Customer Reviews

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde

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Here we have the typical recording that have friends and enemies quite in the same number. I use to think this happens because of ears that are used to listen some way of playing Wagner and that never use to accept the new ways very easily.

If we speak seriously you can not hear, for example, any other recording with an orchestral playing and response so great and strong like the Berliner Philharmoniker under Barenboim's baton. Of course you can prefer another tempo, another dynamics, another way of understanding the sense of the work, but for me is quite an "objective" criteria that of the orchestral playing, from the technical point of view, a really outstanding miracle of perfection, from the very beginning to the end with the Isolda's death. The Vorspiel of the first act is one of the better music and performing I know, and in some way the key of many changes after his composition in the western music, specially in Germany and Austria, we have only to read about it in Bruckner, Brahms, Mahler, Schönberg, Berg, Webern... words. The way Barenboim conducts this Vorspiel is marvellous, full of mistery, grey premonitions and content passion, taking all the potential of the motive base of the work. The basses of the Berliner are amazing and the climax is so well done that you can finish breathless after the realization of the full score in this part, which ends in a marvellous pianissimo, very well recorded, like the full work, and with the distance voice of the sailor... ¡Outstanding!. And what can we say about the next dialogue between Brangane and Isolde? Perfection everywhere, in the singing and in the orchestral playing... Tension, perfect following the german musicality, vivid tempi...

We can talk about the full opera, vorspiel by vorspiel, act by act, singer by singer. Of course you can prefer other ways of playing this work (Furtwängler is a marvellous complement to have with this version), but in general lines I can say this one of the better opera performances in the last decades and one of the top performing under Barenboim's baton, one of the conductors who understand much more better the german sound and the germanic way of playing music. It's not for me a copy of Furtwängler's version, not at all; all of you who have both versions and listen them carefully know that it's a false idea.

Wonderful libretto and presentation in this Teldec release.

While much hype circulated the Ben Heppner/Jane Eaglen performance, this recording is a sublime piece of musicianship and operatic virtuosity, not as much a show off piece but a heart-felt, spiritual work that honors Wagner's masterpiece. Waltraud Meier, who is a mezzo-soprano, tackles a role that is an Olympic feat for dramatic sopranos and she masters it. The mezzo di voce is used effectively when warranted and she proves that her upper registers reach the spiritual heights that Isolde's goddess-like character embodies. In Siegfried Jerusalem's performance we find no flaw, he captures the heroic essence of Tristan, as well as his religiosity. He is the only modern heldentenor (also a bass) who most effectively represents the semblance of the old days, the days when such singers as Wolfgang Windgassen and John Vickers were taking on the powerful role of Tristan. While I long for my favorite tenor Placido Domingo to sing the role, I am quite amazed by the talents of Siegfried Jerusalem, who has a noble quality that is God-like.

Waltraud Meier holds her own and ranks among the great Isoldes, which is a small number- Birgit Nilsson, Jane Eaglen, Christa Ludwig. Meier is closer to the style of Ludwig in that they were both mezzo sopranos who dared take on the high role of Isolde. Birgit Nilsson will always take the crown, but she reigned in the 60's and 70's, while today Isolde is a signature role for a soprano just waiting to take it. Well, Meier has taken it. The recording, conducted by Daniel Barenboim, himself no stranger to German opera. He has the best intentions- he is showing us through musical subtlety and dynamics how this is without a doubt the greatest of Wagner's operas. It does not have the pomp and grandeur of Meistersanger or most notably in his Ring cycle, but in its score is found Wagner's most heart-felt feelings- the sacrifice of lovers for the greater good. Tristan and Isolde are metaphyiscal, transcendent lovers, not limited only to Germanic divinities but universal symbols for love, like Raddha and Krishna in Hindi lore or in Western culture Romeo and Juliet. This is a great opera and most lovingly interpreted thanks to the forces of Barenboim, a genius of a conductor and the two powerful singers Meier and Jerusalem.

