Wagner: Wesendonk-Lieder; Vorspiel & Liebestod aus :Tristan und Isolde"

1. Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90 Prelude
Composed by Richard Wagner
Performed by London Symphony Orchestra with Jessye Norman
Conducted by Sir Colin Davis

2. Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90 Isoldes Liebestod
Composed by Richard Wagner
Performed by London Symphony Orchestra with Jessye Norman
Conducted by Sir Colin Davis

3. Wesendonk Lieder, songs (5) for voice & piano (or orchestra), WWV 91 Der Engel
Composed by Richard Wagner
Performed by London Symphony Orchestra , Felix Mottl with Jessye Norman
Conducted by Sir Colin Davis

4. Wesendonk Lieder, songs (5) for voice & piano (or orchestra), WWV 91 Stehe still
Composed by Richard Wagner
Performed by London Symphony Orchestra , Felix Mottl with Jessye Norman
Conducted by Sir Colin Davis

5. Wesendonk Lieder, songs (5) for voice & piano (or orchestra), WWV 91 Im Treibhaus
Composed by Richard Wagner
Performed by London Symphony Orchestra , Felix Mottl with Jessye Norman
Conducted by Sir Colin Davis

6. Wesendonk Lieder, songs (5) for voice & piano (or orchestra), WWV 91 Schmerzen
Composed by Richard Wagner
Performed by London Symphony Orchestra , Felix Mottl with Jessye Norman
Conducted by Sir Colin Davis

7. Wesendonk Lieder, songs (5) for voice & piano (or orchestra), WWV 91 Träume
Composed by Richard Wagner
Performed by London Symphony Orchestra , Felix Mottl with Jessye Norman
Conducted by Sir Colin Davis

Wagner: Wesendonk-Lieder; Vorspiel & Liebestod aus :Tristan und Isolde",Richard Wagner,Sir Colin Davis,Felix Mottl,London Symphony Orchestra,Jessye Norman,Polygram Records,Classical,Classical Music,German/Austrian Romantic Opera,Opera,Opera / Operetta / Oratorio,Solo Voice(s) and Orchestra,Vocal

Strauss: Four Last Songs; Wagner: Prelude & Liebestod
Average customer rating:

Cheryl Studer's masterly interpretations...

Superb Strauss and Wagner From Studer, Sinopoli and Dresden

Why is this not more famous?

A very deeply felt rendition!

Strauss: Four Last Songs; Wagner: Prelude & Liebestod

Manufacturer: Polygram Int'l
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Four Last Songs / Orchestral Songs

Strauss: Ein Heldenleben - Four Last Songs / Auger, Previn

ASIN: B000001GLT
Release Date: 1994-05-25

Tracks:

Four Last Songs: Fruhling
Four Last Songs: September
Four Last Songs: Beim Schlafengehen
Four Last Songs: Im Abendrot
Five Poems for Female Voice: Der Engel
Five Poems for Female Voice: Stehe still!
Five Poems for Female Voice: Im Treibhaus
Five Poems for Female Voice: Schmerzen
Five Poems for Female Voice: Traume
Tristan & Isolde: Vorspiel zum I. Aufzug
Tristan & Isolde: Isoldes Liebestod

Customer Reviews:

Cheryl Studer's masterly interpretations..........2002-08-09

This recording of the 4 Last Songs, the Wesendock Lieder and the Isolde Liebestod are unmatched in their expressiveness, phrasing and intelligent interpretations. Studer's work with Sinopoli and the Dresden Staatskapelle is perfect in every respect. I have listened to respective performances by Gundula Janowitz and Jessye Norman, but find that Studer is for me the preferred "voice" in these classics for voice,piano and orchestra.

I have collected many of Cheryl Studer's recordings for many years, and cannot understand why they are not more available.
For example her Schubert recital album (with pianist Irwin Gage) and her "Cheryl Studer in Salzburg", both issued on the Deutsche Grammophon label, display her versatility in the lieder and operatic repertoires.

The most anticipated moment for me when listening to the Strauss is the opening of "Fruhling" with the orchestral prelude followed ever so elegantly by Studer's first notes. Beautiful and strangely calming every time I listen to it. I never tire of her eloquent readings in this material, and I know you too will enjoy this work for many years.

Superb Strauss and Wagner From Studer, Sinopoli and Dresden.......2001-11-24

I'm not surprised that this excellent CD has garnered critical acclaim in publications such as the Grammophone Guide to Classical CDs. Cheryl Studer's intense interpretation of Strauss' "Four Last Songs" is a warm, exciting rendition; perhaps the finest ever recorded. She is ably supported by Sinopoli and the Dresden Staatskapelle. Sinopoli leads the Staatskapelle in a warm, leisurely performance of this work as well as the two orchestral excerpts from Wagner's operatic music. These are replete with vibrant, excellent playing from this great orchestra whose familiarity with both composers' music is second to none. The sound quality is absolutely first rate.

