Composer: Richard Wagner
Performer: Tomasz Konieczny, Iris Vermillion, Robert Dean Smith, Melanie Diener, Timo Riihonen, Petra Lang, Anja Fidelia Ulrich, Fionnuala McCarthy, Heike Wessels, Kismara Pessatti, Carola Hohn, Wilke te Brummelstroete, Nicole Piccolomini, Renate Spingler
Orchestra: Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Marek Janowski
Number of DIscs: 4
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Pentatone
Catalogue: PTC5186407
Release: 2013
Size: 992 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Die Walküre
CD 01
01. Act I: Prelude
02. Act I: Wes Herd dies auch sei, hier muss ich rasten
03 .Act I: Müd am Herd fand ich den Mann
04. Act I: Friedmund darf ich nicht heißen
05. Act I: Ich weiß ein wildes Geschlecht
06. Act I: Ein Schwert verhiess mir der Vater (Siegmund)
07. Act I: Schläfst du, Gast?
08. Act I: Der Männer Sippe sass hier im Saal
09. Act I: Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond
10. Act I: Du bist der Lenz
11. Act I: War Walse dein Vater
12. Act I: Siegmund heiß ich und Siegmund bin ich!
CD 02
01. Act II: Prelude
02. Act II: Nun zäume dein Ross, reisige Maid!
03. Act II: Dir rat’ ich, Vater, ruste dich selbst
04. Act II: Der alte Sturm, die alte Müh’!
05. Act II: So ist es denn aus mit den ewigen Gottern
06. Act II: In wildem Leiden erwuchs er sich selbst
07. Act II: Was verlangst du?
08. Act II: Schlimm, fürcht’ ich, schloss der Streit
09. Act II: O heilige Schmach!
10. Act II: Als junger Liebe Lust mir verblich
11. Act II: O sag, Kunde, was soll nun dein Kind?
12. Act II: Raste nun hier, gönne dir Ruh!
CD 03
01. Act II: Hinweg! Hinweg! Flieh die Entweihte!
02. Act II: Siegmund! Sieh auf mich!
03. Act II: Zauberfest bezahmt ein Schlaf
04. Act II: Kehrte der Vater nur heim!
05. Act II: Wehwalt! Wehwalt!
06. Act II: Geh’ hin, Knecht! Knie vor Fricka
CD 04
01. Act III: Walkürenritt
02. Act II: Hojotoho! hojotoho! Hei a ha!
03. Act III: Schützt mich und helft in höchster Not!
04. Act III: Nicht sehre dich Sorge um mich
05. Act III: So fliehe denn eilig und fliehe allein!
06. Act III: Steh! Brunnhild’!
07. Act III: Wo ist Brunnhild’, wo die Verbrecherin?
08. Act III: Hier bin ich, Vater
09. Act III: War es so schmählich, was ich verbrach
10. Act III: Als Fricka den eignen Sinn dir entfremdet
11. Act III: So tatest du, was so gern zu tun ich begehrt
12. Act III: Wohl taugte dir nicht die tor’ge Maid
13. Act III: Und das ich ihm in Stukke schlug!
14. Act III: Leb’ wohl, du kühnes, herrliches Kind! (Wotan’s Farewell)
15. Act III: Der Augen leuchtendes Paar
16. Act III: Loge, hör’!
This is the 8th release in PentaTone’s successful Wagner Edition and the 2nd one in the Wagner Year.
Das Rheingold is the second release of the cycle: “Der Ring des Nibelungen”.
The last 2 “Ring recordings” will follow in the course of 2013. All the previous releases in the cycle have received overwhelming critical acclaim. Last month our Parsifal recording won a BBC Music Magazine award for technical excellence. The jury report said: “….unquestionably the finest modern version on disc”.
PentaTone’s Wagner Edition is an unprecedented project and we aim at supporting it with a lot of attention in the media.
In the Wagner year there will be a lot of attention to Wagner through articles in the media and performances of his operas. We expect therefore the interest for the PentaTone Edition (especially as a collector’s item) to increase substantially.
Continuing PentaTone’s brilliant super audio series of the music dramas of Richard Wagner, Marek Janowski, and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra present Die Walküre in a thoroughly compelling performance that has stunning multichannel sound. Previous releases in this critically praised series have shown some variability in the reproduction of the live performances, and this 2012 concert reading at the Berlin Philharmonie shows some problems in the direction and volume levels of the voices, but these are perhaps the only weaknesses in what is otherwise a strong rendition. Some members of the cast are by now familiar names to listeners who have followed this series. With Tomasz Konieczny as Wotan, Iris Vermillion as Fricka, PentaTone stalwart Robert Dean Smith as Siegmund, and featuring Petra Lang as Brünnhilde, the leads deliver solid characterizations and their singing rises to the high standards of the previous installments. Also important in the overall excellence of the recording is the riveting playing of the Berlin orchestra, which is fully present, vibrant, and sure to please fans who have enjoyed this ensemble’s tremendous range of timbres, attacks, and dynamics. While this Walküre may not replace the cherished historical recordings of older collectors, it is a remarkable achievement for a modern Wagner production, and all the more stunning for being only the second of the four Ring operas to be released by this label in 2013. As a celebration of Wagner’s bicentennial year, this recording and its companions are a handsome tribute and well worth exploring.