For some reasons - which I will try to find below - I have always found Daniel Barenboim's way with Wagner's music the most intellectually gratifying and emotionally satisfying. Case in point is the excellent 'Barenboim/Kupfer/Schavernoch-Ring', my absolute favorite for a recorded Der Ring des Nibelungen, CD/audio-only as well as its newly issued DVD-format. The playing of the Bayreuther Festspielorchester in that 1992/1993 'Ring' is absolutely gorgeous and could never be bettered, only matched, I think.
I have certain 'ideas' about what defines the 'Barenboim sound'. Daniel Barenboim's conducting for Tristan und Isolde may not be as 'sensual' or as 'atmospheric' as some, maybe (take Furtwaengler's mesmerizing 1952 recording), but it is glowingly intense, powerful and utterly dramatic. I believe this nicely dramatic vision is helped (to good effect, in my view) by rather directly recorded orchestra and voices, with just the right amount of reverberation (actually just a little), characteristic of the recording venue, the hall of the Berlin Philharmonic. To me, the result is just fine, sounding nicely 'concentrated', and I do not really understand the harsh criticisms of some reviewers, which I have read elsewhere, that the sound, as recorded, is too 'veiled', or even 'ruins the performance', etc.
I believe that maestro Barenboim strives for massiveness but transparency and coherence at the same time. He maybe achieves this by transparently layering the orchestral voices. This gives a kind of 'organ-like' effect. Also, maestro Barenboim seems to be wanting the most sonorous sounds from all of the orchestral voices or 'registers'. Combined, all of these 'effects' cause the impression of the music sounding approprately massive and stately, while at the same time indeed maintaining a sound that is transparent. A grand but clear-headed vision. A Parthenon or a Pantheon in music. Also, the conductor's tempi are generally exactly right for my own taste: not too fast but always pressing along with the right amount of dramatic tension, which does indeed start from the very beginning, with a darkely forboding Prelude to the First Act.
The singing is generally good, but I especially like Siegfried Jerusalem's dramatic, eager and youthful sounding Tristan (he is also my favorite Siegfried, for the 'Barenboim-Ring'), even if his voice may miss some 'dark and sonorous beauty' (of, for example, a Ludwig Suthaus under Furtwaengler) and - during the last act - some of the necessary utter puzzlement and wildest desperation. But his performance is always completely engaging and captivating. And while Waltraud Meier's may not be the most mellifluous of voices, her Isolde does sound matronly and commanding (compare her Waltraute in the Barenboim Ring), grabbing one's attention from beginning to end, captivating with an astutely dramatic and intensely emotional, warmly sympathetic performance. Singing together, they form a true dream-pair (much like Siegfried Jerusalem's Siegfried together with Anne Evans' radiant Brunnhilde in the 'Barenboim Ring'). Also, the great Matti Salminen is as wonderful as ever, and his King Mark sounds as noble, as emotionally connected and as commanding as one might wish. And Falk Struckmann's Kurwenal evokes the right amount of emotional intensity and connection to his friend Tristan's plight and well-being, so necessary for the dramatic tension during Act Three.
In the end it is this 'studio'-recording (bonus: absolutely no distracting stage or audience noises to break one's attention) of Tristan und Isolde to which I will be turning to the most often (together with the 'benchmark' 1952 Furtwaengler, of course making only a few allowances for the inferior recorded sound), mainly because of Daniel Barenboim and the Berliner Philharmoniker, but also because of captivating (in)tensely dramatic performances by Waltraud Meier and Siegfried Jerusalem. I for one love this recording and I would like to recommend it to anyone else as well. Anyway, if you love this music, you could never really do with just one recording of this opera, I think. In this light, the 'Barenboim Tristan' is a worthy contender to any of the best ever recorded, and worth a place in anyone's collection along the likes of Furtwaengler, Kleiber, Boehm, Goodall, Karajan, etc. But in the end this is all just my own humble opinion.

We are blessed with so many recordings of this opera (nearly two dozen, counting out-of-print? I've lost count). There will never be a consensus which is the best. Ultimately it will come down to your personal taste, and preference for the tenor, or the soprano, or the sound. Why choose by conductor? He doesn't sing a note. I have attended many opera performances that were ruined by a mediocre or painfully bad tenor or soprano, but never by a conductor. The studio engineers are responsible for orchestral balance on a recording.

I'm listening to this Barenboim version as I write. My skin tingles as I hear Siegfried Jerusalem's ringing, stentorian passages, and my eyes and face are soaked during his lyrical phrases. While he sings, I wonder how anybody could prefer another tenor. He was just as good on stage - I heard him in his prime at the Bavarian State Opera n the late 70s. Nobody wanted to leave the house after the final curtain.