Why is this not more famous?.......2001-11-16

Strauss' Vier Letzte Lieder are works of such mastery the final word can never be said. I find myself collecting as many recordings as my budget will permit, exploring the endless insights and emotional experiences provided by the worlds best sopranos who, it seems, line up to have their say on this music.

This disc has recently become my ninth recording of the Strauss (and I have listened to seven others besides) and third recording of Wagner's Wessendonck Lieder. Studer need not fear - this disc stands glowingly against all comparisons.

The history of the Strauss lieder has been dominated by the still-unsurpassed interpretive insight of Elizabeth Schwarzkopf. Many an argument on the best recording of these songs has revolved around the question of whether her 1953 recording with Ackermann or her 1965 rendition with Szell should take that mantle! At the end of the day, one need not pit one against the other - both are sublime and carry their own authority. Among the Wagnerians (who recall the premiere of the songs by Flagstad), Norman's interpretation with Masur has quickly and rightfully become a classic. In another category again, the most famous exponent of the voice-as-instrument view is the Janowitz/Karajan; although I think this recording is surpassed in this style by the divine Arleen Auger/Previn disc on Telarc.

This Studer disc, however, bodes well against that competition, simply because, more than any of the alternatives, she combines all the strengths of those classics. Her interpretative insight and phrasing is almost as good as Schwarzkopf (only Lucia Popp otherwise comes close), her voice large, lush & Wagnerian like Norman's but honed down to a vocal line as lovely as Arleen Auger's, if not quite as pure. The Dresden Staatskapelle and Sinopoli are equal to the best alternatives, always sympathetic. At 20'52; this is the fastest rendition I own aside from the Schwarzkopf/Ackermann at about 19 & ½ minutes, but Sinopoli chooses balanced & natural tempos, giving the music ample room to breathe, without dragging it out unnecessarily (as I think Masur with Norman at 25 minutes (!) does, similarly the Karajan/Janowitz).

I hope I haven't exhausted all my superlatives on the Strauss, because I need some for the Wessendonck-Lieder! This is the best rendition of these songs I have ever heard - only Jane Eaglen provides me with as much enjoyment as Studer. Which lady's voice is more beautiful? Even Jessye Norman is left in the shade in these songs by Studer's caress of every phrase, careful vocal line, her light and shadow interplay with the Sinopoli and the Staatskapelle.

To make this disc even more extraordinary, Sinopoli takes the Staatskapelle through a transporting Tristan Prelude before Studer does a fine job of the Liebestod to bring the recital to a close. Why is this disc not more famous? Perhaps it has been lost in a catalogue of dozens of recent renditions of the Strauss, but all lovers of this repertoire (and this sublime soprano) should 'discover' this disc - they surely cannot be disappointed.

A very deeply felt rendition!.......1999-08-01

I was introduced to 'Four Last Songs' through this redition of Cheryl Studer. I have come to love the depth and the poetry the content of the songs and have subsequently listened to several other recordings. To me, this is the one which seems to be the simplest and yet the most moving and deeply felt! I would strongly recommend it to anyone who wants an introduction to the music of Richard Strauss.

Julia Varady ~ Wagner - Wesendonck-Lieder, Tristan und Isolde, Götterdämmerung

Average customer rating:

Beautiful
Magnificent performance
Varady v. Fischer Dieskau: He wins, we lose
Best recording of the Wesendonk Lieder since Janet Baker's.

Julia Varady ~ Wagner - Wesendonck-Lieder, Tristan und Isolde, Götterdämmerung

Manufacturer: Orfeo
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Operettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
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Wagner: The "Ring" Without Words

ASIN: B000007TLQ
Release Date: 2000-09-16

Tracks:

Funf Lieder Nach Gedichten Von Mathilde: Der Engel
Funf Lieder Nach Gedichten Von Mathilde: Stehe Still
Funf Lieder Nach Gedichten Von Mathilde: Im Treibhaus
Funf Lieder Nach Gedichten Von Mathilde: Schmerzen
Funf Lieder Nach Gedichten Von Mathilde: Tre
Tristan und Isolde: Vorspiel Zum 1. Aufzug
Tristan und Isolde: Mild Und Leise - Isoldes Liebestod
Tristan und Isolde: Siegfrieds Rheinfahrt
Tristan und Isolde: Starke Scheite Richtet Mir Dort - Brdes Schlussgesang

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful.......2004-01-03

Julia Varady's account of the Immolation & Liebestod is one of the most beautiful I've ever heard. She certainly stands up with the legends - Birgit Nilsson, Christa Ludwig, Jessye Norman, Eileen Farrell, Cheryl Studer. Yes, her voice is not as powerful but it is very beautiful and characterful - there's passion infused in every phrase which makes it so uniquely satisfying. A great addition to your library.

