Search - Richard [Classical] Wagner, Bruno Walter, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra :: Wagner: Walküre Act 1

Magnificently lyrical and passionate

cdsullivan@massed.net | Cambridge, MA USA | 01/14/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Made in Vienna in 1935, this recording of probably the most popular act of the Ring Cycle has always been the benchmark. It employs three unbelievable singers, under the glorious conducting of Bruno Walter. The sound is miraculous for the time period, and the only negative thing I can think of to say about it is that they should have recorded the whole opera, or better yet, the whole cycle. (There was a recording of Act II made, with cuts, a couple years later, with the three singers in Act I, plus Walter for most of the act, employing Seidler-Winker for the rest; Hans Hotter shares the role of Wotan with Alfred Jerger; Brünnhilde is split, as well.)Lauritz Melchior is unquestionably the greatest Heldentenor who ever lived. Here he is in fabulous voice, even by his standards, and he is so much more involved and intelligent when he is working with a great conductor than with the likes of Edwin McArthur. He has secure legato, excellent diction, and portrays the character more movingly than anyone I have ever heard. Add this to his brilliant, powerful, beautiful voice, and you have a peerless Siegmund. Lotte Lehmann is just as fabulous as Melchior. She has a very beautiful voice ideal for Sieglinde: solid at the core but soft-edged, and she too has model diction and excellent legato. She sometimes doesn't sing as softly as she should, as in her first few lines, but she makes up for this with her singing in the big moments towards the end of the act. Emanuel List, the Austrian bass, can't quite match the standard set by Melchior and Lehmann, but you can't blame him for that. He has a very dark, resonant voice, but he is not ideally steady. But when he sings "Wie gleicht er dem Weibe" or "Mich dünkt, von dem wehrlichen Pahr," or any of the other memorable lines throughout the act, all vocal problems are forgotten. He IS Hunding, and not an opera singer pretending to be Hunding. His only serious rival on disc is Martti Talvela for Karajan.And finally, we come to the conducting of Bruno Walter. Helped by the radiant playing of the Vienna Philharmonic, he conjures up Wagner's unique world of blended sound and emotion like no one else on record. He is as warm and lyrical as is possible, but realizes all the drama, and never goes over the top. He also shows a command of the structure of the act that eludes modern conductors. He is a great conductor. At mid price, this is a fabulous bargain, and we must hope that EMI will make it more widely available in the US, because this is a performance to good for any music lover to be without."

Lehmann, Melchior and Bruno Walter at their Peak.

John Austin | Kangaroo Ground, Australia | 10/18/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Who do you think ought to be remembered as the 20 greatest singers of the century?" This question was put to a distinguished panel of music critics recently. When their answers were pooled, the three highest rating sopranos were Flagstad, Callas and Lotte Lehmann. So what can be found amongst the recordings that remain of the German soprano Lotte Lehmann that best justifies this high rating? I believe she can be heard at her best in this recording of the first act of "Die Walküre" made in Vienna in 1935. It preserves one of her most famous operatic portrayals. Few Sieglindes have conveyed so much in their singing: first an eager curiosity, then a guarded welcome, a wondrous admiration, an intensity in the narration, and finally an impassioned ecstasy. Such singing lives on in the listener's memory. Melchior is also represented at his best, but the hero of the proceedings is the conductor Bruno Walter. Under Walter's direction the performance has a sweep, a warmth, a glow and a tenderness that I have never heard equalled. Listeners coming to this performance for the first time via this CD might think that artificial resonance has been added. This is not so. The recording was made in a large Vienna concert hall. At the same recording sessions, all sections of the second act of "Die Walküre" involving Sieglinde were recorded. These were later incorporated into a composite "complete" recording of Act Two, completed with different forces under a different conductor in Berlin in 1938, only Melchior's Siegmund being common to both cast lists."

One of the All-Time Great Opera Recordings

Tom Moran | New York, NY United States | 01/16/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Act I of Die Walkure is a very self-contained unit within Wagner's four-opera Der Ring des Nibelungen, and plays well on its own. You don't need to know any more of the story to appreciate this intimate chamber drama. The Vienna Phiharmonic is at the top of their pre-war game, and Bruno Walter conducts briskly and beautifully (since this recording was originally put out on 78s, it zips along at a pace that some of today's narcoleptic conductors would do well to emulate). Emanuel List is an appropriately menacing Hunding, and Lotte Lehmann is the embodiment of aching passionate intensity as Sieglinde.But this recording belongs to Lauritz Melchior, who is little short of awe-inspiring as Siegmund. Don't believe me? Try listening to Track 8, where Melchior delivers "Ein Schwert verhiess mir der Vater" with an intensity that few if any singers have ever been able to manage. Melchior was to opera singers what Babe Ruth was to baseball players, and this recording catches his voice at its absolute peak.Keith Hardwick's transfer is up to his usual high standard, and the price is right. So you really have no excuse not to buy this CD. If you've ever been at all curious about Wagner or the Ring Cycle, this CD is just about the perfect introduction. It doesn't get better than this."