Many thanks for your thoughts, Jose. I have heard that the Young and Weigle cycles are very well conducted but the singers are of variable quality. You mention Klaus Florian Vogt; I have an excellent DVD of Lohengrin (conducted by Kent Nagano) with Vogt in the title role and he is indeed wonderful - there is something of the purity of Jess Thomas about the way he approaches this character. I have been very curious about his portrayal of Walther in Die Meistersinger (under Weigle at Bayreuth). The excellent Michael Volle also appears in this production as Beckmesser. Volle gave a warmly sympathetic performance of this character at Zurich under Franz Welser-Most (a production which also boasts Jose van Dam's sage Hans Sachs). Too often, this character is relegated to a mere stereotype but there is much more to it than that.Jose Echenique wrote:I only bought the Janowski Flying Dutchman and the Lohengrin, and I was mighty disappointed with the Lohengrin, it´s just not very good. I had high hopes for it because I really like Klaus Florian Vogt, who next to Jonas Kaufmann are my current favourite Wagner tenors. Vogt sings very well, but everything else, including the conducting are not that good. Even the sound is not totally satisfactory, but so far I have heard good things of the Parsifal and the Tristan, maybe I´ll investigate them in the future.mcq wrote:The Barenboim version was recently released belatedly on DVD and I do intend to purchase it as soon as possible. Jerusalem was always one of the most charismatic Heldentenors and his Siegfried for Barenboim was very special. I do own Horst Stein's very fine version of Parsifal from Bayreuth on DVD with Jerusalem in the title role. He really does seem to bring a kind of childlike innocence to the role. Meier appears as Kundry in Nagano's version on DVD and she is an extremely powerful and vivid presence, which is just what you want with this extraordinary creation of Wagner's (indeed, in the operatic repertoire, only Debussy's Melisande comes close as a depiction of a wild and ultimately unknowable character - completely different repertoire, I know, but both characters are primal forces of nature, apparently beyond human understanding).
By the way, Jose, have you heard Marek Janowski's Parsifal on Pentatone? All of his Wagner recordings have been very well reviewed in recent years. I'm also curious about Simone Young's and Sebastian Weigle's Ring cycles on Oehms. Have you heard anything from their respective cycles?
I didn´t invest in the Simone Young Ring, but I did buy the Sebastian Weigle. Die Walküre is amazing, especially the white hot First Act with real husband and wife as the Völsung twins. The Frankfurt orchestra is very good, and the fact that it was recorded live in a relatively small theatre helps the singers a lot. Having said that, the other 3 operas are not as successful. Certainly a better Siegfried was needed, and the Brünnhilde is also found wanting in Götterdämmerung and in the awakening duet in Siegfried. I can only recommend Die Walküre, but if you decide to invest on it be warned that the other 3 are nowhere as enjoyable.
Another off main street Parsifal that I enjoyed a lot is Jaap van Zweden´s in the Challenge Classics label. There you can also hear Klaus Florian Vogt in the title role, his voice is rare, at first it sounds like a very lyrical instrument maybe not fit for Wagner, but when power is needed he somehow founds it and delivers the goods. The Kundry is also excellent, Katarina Dalayman, who made such a good impression in the Hallé Götterdämmerung. The Gurnemaz is Robert Holl, a former Bach specialist, and even though he was disappointing in Baremboim´s Meistersinger, here he is just fine. But best of all is the superb playing of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, an excellent orchestra, and van Zweden conducts a sure and expert performance. This Parsifal may not be in the Karajan or Knapertsbusch class, but it´s very, very good.
You also mention Jonas Kaufmann. I'm looking forward to acquiring his new Wagner recital with Donald Runnicles. I haven't heard his Lohengrin under Nagano nor his recent Siegmund under Levine. I think his performance of Florestan in Fidelio is unmatched (I have both a DVD of the Zurich production under Harnoncourt as well as Abbado's recording on DG) by any other tenor I have heard (except, of course, for Jon Vickers). I'm very curious about his performance in Humperdinck's Konigskinder (under Metzmacher at Zurich) which was released as a Decca DVD. However, I wish he would devote some more time to lieder. His performances of lieder by Richard Strauss (for Harmonia Mundi) as well as Schubert's Die Schone Mullerin are exceptional, in my view. But the man's still young and there's plenty of time.
I must investigate the new Parsifal on Challenge Classics, if only for Vogt. I'm also tempted by this label's recent recording of Richard Strauss's Elektra under Marc Albrecht.
