Wagner: The Ride of the Valkyries, Overtures and Choruses

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Historian Paul Johnson's insightful liner notes to this reissue of Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries point out that "we can hear singers and musicians swept up together in the spine-tingling experience" of the music. Truly, this is some of the most dizzying music on record, led by Sir George Solti with a wonderful mix of pile- driving Wagnerian energy and strangely exuberant detail. There are numerous important overtures and choruses, with Birgit Nilsson singing "Mild und Leise" from Tristant und Isolde and the Immolation Scene from Götterdämerung. This music has, of course, been assailed as connected to Wagner's anti-Semitism, and that fact provides Johnson for his launch-off: As a child, he couldn't hear Wagner in any context other than the one here, an anthology of overtures and choruses. But Johnson notes that the composer's "undoubtedly unpleasant character" was, in fact, sublimated through the music. Whether that is true will never be clear, but what is now clear is that the music engulfs the listener, and for someone looking for a top-down gloss on Wagner's oeuvre, this is a wonderful CD to spin. --Andrew Bartlett

Tracks:

The Ride of the Valkyries: Prelude: Act 1 - Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg
The Ride of the Valkyries: Begluckt darf nun dich (Pilgrims' Chorus - Tannhauser)
The Ride of the Valkyries: Siegfried's Funeral March
The Ride of the Valkyries: Mild und leise (Liebestod - Tristan and Isolde)
The Ride of the Valkyries: Overture (Der fliegende Hollander)
The Ride of the Valkyries: The Ride of the Valkyries (Die Walkure)
The Ride of the Valkyries: Forest Murmers (Siegfried)
The Ride of the Valkyries: Prelude: Act 3 (Lohengrin)
The Ride of the Valkyries: Treulich gefuhrt ziehet dahin (Bridal Chorus - Lohengrin)
The Ride of the Valkyries: Fliegt heim, ihr Raben? (Immolation Scene - Gotterdammerung)

Amazon.com

Historian Paul Johnson's insightful liner notes to this reissue of Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries point out that "we can hear singers and musicians swept up together in the spine-tingling experience" of the music. Truly, this is some of the most dizzying music on record, led by Sir George Solti with a wonderful mix of pile- driving Wagnerian energy and strangely exuberant detail. There are numerous important overtures and choruses, with Birgit Nilsson singing "Mild und Leise" from Tristant und Isolde and the Immolation Scene from Götterdämerung. This music has, of course, been assailed as connected to Wagner's anti-Semitism, and that fact provides Johnson for his launch-off: As a child, he couldn't hear Wagner in any context other than the one here, an anthology of overtures and choruses. But Johnson notes that the composer's "undoubtedly unpleasant character" was, in fact, sublimated through the music. Whether that is true will never be clear, but what is now clear is that the music engulfs the listener, and for someone looking for a top-down gloss on Wagner's oeuvre, this is a wonderful CD to spin. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful tone.......2006-03-11

I really like this for its sound even if it is an old compilation of favorites. The Birgit Nillson arias are a gift and really spotlight her voice.

The Perfect Wagner Introduction.......2003-12-19

Ever wondered what Wagner sounded like? This is the perfect introduction to Wagner. Excerpts from Solti's famous Wagner sets - Die meistersingers, Tannhauser, Lohengrin, Tristan, The Flying Dutchman and the Ring. For your info, Solti was the only conductor who recorded all of Wagner's mature operas. (Karajan stopped short of Tannhauser).

'Apocalypse Now' fans! THIS IS THE ONE!!!.......2003-01-26

I searched high and low for the exact recording of "Ride of the Valkyries" from Wagner's Die Walküre that was used in Francis Ford Coppola's masterpiece "Apocalypse Now", but had difficulty for many years. BY CHANCE, I found this at a music store, and snagged it -- took it home and listened and was thrilled to find that, as I had thought, it was the very recording I had sought for years!

So now I can die happy! LOL

The rest of the CD is truly excellent. Solti and the Vienna Philharmoic Orchestra made a new watermark for all subsequent performances of Wagner with these recordings.

Since this has what is clearly THE version I was looking for, I recommend this CD heartily to anyone with even a passing interest in Wagner, and obviously for fans of "Apocalypse Now", the search ends here, folks!

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