Siegfried. As it stands, it's very, very good.