As for FD's conducting, it's not bad as the reviewer below stated. FD's principle is that he accompanies the singer. And the voice is not an obbligato to the orchestra. So naturally, he adjusts accordingly. I think it's superb. In fact, better than some more famous conductors have done.

Magnificent performance.......2003-12-30

This recital disc was made in 1997. It is amazing how Varady's voice is so pure and beautiful. Simply amazing. Her account of the Immolation scene and Liebestod is among the finest ever made!! This disc was nominated for a Gramophone award, and it sure deserves its nomination. A magnificent achievement.

Varady v. Fischer Dieskau: He wins, we lose.......2000-09-13

This disc has been warmly welcomed for Julia Varady's singing of the traditional "big" Wagner roles. Her voice, with its mezzo-ish tint and less than apocalyptic grandeur, would probably not work in a huge house but manages in the studio. But what has not been commented on is the accompaniment by her husband, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. It's plodding and leaden, like a metronome on barbiturates. The extended orchestral ending of the Immolation scene is doled out like bites of slow death. You just can't wait for it to end. And so one wonders how Varady would fare with a top-flight conductor who was not so uxoriously (and ill-advisedly) devoted; it might be relevatory (one way or t'other), like hearing Joan Sutherland when she sang with conductors other than hubby Richard Bonynge. By all means sample Varady's Wagner, but for a thrilling account of the Wesendoncks, try the always underrated Astrid Varnay -- though a few recent releases have started her reputation on the way back up to Valhalla.

Best recording of the Wesendonk Lieder since Janet Baker's........1999-05-04

Rumanian soprano Julia Varady has long been famed for her performances of Strauss, Mozart, and Verdi, but here, recorded late in her illustrious career--she retired from the stage last year--she shows herself to be the day's preeminent Wagnerian soprano. No thundering Nilsson or Flagstad she: Her voice is slender and gleaming in the silver-toned manner of Gundala Janowitz and she uses it with a Schwarzkopf-like intelligence that doesn't preclude deep emotional warmth and a heady spontaneity. The Wesendonk Lieder receive their finest recorded performance since Janet Baker's famous--and sadly unavailable--recording from the sixties. Varady pays scrupulous heed to musical values while articulating the text with an unemphatic attention to detail and an unexaggerated understanding of meaning worthy of her husband, the great lieder singer Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who here conducts the Desutches Symphony Orchestra in a glowing but clear-eyed and resolutely unsentimental accompaniment. As if this weren't enough, Varady, who would never sing Brunnhilde or Isolde on stage, gives thrilling accounts of both heroines final scenes--warm, womanly, cutting through the orchestral textures with rapturously beautiful, unstinting, and unstrained tone. Altogether a disk for every Wagnerian and every lover of the art of singing to treasure.

Wagner: Wesendonk-Lieder; Vorspiel & Liebestod aus :Tristan und Isolde"

Average customer rating:

A rave
Unbelievable

Wagner: Wesendonk-Lieder; Vorspiel & Liebestod aus :Tristan und Isolde"

Manufacturer: Polygram Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Norman, Jessye | Divas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000040X3
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

Tristan und Isolde: Prelude - Vorspiel - Prelude
Tristan und Isolde: Isoldes Liebestod - Mort d' Isolde
Wesendonk-Lieder: Five Poems By Mathilde Wesendonk: Der Engel
Wesendonk-Lieder: Five Poems By Mathilde Wesendonk: Stehe still
Wesendonk-Lieder: Five Poems By Mathilde Wesendonk: Im Treibhaus
Wesendonk-Lieder: Five Poems By Mathilde Wesendonk: Schmerzen
Wesendonk-Lieder: Five Poems By Mathilde Wesendonk: 5. Traume

Customer Reviews:

A rave.......2003-02-17

I've never heard a more thrilling account of this music than this recording of the Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde. Norman really makes you believe the erotic anguish that drives this piece, and the orchestral work is ravishing as well.

Unbelievable.......2000-01-27

This is an unbelievable disc. Norman's voice is suited to this repertoire very well and the largeness of her voice is evident in this performance. I could listen to the Liebestod over and over again. The climatic moment of the piece will give you goosebumps, it is just such a powerful piece of music and Norman and Colin Davis are quite sensitive to dynamics, phrasing, and tempo. This disc shows off the beauty of Norman's voice to the maximum.