BaL 30.09.17 - Wagner: Wesendonck Lieder

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

0930
Building a Library: Natasha Loges recommends the best recording of Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder. These five settings of poems by Mathilde Wesendonck were written in the late 1850s, when Wagner was staying by their villa in Zurich. He'd fallen deeply in love with Mathilde and although no one knows what really happened between them, the mutual infatuation certainly contributed to the intensity in the creation of his opera Tristan und Isolde. Nested within that opera are these five songs steeped in yearning and lust which share the motifs of night and day, the sun and the sea.

Available versions:

Dame Janet Baker (mezzo-soprano), Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
Dame Janet Baker (mezzo-soprano), London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult
Agnes Baltsa (mezzo-soprano), London Symphony Orchestra, Jeffrey Tate
Stephanie Blythe, A Sei Voci & Ensemble Orchestral De Paris, John Nelson (download)
Michelle Breedt (soprano), Vienna String Sextet (download)
Régine Crespin (soprano)
Christine Brewer (soprano), Roger Vignoles (piano)
Measha Brueggergosman (soprano), Cleveland Orchestra, Franz Welser-Most (download)s
Heidi Brunner (mezzo-soprano)
Maria Bulgakova (soprano), Andrej Hoteev (piano)
Susan Bullock (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
Tatjana Conrad (mezzo), Andrea Marie Baiocchi (piano)
Margareta Dellefors (soprano)
Helena Dose (soprano), Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Sixten Ehrling (download)
Jane Eaglen (soprano), London Symphony Orchestra, Donald Runnicles (download)
Eileen Farrell (soprano), New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein (download)
Kirsten Flagstad (soprano), BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Thomas Beecham
Kirsten Flagstad (soprano), Gerald Moore (piano)
Kirsten Flagstad (soprano), Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Oiven Fieldstad (download)
Kirsten Flagstad (soprano), Orchestra of the Städtische Oper Berlin, Georges Sébastian
Kirsten Flagstad (soprano), Symphony of the Air, Edwin McArthur (download)
Kirsten Flagstad (soprano), Wiener Philharmoniker, Hans Knappertsbusch
Kirsten Flagstad, New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Bruno Walter
Maureen Forrester (contralto)
Lisa Gasteen (soprano), West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Simone Young
Nance Grant (soprano) Elisabeth Hanke (contralto), Rousse Philharmonic Orchestra, Niels Borksand
Barbara Holzl (mezzo-soprano), Wurttemberg Philharmonic, Adriano Martinolli D’Arcy
Marilyn Horne (mezzo-soprano)
Konrad Jarnot (baritone) & Alexander Schmalcz (piano)
Jonas Kaufmann (tenor), Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Donald Runnicles
Jonas Kaufmann (tenor), Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Donald Runnicles (Blu-ray audio)
René Kollo (tenor), Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Christian Thielemann
Eszter Kovács (soprano)
Solveig Kringelborn (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano)
Rosemarie Lang (mezzo-soprano), Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, Hans-Peter Frank
Marie-Nicole Lemieux (contralto), Daniel Blumenthal (piano)
Tiana Lemnitz (soprano), Berlin RSO, Leipzig, Hermann Abendroth (download)
Marjana Lipovsek (mezzo-soprano), Wiener Symphoniker, Georges Prêtre
Maureen Forrester (alto), Michael Raucheisen (piano)
Felicity Lott (soprano), Schumann Quartet
Christa Ludwig (mezzo-soprano), Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer
Suzanne McLeod (mezzo-soprano), Le Quatuor RomantiqMaria Maksakova (soprano), Radio Symphony Orchestra Moscow, Nikolai Golovanov
Charlotte Margiono (soprano), Limburg Symphony Orchestra Maastricht, Ed Spanjaard
Waltraud Meier (mezzo), Orchestre de Paris, Daniel Barenboim
Martha Mödl (soprano), Rainer von Zastrow (piano)
Martha Mödl (soprano) Bamberger Symphoniker, Joseph Keilberth
Jard van Nes (mezzo-soprano), Northern Sinfonia, Richard Hickox (download)
Yvonne Naef (mezzo-soprano), Cappella Istropolitana Pilsen Radio Symphony Orchestra, David Heer
Birgit Nilsson (soprano), London Symphony Orchestra, Colin Davis
Jessye Norman (soprano), London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis
Jessye Norman (soprano), James Levine (piano)
Dagmar Pecková (mezzo-soprano), Prague Philharmonia, Jiří Bělohlávek
Adrianne Pieczonka (soprano), Munich Radio Orchestra, Ulf Schirmer
Adrianne Pieczonka (soprano), Brian Zeger (piano)
Margaret Price (soprano) & Graham Johnson (piano)
Anne Renouprez (soprano) & Peter Tomek (piano)
Marianne Rorholm (mezzo-soprano), Randers Chamber Orchestra, David Riddell
Sylvia Sass (soprano), Hungarian State Opera Orchestra,, András Kórodi, János Kovács ****
Michela Sburlati (soprano) & Marco Scolastra (piano)
Gerald Schubert (violin) & Bernadette Bartos (piano)
Anne Schwanewilms (soprano), Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Cornelius Meister
Nina Stemme (soprano), Jozef De Beenhouwer (piano) (download)
Nina Stemme (soprano), Wiener Philharmoniker, Mariss Jansons (DVD/Blu-ray)
Nina Stemme (soprano), Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Thomas Dausgaard
Cheryl Studer, Staatskapelle Dresden, Giuseppe Sinopoli (download)
Tamara Takacs (mezzo-soprano), Jeno Jando (piano)
Indra Thomas (mezzo-soprano), Moscow Virtuosi, Vladimir Spivakov
Suzanne Thorp (soprano), Christoph Kuhlmann (organ)
Ingrid Tobiasson (mezzo-soprano), Royal Swedish Opera Orchestra, Sixten Ehrling
Roman Trekel (baritone) & Oliver Pohl (piano)
Julia Varady (soprano) (DVD/Blu-ray)
Julia Varady (soprano) (Blu-ray audio)
Julia Varady (soprano), Deutsches Symphonieorchester Berlin, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Astrid Varnay (soprano), Bayer Radio Symphony Orchestra, Leopold Ludwig
Malgorzata Walewska (mezzo-soprano), Oskar Jezior (piano) (download)
Maria Riccarda Wesseling (mezzo-soprano), Kammerphilharmonie Graubunden, Marcus Bosch

