Composer: Richard Wagner
Performer: Christiane Libor, Michael Weinius, Derek Welton
Orchestra: Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine
Conductor: Joseph Swensen, Salvatore Caputo
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Alpha
Catalogue: ALPHA1072
Release: 2024
Size: 2.23 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
CD 01
Das Rheingold, WWV 86A
01. Scene 1: Prelude – Song of the Rhine Maidens (Reworked by Joseph Swensen)
02. Scene 1: Alberich Renounces the Power of Love, Seizes the Rheingold and Forges the Ring (Reworked by Joseph Swensen)
03. Scene 2: Valhalla, Castle of the Gods (Reworked by Joseph Swensen)
04. Scene 2: Wotan and Loge Descend into the Nibelheim (Reworked by Joseph Swensen)
05. Scene 4: Donner Summons the Thunderstorm to Reveal Valhalla (Reworked by Joseph Swensen)
Die Walküre, WWV 86B
06. Act I: Prelude – Thunderstorm, Sieglinde offers Shelter to Siegmund (Reworked by Joseph Swensen)
07. Act I: Love Duet No. 1 – The Incestuous Tryst of Sieglinde and Siegmund (Reworked by Joseph Swensen)
08. Act I: Spring Follows the Winter Storm – Siegmund Acquires His Name and Sword (Reworked by Joseph Swensen)
09. Act II: Prelude – Wotan and Frika Argue over Siegmund’s Immorality (Reworked by Joseph Swensen)
10. Act III: Ride of the Valkyries – Brünnhilde and the Valkyries Retrieve the Souls of the Dead Heroes (Reworked by Joseph Swensen)
11. Act III: Wotan’s Grief over the Disownment of Brünnhilde, He Summons Loge to Set Fire to the Mountain Brünnhilde is to Rest (Reworked by Joseph Swensen)
12. Act III: “He who Fears My Spear, May not Pass this Fire” – Only the Bravest Hero Will Free Brünnhilde (Reworked by Joseph Swensen)
CD 02
Siegfried, WWV 86C
01. Act II: Prelude – The Dragon’s cave (Reworked by Joseph Swensen)
02. Act II: “Du holdes Vöglein” – Siegfried and the woodbirds (Reworked by Joseph Swensen)
03. Act II: Siegfried Battles Fafner the Dragon (Reworked by Joseph Swensen)
04. Act III: Prelude (Reworked by Joseph Swensen)
05. Act III: “Ewig war ich” – Brünnhilde Accepts Siegfried’s Love and Renounces the Glory of the Gods (Reworked by Joseph Swensen)
Götterdämmerung, WWV 86D
06. Prologue: Sunrise (Reworked by Joseph Swensen)
07. Prologue: Love Duet No. 2 – Siegfried’s Flight into the Wilderness (Reworked by Joseph Swensen)
08. Prologue: Brünnhilde Urges Him to Keep Their Love to Mind (Reworked by Joseph Swensen)
09. Act II: Hagen Summons the Gibichung Vassals to War (Reworked by Joseph Swensen)
10. Act III: Prelude – The Rhine Maidens Urge Siegfried to Return the Ring to the Rhine (Reworked by Joseph Swensen)
11. Act III: Siegfried is Murdered by Hagen (Reworked by Joseph Swensen)
12. Act III: Siegfried Dies and is Carried Away (Reworked by Joseph Swensen)
13. Act III: Brunnhilde takes the Ring from Siegfried’s Hand and Lights Her Funeral Pyre (Reworked by Joseph Swensen)
14. Act III: Brunnhilde’s Immolation and the World is Consumed in Flood and Fire (Reworked by Joseph Swensen)
‘If, in a parallel universe, Wagner wrote a symphony rather than a sixteen-hour Ring, it might actually resemble my Ring Odyssey.’ These are the words used by the new music director of the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Joseph Swensen, to present this anthology of Der Ring des Nibelungen for soprano, tenor, bass-baritone, male chorus and orchestra, which he composed on the basis of Wagner’s monumental tetralogy. The American conductor confesses that, during a performance of Tristan, Wagner was suddenly revealed to him as ‘a dreamer’ full of ‘humility, tenderness, vulnerability and generosity’. Swensen has made a point of following the chronology of the operas and respecting the original music: ‘My solemn promise to Wagner was that, aside from the occasional solo timpani roll denoting the passage of time, I would not change or add a single note to his masterpiece.’ An enthralling traversal, recorded at a memorable concert and delivered by exceptionally committed singers and instrumentalists.