| Tannhäuser |
Paris-version |
Studio recording in stereo |
April - June, 1988 |
| Conductor: Giuseppe Sinopoli |
| Landgraf Hermann | | Matti Salminen |
| Tannhäuser | | Plácido Domingo |
| Wolfram | | Andreas Schmidt |
| Walther | | William Pell |
| Biterolf | | Kurt Rydl |
| Heinrich | | Clemens Bieber |
| Reinmar | | Oskar Hillebrant |
| Elisabeth | | Cheryl Studer |
| Venus | | Agnes Baltsa |
| Ein junger Hirt | | Barbara Bonney |
Philharmonia Orchestra
Chorus of the Royal Operahouse, Covent Garden |
|
| |
Review by Marco Mazzocchi
This recording can be defined without doubt one of the Wagnerian recordings
of the decade. Superbly conducted and wonderfully sung, it has achieved
almost immediately the status of a classic. There is no doubt that
Giuseppe Sinopoli is destined to be one of the leading figures on the
Wagnerian scene in the future years.
Sinopoli conducts the excellent Philarmonia Orchestra in one of its most
electrifying performances. The overture is held on a much slower tempo
than we are used to hear, thus giving it an aura of sacrality that's for
once appropriate and coherent with the fact that it's supposed to depict
a pilgrim chorus and not some kind of festive celebratory march. After
that we have the wonderful profanity of the Venusberg scene rendered with
an equal mastery, a prodigious choice of timbric, rythmic, and dynamic
balance, and a textual clarity that finally does justice to the new and
elaborate musical parts that Wagner added only after he had composed
Tristan. There are numerous moments when one is left to wonder why he had
never realized the beauty of this work in the previous recording. I just
want to quote here the whole act 2 and the sublime narrative of the 3rd act.
We know that Tannhäuser is probably the least dramatically coherent of
Wagner's work; especially in Act 2 the action is dispersed and the musical
writing doesn't assure enough coherence. Well, here you don't notice it;
the action has a fluidity that reminds one of the later music dramas of the
Master. In the Act 3 narrative the fusion between Domingo's voice and
Sinopoli's orchestra create something I had never heard before.
The cast is also very good with the possible exception of Agnes Baltsa,
whose voice is maybe just a bit too cold for being the voice of the Goddess
of Love. Plácido Domingo has his usual problems with German whose
pronunciation rules continue to elude him, but his vocal line is nonetheless
strong, firm and intense. The beauty of his voice, its stamina and allure
create an excellent and convincing Tannhäuser. Cheryl Studer is a sublime
Elisabeth, whose voice seems created to sing this kind of roles. Andreas
Schmidt is a poetic Wolfram, singing a very beautiful "O du mein holder
Abendstern", and Matti Salminen a robust Landgraf.
If this is not the definitive recording of Tannhäuser, it comes very close
to it; and one is left to hope that DGG will show greater courage in the
future and entrust Maestro Sinopoli with recordings of the mature
masterpieces, too. |
|
|