Search - Richard [Classical] Wagner, Arturo Toscanini, NBC Symphony Orchestra :: Wagner: Orchestral Excerpts

Incandescent Drama

Doug - Haydn Fan | California | 03/27/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Toscanini was always hugely admired in Wagner and the more dramatic moments in this release more than justifiy its issuance. Nobody gets anything like this sort of intensity out of an orchestra these days - about the closest I've heard recently was Abbado in Mussorgsky - a not to be missed event should you ever get the chance. The same blazing excitement - and I don't mean in the hackneyed sense - one hears when Toscanini conducts Verdi or Rossini is equally apparent and on vivid display when he performs Wagner.

People try to knock Tosanini - don't take them seriously if they bad mouth him in Wagner - the high points are just too great to indulge the petty criticisms.

Although these are not anything like modern digital they are much better than the rather faint studio broadcasts of the thirties and are imbued with a deeper darker quality; flashing scenes in a dream or nightmare.

The Parsifal music is second nature to Toscanini - he was leading the Italian premieres of Siegfried and Gotterdamerung before the Wright brothers ever got off the ground! Toscanini was the first non-German invited to conduct at Bayreuth - where his Parsifal performances ran very long - though nobody left bored, as they do today despite much faster performances. He also performed selections from Parsifal throughout his very long concert career.

If you still have doubts try the first sample."