Wolfram, according to John Lucas, Klemperer's recording is of the original 13-instrument version. Indeed ,he is said to have refused on more than one occasion to conduct the orchestral expanded version.
Whie I accept that the original has its authority,as it was intended to be a private work, I prefer larger performances as I feel the music needs it, and is constricted by a chamber ensemble. I've just listened to Karl Muck's 1929 recording with the Berlin State Opera Orchestra, recorded in the old Philharmonie. It certainly sounds like a sizeable string section. Now Muck was a Wagner purist, who refused to record the Good Friday Music when it was proposed to have two side-breaks. He even looked like Wagner , short , with a prominent cranium and incisive jaw. I think his and Toscanini's recordings are good advocacy for the fuller version.
Whie I accept that the original has its authority,as it was intended to be a private work, I prefer larger performances as I feel the music needs it, and is constricted by a chamber ensemble. I've just listened to Karl Muck's 1929 recording with the Berlin State Opera Orchestra, recorded in the old Philharmonie. It certainly sounds like a sizeable string section. Now Muck was a Wagner purist, who refused to record the Good Friday Music when it was proposed to have two side-breaks. He even looked like Wagner , short , with a prominent cranium and incisive jaw. I think his and Toscanini's recordings are good advocacy for the fuller version.
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