Monthly recordings rant
Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 9:55 am
Good Morning Tubenetters,
I ran across the 1960-1963 Klemperer/Philharmonia recordings of the Wagner Orchestral music on cd the other day at the station. I had this set on vinyl and remember liking it. EMI did a great job on remastering the original tapes. The interpretations are really good, very insightful Preludes to Act 1 of Lohengrin and the best Prelude and Good Friday Music from Parsifal I have heard yet.
Except for a REALLY upfront oboe player on a couple of things, the balance is fabulous. You can hear every note of the winds and brass and can discern almost all the crazy string writing in the overtures. The brass is never blatant, but always up front and the tuba player is other-worldly. Really great, seriously. One of the better Meistersingers and you can hear every note. Overall these may be the best engineered recordings made. This is Wagner as music, not as a 20th Century low brass blowfest orgy. The real treat is hearing the Siegfried Idyll performed with it's original size of string quintet, one each of the winds, two horns and one trumpet. Really is stunning.
Buy them for the balance and blend alone and then really listen to the interpretations. They are sublime. I am holding my breath for the re-re-issue of Bruckner's 9th with the same forces.
I ran across the 1960-1963 Klemperer/Philharmonia recordings of the Wagner Orchestral music on cd the other day at the station. I had this set on vinyl and remember liking it. EMI did a great job on remastering the original tapes. The interpretations are really good, very insightful Preludes to Act 1 of Lohengrin and the best Prelude and Good Friday Music from Parsifal I have heard yet.
Except for a REALLY upfront oboe player on a couple of things, the balance is fabulous. You can hear every note of the winds and brass and can discern almost all the crazy string writing in the overtures. The brass is never blatant, but always up front and the tuba player is other-worldly. Really great, seriously. One of the better Meistersingers and you can hear every note. Overall these may be the best engineered recordings made. This is Wagner as music, not as a 20th Century low brass blowfest orgy. The real treat is hearing the Siegfried Idyll performed with it's original size of string quintet, one each of the winds, two horns and one trumpet. Really is stunning.
Buy them for the balance and blend alone and then really listen to the interpretations. They are sublime. I am holding my breath for the re-re-issue of Bruckner's 9th with the same forces.
Thanks.