[Barbirollians]

Sterling work EA - but there is also a Nina Stemme /Swedish Chamber Orchestra /Thomas Dausgaard recording on BIS from 2013- unless it has been deleted already.

I have that one and the Baker/Boult , Norman/Davis , Ludwig/Klemperer and Flagstad/Kna recordings . Probably enough for me with Dame Janet winning by a nose .

[vinteuil]

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... my current favourite : Elisabeth Meyer-Topsøe with the Copenhagen Phil under Hans Norbert Bihlmaier

http://amzn.eu/hOPNN4t

You also get a marvellous Strauss Four Last Songs and more...

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[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

... my current favourite : Elisabeth Meyer-Topsøe with the Copenhagen Phil under Hans Norbert Bihlmaier

http://amzn.eu/hOPNN4t

You also get a marvellous Strauss Four Last Songs and more...

Ah, yes - IIRC, Caliban was also very enthusiastic about the Strauss on that disc. (Is there anything else on the disc? Seems a very short running time if the Wagner and Strauss are the only works on it.)

I have only the Baker/Boult recording in my collection - so I shall listen to the (wonderfully-appropriately-named) Ms Loges' comment with great interest.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

http://www.rcm.ac.uk/research/people/details/?id=01817

[vinteuil]

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The Meyer-Topsøe also has the Strauss Zueignung and Morgen. Total time 49:34.

Verb: sap: - there's one secondhand copy going cheap on amazon. Snap it up now!

[Nick Armstrong]

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... my current favourite : Elisabeth Meyer-Topsøe with the Copenhagen Phil under Hans Norbert Bihlmaier

http://amzn.eu/hOPNN4t

You also get a marvellous Strauss Four Last Songs and more...

.

She's wonderful, what a great disc that is. Possibly my favourite Four Last Songs of all.

Ah, yes - IIRC, Caliban was also very enthusiastic about the Strauss on that disc.

You certainly do RC

[Nick Armstrong]

Natasha Loges

[Stanfordian]

Hiya Eine Alpensinfonie,

Unless I've missed it, absent from the list is the excellent 1959 recording from Martha Mödl with the Bamberger Symphoniker under Joseph Keilberth on Profil.

In addition to this Martha Mödl recording I also greatly admire the 1955 Herkulessaal, Munich recording from Astrid Varney with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under Leopold Ludwig on Deutsche Grammophon.

[Richard Tarleton]

What a list! I love this work, but only have one recorded version - Anne Evans at the 1997 Proms, on BBC Music Vol lll no 7. I heard her Brunnhildes (all 3) and Isolde live, her voice combined the necessary heft with a touching vulnerability which made her one of the most interesting Wagnerian sopranos (I have the Barenboim Ring on DVD).

[Petrushka]

To be honest, I never knew that there were so many recordings! I have the Anne Evans BBC MM CD referred to by Richard Tarleton as well as Ludwig/Klemperer. In addition, there is a live 1973 recording which I have from Janet Baker with the Concertgebouw and Bernard Haitink, included in the RCO 125 box.

I'm not expecting to want any more than these.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Many thanks for the updates.

[HighlandDougie]

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The Meyer-Topsøe also has the Strauss Zueignung and Morgen. Total time 49:34.

Verb: sap: - there's one secondhand copy going cheap on amazon. Snap it up now!

Grazie, Vints - with such stellar recommendations from yourself and M'lud, who could resist

[LHC]

The OP includes this:

Jonas Kaufmann (tenor), Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Donald Runnicles (DVD/Blu-ray)

I don't think this can be correct. I can find no record of Kaufmann's performance of the Wesendock lieder appearing on commercial DVD or Blu-ray.

[Conchis]

My choice would be either Ludwig with Klemperer or Norman with Masur.

The verses are undistinguished: I think you could get more out of this song cycle if your German is less than fluent (some people would say that's true of Wagner as a whole).

You could argue that the W.L are the German equivalent of Elgar's Sea Pictures - lovely settings of awesomely ordinary 'poetry'.