Search - Wagner, Melchior, Traubel :: Melchior & Traubel Sing Wagner

Classic voices, good orchestral support, excellent Wagner. .

Steven A. Peterson | Hershey, PA (Born in Kewanee, IL) | 03/20/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What a wonderful CD! And no one to this point has reviewed it? Toscanini conducts the excellent NBC Symphony Orchestra, with Lauritz Melchior (one of the great "heldentenors") and Helen Traubel singing the roles of Siegmund and Sieglinde respectively, in excerpts from Wagner's "Ring."



Act 1, Scene 3 may be one of the best things that Wagner ever created. Melchior begins by singing of his dilemma. His strong, heroic voice is well displayed. When he sings of his father, the poignancy and plaintiveness of his voice is clear with his ringing "Walse." This is a powerful start to the great duet.



Traubel (as Sieglinde) responds with her stirring "Der Manner Sippe," in which she describes her state and the visit of s stranger who left a sword. Many had tried to wrest it free, but had failed. There is poignancy, again, as she sings of the situation. And a wonderful voice she exhibits. She shows off a strong, rich voice, well suited for her character. Her lower register is tied nicely to higher notes.



Melchior (as Siegmund) responds with his elegiac "Wintersturme." His stentorian tone fits this segment of the scene most nicely. The orchestra plays well behind him, but his voice is never overwhelmed by the orchestration.



Traubel responds with "Du bist der Lenz." A well sung version, with her rich voice doing justice to this piece. The dramatic tension of this scene continues to build, as Sieglinde "raises the ante" with Siegmund. Haunting leitmotifs of the bigger picture of the gods and their plans emerge toward the end of this.



Melchior begins a response with "Ein Minnetraum," but this lovely fragment gets cut off as Sieglinde begins to see things as they are. Sieglinde's "O stille" signals the beginning of a slowly building tension until the dramatic finale. Her "Doch nein" until the end of the scene moves toward a wonderful crescendo. With this, Sieglinde is coming to the haunting realization of who Siegmund really is. The singing is ravishing, as she asks a series of questions of Siegmund and gets the answers that she expects--such as the name of Siegmund's father, "Walse," and his own real, proper name. The back and forth between Melchior and Traubel is affecting, with the orchestral support behind them. And Siegmund pulls the mighty sword, placed there by his father, from its moorings. The music swells.



Then, the finale, with Siegmund and Sieglinde realizing who they are and deciding that that makes no difference, as their love transcends normal bounds. Powerful stuff; Wagner at his best in one of the great scenes from all of opera.



There are also two other scenes on this CD, the dawn in "Gotterdammerung" through Siegfried's Rhine Journey; the Immolation scene at the conclusion of the opera (and the entire "Ring").



This is well worth acquiring for its classic Wagnerian "Ring" works.

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