BaL 12.07.14 - Wagner: Siegfried Idyll

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

9.30am
Building a Library:
Martin Cotton with a personal recommendation from recordings of Wagner's musical Christmas present for his wife, the Siegfried Idyll.

Available versions:

Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Claudio Abbado
NYPO, Sir John Barbirolli
Kammerphilharmonie Graubunden, Marcus Bosch
Staatskapelle Berlin, Pierre Boulez (DVD/Blu-ray)
LSO, Sir Adrian Boult
NBC SO, Guido Cantelli
Philharmonia, Guido Cantelli
Munich PO, Sergiu Celibidache
Andre Cluytens
Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Thomas Dausgaard
Sinfonia of London, Sir Colin Davis
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Ivan Fischer
Turin RSO, Wilhelm Furtwangler (download)
VPO, Wilhelm Furtwangler
Moscow RSO, Nikolai Golovanov
Glenn Gould (arr. Gould)
RPO, Vernon Handley (download)
Diabolicus, Dietrich Henschel
Northern Sinfonia, Richard Hickox
French National Radio Orchestra, Marek Janowski
SNO, Neeme Jarvi
BPO, Herbert von Karajan
VPO, Herbert von Karajan
Rome SO, Rudolf Kempe
Berlin State Opera Orchestra, Otto Klemperer
Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer
VPO, Otto Klemperer
Cologne RSO, Hans Knappertsbusch
Munich PO, Hans Knappertsbusch
VPO, Hans Knappertsbusch
Boston SO, Serge Koussevitzky
BRSO, Rafael Kubelik
BPO, Rafael Kubelik
Lang Lang (arr. Howard Shore)
Boston SO, Erich Leinsdorf (DVD)
Liszt Ferenc CO Budapest, Ervin Lukacs
BPO, Lorin Maazel
Igo Markevitch (download)
ASMF, Sir Neville Marriner
Chursachsische Philharmonie, Florien Merz
RPO, Pierre Monteux
Berlin State Opera Orchestra, Karl Muck
Bavarian State Orchestra, Kent Nagano
Willem Van Otterloo
Israel CO, Roberto Paternostro
Berlin RSO, Heinz Rogner
Bienne SO, Thomas Rosner
Michael Rudy (arr. Rubinstein & Rudy)
Staatskapelle Desden, Donald Runnicles
Rouen Opera Orchestra, Oswald Sallaberger
VSO, Wolfgand Sawallisch
Stuttgart RSO, Carl Schuricht
Vestard Shimkus (arr. Gould)
VPO, Sir Georg Solti
Pittsburgh SO, William Steinberg
Symphony of the Air, Leopold Stokowski
Berlin Opera Orchestra, Christian Thielemann
Scottish CO, Robin Ticciati
NBC SO, Arturo Toscanini (2 versions)
NYPO, Arturo Toscanini
Staatskapelle Dresden, Silvio Varviso (?)
Netherlands Radio PO, Edo de Waart
NBC SO, Bruno Walter
NYPO, Bruno Walter
Standard SO, Bruno Walter (download)
VPO, Bruno Walter
RAM Symphonic Brass, James Watson (arr. James Davies)
Polish National Radio Orchestra, Johannes Wildner

[Tony Halstead]

What about Vladimir Ashkenazy's recording with the English Chamber orchestra?
A Decca CD coupled with Schoenberg's "Verklaerte Nacht", dating from about 1983.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I've checked this one, but it doesn't appear to be available at present, though if you could provide a link, I'll add it to the list.

[Petrushka]

Are there any other versions of the original 13 player instrumentation besides Solti's? That one is quite wonderful and, for me, an easy winner.

Of orchestral versions I love that with Bernard Haitink and the Concertgebouw, not listed above I see, but a magical performance with delicious clarinet playing.

I've accumulated a fair number over the years but these are my first choices regardless of what is chosen next week.

Did Karajan only record it twice? I'm surprised at this.

