Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (Bayreuth 1957) [Box set]

Richard [Classical] Wagner (Composer), Wolfgang Sawallisch (Conductor), Arnold van Mill (Performer), Birgit Nilsson (Performer), Egmont Koch (Performer), Fritz Uhl (Performer), Grace Hoffmann (Performer), Hans Hotter (Performer), Hermann Winkler (Performer), Wolfgang Windgassen (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Arnold van Mill, Birgit Nilsson, Egmont Koch, Fritz Uhl, Grace Hoffmann, et al.
• Conductor: Wolfgang Sawallisch
• Composer: Richard [Classical] Wagner
• Audio CD (August 25, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 4
• Format: 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: Melodram
• ASIN: B000009TR2
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #331,683 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #24 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Divas > Nilsson, Birgit

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90

2. Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90

3. Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90

4. Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90

5. Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90

See all 13 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90

2. Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90

3. Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90

4. Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90

5. Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90

See all 12 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90

2. Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90

3. Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90

4. Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90

5. Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90

See all 8 tracks on this disc

Disc: 4

1. Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90

2. Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90

3. Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90

4. Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90

5. Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90

See all 8 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE PREVIOUS REVIEWER IS TALKING ABOUT, October 20, 2007

By 

L. Mitnick (Chicago, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (Bayreuth 1957) (Audio CD)

Having heard this recording within the last week or so, I cannot understand what the previous reviewer could be eluding to. To start with, he's basing his "review" on the sound samples provided by Amazon. Bad mistake!!! This is a live Bayreuth "Tristan and Isolde" with a very young Birgit Nilsson, who was already on the cusp of international divadom, and Wolfgang Windgassen, who was still in his prime. These two great artists would nine years later make the critically acclaimed "Tristan" with Karl Bohm on DGG. Nilsson was only three years away from making her first London/Decca recording of her Isolde under Georg Solti. What is heard here are two Wagnerian superstars in a youthfully blazing rendition of the great score. Audience noises? Perhaps a few, but after all, this is a live performance, and performances are seen by HUMAN BEINGS, who sometimes cough, and move around in their chairs. The chairs in Bayreuth happen to be made of wood. So what's the big deal???? It's an excellent performance, with Nilsson in superlative voice and Windgassen as well. True, Nilsson added much refinement and polish to her Isolde in the nine years that followed, but had she not, she'd still be acclaimed, on the basis of this performance alone, as the greatest Wagnerian soprano of her time. Truly, she, along with Kirsten Flagstad, was the greatest Wagnerian dramatic soprano of the twentieth century. End of story.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent - must have - recording, October 24, 2010

By 

Fergus Bremner "Don John" (Princeton, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (Bayreuth 1957) (Audio CD)

All, ignore J. Quinn: this is a superb recording, in every way. Of course it has the Bayreuth live "sound", but that is excellent and to be expected. Here you have Windgassen, Nilsson and Hotter at their masterful best, fully in control of the material. Also to be enjoyed is Sawallisch's modesty with the score - well balanced, never over-egged.

A definite must, for Wagnerians and n00bs alike.

0 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Only based on the samples posted, September 17, 2006

By 

G. Quinn (Atlantic City, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (Bayreuth 1957) (Audio CD)

Samples sound great if and only if you like coughing and chair creaking.