BaL 18.06.11 - Wagner: Tristan & Isolde

[ostuni]

It's already listed on Presto (who helpfully publish the BaL winners on Saturday mornings) at £22.50. They also give the barcode: putting that into Google brings up the unlikely source of Argos, who have it at £16.93.

[Flosshilde]

Just found the Margaret Price/Renee Kollo recording (which I think RV quite liked, but thought it 'lacked warmth') on MDT for £12.60 - worth buying even if I am unsure about MP's voice.

http://www.mdt.co.uk/MDTSite/pages/product/product.asp?ctgry=&prod=4775355&cookie%5Ftest=1

[Mandryka]

Just found the Margaret Price/Renee Kollo recording (which I think RV quite liked, but thought it 'lacked warmth') on MDT for £12.60 - worth buying even if I am unsure about MP's voice.

http://www.mdt.co.uk/MDTSite/pages/p...ookie%5Ftest=1

I wouldn't hesitate, if I were you: although I can understand the reservations some people have about this recording, the first time I heard it, it really did feel like I was listening to the score anew. An essentail recording, I'd say.

[Flosshilde]

I know, but I'd like to have a DVD too - can I afford both?

[Mandryka]

I know, but I'd like to have a DVD too - can I afford both?

If you scout around a little, you'll find the Barenboim/Meier DVD for about a tenner online - it's probably a better bet than the Met one, as the leads look younger and slimmer (it's Heppner and Eaglen at the Met); and the Kleiber can be picked up for around the same price, if you're prepared to look around.

[Flosshilde]

Mandryka, you , tempting me like that

[ardcarp]

I too found Margaret Price's Isolde very beautiful. I do understand that a real opera buff would want someone who had a beefier voice and who had trodden the boards with it. I see why Kleiber made that unorthodox choice though.

There seemed to be a little paradox in BAL. Andrew McG announced Tristan (-esque harmony and all that) as having a profound effect on music, changing its historical course, etc, etc, whereas Roger V, shortly into his piece, dismissed such notions as 'twaddle'. I must say my view lies with Andrew's!

[Osborn]

... as I am a fan of Waltraud Meier.

That's not difficult. She always gives 101%, her stage presence & acting are incredible, her mezzo/soprano voice is wonderfully expressive & above all she looks gorgeous!

[BBMmk2]

I have the Barenboim on DVD.I think rather good?

[DracoM]

Would find Waltraud Meier and Siegfried Jerusalem pretty hard on the ear for X hours. Not for me, I fear.

[Mandryka]

That's not difficult. She always gives 101%, her stage presence & acting are incredible, her mezzo/soprano voice is wonderfully expressive & above all she looks gorgeous!

I once heard someone refer to her as Ginger Spice! :)

[StephenO]

I once heard someone refer to her as Ginger Spice! :)

Well, I agree about her being gorgeous. But so's Ginger Spice!

I've being looking for another Tristan to add to Bohm and was wondering why Furtwangler on the EMI reissue is over £3 cheaper (on Amazon, anyway) than Naxos's reissue. As far as I can tell it's the same recording and the more expensive Naxos doesn't have a libretto, just a synopsis.

[Flosshilde]

I have the Barenboim on DVD.I think rather good?

I've just watched the liebestod on YouTube - apart from the usual video director's habit of cutting away from the stage before the music's finished, we get a shot of Barenboim in the pit for the last bars - & then wincing/grimacing at the first 'bravo'. Fair enough - it does ring out almost as the music finishes, but I'd rather not have the final image Barenboim pulling faces - I'd rather stay with the stage.
The other suggested DVD - the Glyndebourne production - closes with the camera pulling back leaving Isolde a dwindling figure. A much more static staging, but more satisfying, I think. & I like the permanent abstract set more than La Scala's grim brick walls. & Nina Stemme is no slouch as Isolde

[Mandryka]

Well, I agree about her being gorgeous. But so's Ginger Spice!

I've being looking for another Tristan to add to Bohm and was wondering why Furtwangler on the EMI reissue is over £3 cheaper (on Amazon, anyway) than Naxos's reissue. As far as I can tell it's the same recording and the more expensive Naxos doesn't have a libretto, just a synopsis.

Go for the EMI: it's remastered from the original source tapes (which EMI still own), whereas the Naxos is sourced from vinyl sides. I haven't heard the Naxos, but the EMI is the one to go for, I'd say.


Flossie....the Glyndebourne production is excellent. I saw it when it was shown in cinemas back in 2008. The production is admirably straightforward and nothing is allowed to distract from the drama. The only downside is financial....iirc, it costs more than double that of the Barenboim DVD.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

... whereas the Naxos is sourced from vinyl sides.

I do hope so.

The EMI version is indeed very good.I have the Great Recordings of the Century version.