Waltraud Meier as Isolde is almost in the same league, though flawed in a few spots with pinched top notes. But many passages are heartrendingly beautiful. Her Liebestod is a triumph.

That being said, you have to hear Flagstad or Traubel and Lauritz Melchior at least once to know the tradition, and they're wonderful. The dark voice of Melchior is the standard by which other heldentenors are measured still, but it's only transmitted in Thirties or Forties recorded sound. Windgassen and Nilsson are a classic pair on nearly the same plane, with better sonics. The tenors of Domingo and Jerusalem are fairly bright-sounding in comparison - not worse, or inappropriate, just different. Placido is my favorite tenor in general; he is stellar in almost any repertory, and amazingly good in this most German of operas, but in spots a little too Latin in his phrasing, if you know German and German opera. Jon Vickers' voice is more similar to Melchior's than are most other heldentenors', and you can't go wrong with the Vickers-Dernesch version of Tristan. Vickers is a wonderful interpreter, though his pipes are not so golden as those of Jerusalem, who like Domingo can start the tears pouring both with the beauty of his voice and his sensitive phrasing.

If I had to choose only one Tristan to take to a desert isle, it would probably come down to Vickers and Jerusalem. I think I'd take one openly and conceal the other in my baggage.

I consider this one of the absolutely best recordings of Tristan (I have 10 recordings).

First, the sound quality is brilliant: probably the best recording in existence in that respect. All parts of the orchestra are very clear, which is so important. The horns come out so clearly, which is wonderful: you can hear so many things in the horn parts (which are of course universally employed in this opera) which you don't hear in other recordings. Also, I love it how you can hear the cor anglais on some inner parts in Act 3; that instrument is of course of great interest in that Act, not just because of the long solo near the beginning, but since it is missing from the final chords (deliberately!).

Jerusalem is superb as Tristan; easily the best Heldentenor of the 90s. I have never been a fan of Meier; never had a beautiful tone but she's bearable. Other singers are fine (Struckmann rough at times but passable).

Very happy with the conducting. Don't know why people are so critical of Barenboim about this at times.

So anyway, if you want to hear the profound beauty of Tristan in very clear sound, then go for this. Very hard to beat in that respect.

Summary:

The greatest recording of the greatest opera? Hyperbole, perhaps. But Tristan & Isolde is the finest Opera this side of Don Giovanni and Barenboim's superbly cast and engagingly played account is the best modern recording of the work by all means. His control, attention to detail and development is ever-impressive. More-so, this 1995 studio recording boasts Waltraud Meier, without peer as Kundry (Parsifal), who also excels in Isolde's role like few others. Jerusalem's Tristan is no Windgassen, but he sounds beautiful and holds more than his own against Meier. Mariana Lipovsek is a very distinctive, mature Brangäne while Matti Salminen rivals Kurt Moll's King Marke. Meier's thrilling Liebestod is as good as I've heard any-and her diction is superior to the [Edit] syllables-swallowing, if electric Nilsson. Among the many Tristans I have and love, this is my favorite.

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Among my Tristan recordings (Furtwaengler, Boehm, Thielemann, Kleiber (Bayreuth), Barenboim) this is probably my over-all favorite. Is Jerusalem's Siegfried the best caught on record? Hardly, but he was in pretty good shape, still. Nor is Lipovsek, no longer young, the ideal Brangaene [I still appreciate her quite a bit in that role]. But the intelligibility of this T&I is stunning. It makes sense in every way, it features Waltraut Meier who is not only one of the best Kundry's (Parsifal) ever, but also one of the finest, if not *the* finest Isolde of our days. Her intelligence in singing is astounding.

Maybe her singing is not to everyones' taste - I know people who will take B.Nielssen over her anytime (admittedly no one is as chillingly sarcastic in Act 1), but I find Meier's Liebestod, for example, the most satisfying I know, slightly ahead of Bernstein's H.Behrens and Furtwaengler's Flagstad (despite patched notes, courtesy Schwarzkopf). Her pronounciation and diction is far better than Nielssen (sure - that isn't everything, but if you like to read along or speak German, it is nice) who has a tendency to swallow whole syllables, at least in Boehm's recording.

At the very least - even after Thieleman's new release on DG - this is the best modern (digitally recorded) Tristan available. The playing and conducting is, for all I care, impeccable. Barenboim is in a league where only Sawallisch and Thielemann have operated in Wagner over the last 20 years. There is still much to be said about other stalwarts... but be assured: If you only have this Tristan in your collection, you aren't bad off at all!

