"Solti: The Birth of an Opera"

[LeMartinPecheur]

I recently acquired s/h a Decca CD "single" of the above title featuring rehearsal sequences from Solti's 1960 recording of Tristan und Isolde.

It has no documentation beyond a track-listing (the total time is only 31'55"), and the words "Exclusive issue First time on CD." Google shows that it's listed in certain university libraries but I can find nothing about the circumstances of its issue (the Riverpeople seem not to know it), nor signs of copies for sale.

Was it a commercial issue, a supplement to a box-set, or what?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Was it a commercial issue, a supplement to a box-set, or what?

According to the Wagner Society of New York:

Solti - Wagner, The Operas: Ten Wagner operas ... are included in a specially priced, 36-CD set, also released by Decca in October, 2012. This set includes The Birth of an Opera featuring rehearsals for the Tristan und Isolde performance included in this set with narration by John Culshaw.

Presumably, the recording was originally side 10 of the original LP issue?

[umslopogaas]

I have that recording on the original Decca LPs - SET 204-208 - (they are actually dated 1961) and sides 1 and 2 are devoted to "The Birth of an Opera: Tristan and Isolde" with narration by John Culshaw. Must play it again, I cant remember a thing about it.

[Ferretfancy]

I remember it, but it doesn't appear on the first CD issue, so the inclusion in a bumper box must be new. As I remember the 'screaming skull' does a lot of screaming at the piano while singing the major roles! There is also some quite interesting material about the way it was recorded. This of course was right at the start of Decca's so called Sonic Stage period, which owed a lot more to marketing rather than technology. The original LP notes included imaginative drawings of an imaginary stage layout for each act, which Culshaw and his team tried to represent in sound,

This was never regarded as a great Tristan, but Nillsson is fine, and I don't think that Fritz Uhl is as weak as the critics said at the time. It still sounds impressive, I still love the VPO horns at the opening of Act II

[Petrushka]

I too have this recording on the Decca LPs SET 204-8 (18th birthday present, June 1972) where the rehearsal sequence is indeed on side 10 as a filler. It is many, many years since I last heard it though I do now have the Tristan recording on CD. On the whole, FF's assessment is pretty accurate.

A pity that the rehearsal sequence wasn't included on the CD set. Perhaps someone can upload it on to youTube?

[LeMartinPecheur]

Thanks guys, most interesting.

[gradus]

I think 'Sonic Stage' as a title was a marketing ploy but Culshaw tried to introduce movement and depth even height was claimed (!) into the recording and to some extent succeeded, technologically there may have been no breakthroughs, althought the sound was pretty exceptional but in production terms it covered new ground. Of course the subsequent Ring recordings went even further with recording production as did Salome, Elektra, Faust etc. from the same team. At the time the Gramophone devoted considerable space to the recording and reproduced the sound stage layouts with a (from memory) long and detailed essay/review. A new recording of the complete Tristan was a major recording event and from the Decca team, eagerly anticipated.

[Ferretfancy]

I think 'Sonic Stage' as a title was a marketing ploy but Culshaw tried to introduce movement and depth even height was claimed (!) into the recording and to some extent succeeded, technologically there may have been no breakthroughs, althought the sound was pretty exceptional but in production terms it covered new ground. Of course the subsequent Ring recordings went even further with recording production as did Salome, Elektra, Faust etc. from the same team. At the time the Gramophone devoted considerable space to the recording and reproduced the sound stage layouts with a (from memory) long and detailed essay/review. A new recording of the complete Tristan was a major recording event and from the Decca team, eagerly anticipated.

Back in the 1970s I knew some people who had worked in the Sofiensaal, and heard from them how meticulous the Decca engineers were. There were large volumes containing diagrams of microphone positions for every recording that had been made there. The floor was marked. and measuring poles used to adjust the height and angle of every mike.
There was also a massive volume in which all the technical details were logged, including desk settings dating back to the first use of stereo in the hall.
Of course, the team had the advantage that Decca effectively 'owned' the Sofiensaal and had time to experiment. James Lock once described a problem that they faced when recording the Solti recording of Tannhauser. They tried to get the chorus of Pilgrims to sing while walking across the stage, but had a lot of trouble maintaining vocal co-ordination while they did so. The solution was to record the chorus in a separate studio in front of a turntable with a set of slowly rotating microphones. The resulting stereo image was then panned at the main mixer desk, and the effect is quite convincing.

In today's world, where time and budget pressures are often severe, I rather doubt if time for such experimentation would be available.