[Tony Halstead]

Aha... sorry, in my stupidity I hadn't realised that the only performances / recordings under consideration will be the ones that are 'currently available'.
Sadly, this therefore excludes a beautiful and heart-warming Knappertsbusch VPO (early 1950s?) performance that was originally a 'filler' for a 2-LP set of Bruckner's 4th Symphony.
The horn and oboe playing in the Siegfried Idyll (Gottfried von Freiberg and Hans Kamesch) could fairly and accurately be described as 'sublime'.

[Barbirollians]

The Haitink is available I think as a download albeit as part of a sort of favourite classics compilation .

[Barbirollians]

Ah it is 200 years of Wagner compilation but there is also a download of an album of Wagner Preludes with Haitink .

The single download of the idyll is only £0.89

[BBMmk2]

I see that Abbado had recorded this! I never knew that and with CoE too!!! Have to investigate! I have a couple of his Schubert with CoE, and they're very good. I have Solti with this lovely work.

[Richard Tarleton]

Are there any other versions of the original 13 player instrumentation besides Solti's? That one is quite wonderful and, for me, an easy winner.

The one that nearly brought the recording of Walkure to a standstill? Culshaw writes:

...or fourteen, to be pedantic, for there is one phrase where a second viola is all but essential

...Solti was persuaded to conduct sitting down.....

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Didn't Hans Richter play both the Trumpet and Second Viola part at the premiere - learning to play Trumpet especially for the occasion?

[Petrushka]

Didn't Hans Richter play both the Trumpet and Second Viola part at the premiere - learning to play Trumpet especially for the occasion?

I believe that's right. And what a striking entry it is for the trumpet, a moment that Haitink brings off well while too many others seem to have it as just another bit of the texture. It should ring out proudly.

[Petrushka]

I see that Abbado had recorded this! I never knew that and with CoE too!!! Have to investigate! I have a couple of his Schubert with CoE, and they're very good. I have Solti with this lovely work.

This recording has just been released, BBM:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lucerne-Fest...abbado+Lucerne

I had it as part of my birthday CDs but haven't got round to listening to it yet.

[richardfinegold]

Haven't listened to it in a dogs age. NYP/Walter on lp is the only one I ever owned.

[Keraulophone]

This recording has just been released, BBM:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lucerne-Fest...abbado+Lucerne

Download this mp3 Idyll for 79p on the big river.

[CallMePaul]

This is a fairly easy piece to acquire by accident; its just under 20 minutes make it a useful filler for other music of the period and I do wonder how many people go out or browse online specifically with this piece in mind. OK its a pleasant piece and it could be seen as a useful introduction to Wagner, but despite the source of its melodies it is hardly typical of its composer. My main interest is in versions for the original line-up rather than the full orchestral versions made by other hands but I see that choice is very limited. This might well be coupled with, say, Strauss's Metamorphosen and other pieces for a small orchestra rather than with bleeding chunks from Wagner's operas. Unfortunately I will not be able to listen live but may download the podcast later.

Wondering whether many people go looking for this piece has led me to wonder how pieces are chosen for the BaL treatment. Andrew McGregor sometimes asks us to suggest new releases for inclusion in the programme, but I have never heard him ask for BaL suggestions. Looking at the choice for the season coming to an end I detect the hand of senior R3 management in the choice, not just the CD Review production team. In particular, tie-ins with R3 seasons, anniversaries etc lead me to this view. Would suggestions from listeners be welcomed or would they simply be filed in a recycling bin? I can certainly think of a few offbeat choices - recent browsing led me to realise that there are at least 6 versions of Ligeti's string quartets available out there, with no guidance on "best buy" available anywhere short of trawling through years of Gramophone reviews. This would make an ideal BaL and I am sure that most of its listeners would not be put off by a "difficult" composer. I hope that the new R3 Controller, whoever he or she may be, will allow more adventurous programming in BaL and CD Review in general.