Recordings of Wagner's greatest masterpiece seem to come in surges every decade that some promising artist or conductor comes to the scene with a vision to offer to eager Wagnerian ears. In the earlier part of the century, Furtwängler, Solti, Böhm, and Karajan gave the operatic world their interpretations of Wagner's subliminal masterpiece, each one miraculous and disappointing in their own ways. Three of these are considered classics, and indeed such recordings deserve the praise that has been heaped upon them for the unique insight the team of artists have bequeathed to the score. Furtwängler gave the music a febrile intensity, Karajan an erotic swell, Solti an orgasmic drive, and Böhm a neurotic vehemence. Each had their merits and their imperfections, yet these recordings have stood the test of time due to the quality of the Wagnerian singing captured in those times when stentorian voices once walked the operatic stage. Years later, Kleiber, Bernstein, and Goodall recorded the work and reshaped the audience's perceptions on a work that for all its connections to 19th century romanticism acquires a somewhat timeless element due to the stylized way Wagner addresses the subject of forbidden love. Times have changed, and so have the way conductors viewed the thematic foundations of Tristan und Isolde. Goodall was perhaps the stalwart of a bygone era, but his cast was perhaps more modern than any of those captured by his contemporaries, an example of this being his magnificent Isolde, Linda Esther Grey. Kleiber offered a radically different view of the score that seemingly removed several tenets of traditional Wagnerian conducting, but what was set in place was a feverish passion that characterizes the conductor's rare forays into the recording studio. Pity that the main principals of his cast were nowhere near equipped to tackle the demands of the score to a true Wagnerian scale. Bernstein's recording is a self-indulgent recording redolent of his inability to separate his personality from the score. It didn't help that his cast was inadequate to respond to the demands of Wagner's vocal line.

The last wave of Tristans to come to the market started with this 1995 Tristan with Barenboim followed by three wonderful recordings conducted by Thielemann, Pappano, and Runnicles. The last three have several things that are commendable about them, the best perhaps being Pappano's Tristan with the tireless yet beautiful tenor of Placido Domingo. Pappano gives the score a Mediterranean legato absent from many Teutonic visions of the work, yet he also imbues it with an intensity akin to Carlos Kleiber's fantastic theories about the score. It helps that many of the 21st century's greatest Wagnerian singers (including Nina Stemme, a great Isolde, and Rene Pape, the greatest bass singer of this century) were lined up in the studio to capture their interpretations for posterity. Thielemann is a fantastic Wagner conductor, yet his first forays into Tristan in his live Vienna performance found him in the embryonic stages of his ability to interpret the complexity of Wagner's score. His cast is merely efficient. Runnicles is perhaps the closest thing many listeners will find in a traditional Wagner conductor. His ability to color a score with his orchestra is simply breathtaking, and his knack for broadening a phrase goes hand in hand with his probing insights into the score. Orchestrally, his Tristan is one of the best out there. In the vocal department, the crown jewel in his cast is the Isolde of Christine Brewer, opulent and passionate yet also accurate and powerful. In fact, besides the Tristan of John Treleaven, the rest of the cast deliver highly committed performances, with special mention going to Dagmar Peckova's Brangäne and Boaz Daniel's Kurwenal.

Then there is this Tristan from a decade earlier conducted by Daniel Barenboim. In my opinion, no other conductor today can quite match Barenboim for his ability to bring a wealth of insight to this highly complex score while at the same time providing the listener with a sound world touched by his ability to draw a luxuriant phrase and paint a complete mosaic of colors to an opera brimming with these key musical elements. He, along with Furtwängler, is perhaps the greatest thing to happen to Wagner's masterpiece. Just listen to the perfect emotional balance he captures in each of the three acts. His Act 1 is a paragon of neurotic intensity, capturing the white hotness of Böhm's hand while at the same time allowing the score to breath akin to the way Furtwängler or Runnicles will shape a phrase. His Act II recalls Karajan's unique way of bringing out the highly sexual and erotic nature of the score while at the same time giving it Kleiber's extremely textured way of bringing out the more delicate aspects of the music. His Act III is on a class of its own, the surges and waves of anguish, pain, delirium and hope clashing violently and passionately without ever once losing control. For the conducting alone would I buy this recording. It helps too that the sound is simply to die for, in addition to the wonderful contribution of the legendary Berlin Philharmonic.

The other aspect of this recording that makes it such an attractive find are the principals who are able to sing not only with musical accuracy and tonal beauty, but also the kind of abandon that literally gives the characters a face without actually seeing a visual representation of the opera. Like Nilsson and Windgassen before them, Meier and Jerusalem imbue the title roles with such thespian intensity that they immediately lose themselves in the roles. Waltraud Meier is perhaps the best Isolde of her age. Her stamina is simply outstanding, as one can attest from the many live performances where her beautiful Isolde is preserved. Her commitment to the text is even more beguiling. No one else, not Stemme, Brewer, or Voigt, have the kind of vocal and theatrical resources Meier can command when she is in her element. Her Act I reading is perhaps the greatest next to Nilsson, while her Act II is tender and loving. Her Liebestod is an essay of how this opera should be ended--rapturously and beautifully. Jerusalem, likewise, is a fantastic Tristan who does not resort to the kind of sprechstimme-like vulgarities less limber tenors subscribe to when their vocal resources are depleted by this incredibly difficult role. His Act III is aided by an artist whose intelligence is coupled to a voice brimming with lyric beauty and a dusky, baritonal timbre. He also stands as an effective partner to the highly committed Meier.

The supporting cast is excellent, the best of them being Matti Salminen as a very noble and tragic Marke. Marjana Lipovsek sounds slightly strained as Brangäne, and while she will never erase memories of Christa Ludwig in the role, she nonetheless provides listeners with a highly alert and responsive interpretation of Isolde's maid. Falk Struckmann sounds right as Kurwenal, his voice tailored to the part for its edgy roughness.

For its musical and vocal merits, I can say that this is perhaps one of the best places to start if you want to explore the intricacies of Wagner's greatest opera.

On disk three (3) track nine (9) at the twenty-four (00:24) second mark I can hear a phone ring for nearly two (2) seconds. Have any of you noticed this recording flaw? Of course it is a live performance and there is no opportunity to fix the flaw.

Listening to Wagner requires some effort on behalf of the audience member. One must be attentive and patient. When doing so via CD, the result depends somewhat on the what, when, where and how of the listening. Are you listening using Bose headphones? In your library over a good speaker system? In your car in traffic or on a long journey? How has your day been? Are you fresh, happy, sad, tired? I believe that all of these factors are important in being able to digest a particular performance of a Wagner opera. This is especially true with Tristan und Isolde, the high water mark of all romantic era music. I can listen to a particular recording of this opera in one environment on a selected day and hear it again several weeks or months later and have a completely different opinion of it. The point being that it is not just the recording but how, when and where we receive it that make up the total impression of the performance on our minds. Having said this, I believe, under any circumstances, and at any time, this is by far the very best performance of Tristan that I have ever experienced, live or by recording. I have many audio and video recordings of this opera, most of which are very good, with a few great ones. This recording defititely belongs somewhere at the very top, if not, the top! It will leave you breathless and in a spell for hours, perhaps days after the experience. Of course, this is precisely what Wagner wanted to achieve. The conducting, and the Berlin Philharmonic, are just outstanding. The engineering is fantastic ( a very important part of the makings of a grat rcording !!). Most of all, the singers are the very best for these roles and compliment one another. Kurt Moll's King Marke is absolutely the very best, singing as well as acting. Meier IS Isolde ! Her singing ( particularly the high notes) is perfect and her acting here has no peers. And how can I express my opinion about the Tristan here, Siegfired Jerusalem? Let me do it on one word: MELCHIOR !! Yes, indeed, he is right there with the great Lauritz Melchior, who ate this role for breakfast so many times. Jerusalem's voice is strong and fresh in every act. He does not strain a bit. This is by far his best Wagnerian role. If you demand great singing, great acting, grat conducting and a great orchestra, combined with a masterful job of audio engineering, this is the performance for you. But a warning is in order: do NOT listen to this recording too frequently as it will drive you mad, just as Wagner intended!!!

Barenboim is the preeminent Wagnerian conductor of the day, as shown in this, his greatest Wagner recording so far. Meier, Jerusalem, Lipsovek all in majestic voice, living the roles, line by line... clear, balanced digital recording... wonderful recording that I listen to often.