Wagner

Wagner: Preludes And Overtures (Saint Louis S O) [CD]

Wagner: Siegfried (Neuhold) [4 CD]

Where do you start with your selection for 'the best' from that Wagnerian treasure-chest? Well we have taken the easy way out and started with the overtures to four of his most famous operas, opening with Mastersingers of Nuremberg, one of the most frequently performed concert-hall overtures.<br/><br/>We have the heartbreak of the Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde in its orchestral arrangement. Isolde laments the death of Tristan, the only thing in life left for her, in one of opera's most tear-jerking moments. And if that is not enough, get out the handkerchiefs for Siegfried's Death and Funeral Music. The body of the great hero is born back to the castle to meet the grieving Br_nnhilde. The timpani roar out their defiance as the March grows to a climax, one of the shattering moments in music.<br/><br/>Add to that the ever popular Ride of the Valkyries and the grand Entry of the Gods into Valhalla (from Das Rheingold), and you have 68 minutes of Wagner's finest orchestral moments.<br/><br/>The extracts come from previous releases on Naxos, with such top names as the conductor from the Vienna State Opera, Michael Halasz, and the fine young opera conductor, Johannes Wildner.

Wagner: GötterdämmerungDen brittiske skådespelaren Nicholas Boulton, känd från "Game of Thrones", berättar om Richard Wagners liv och verk, varvat med utdrag ur de mest älskade operorna.

"Trånsjuk Stemme fullkomligt magisk - Briljerar med Svenska kammarorkestern på Wagner-album. Hon sjunger fullkomligt magiskt. Trånsjukan dryper, och jag blir alldeles förförd. En av sångerna, Träume, gjorde Wagner också om för soloviolin och orkester. Lika förföriskt smeker Katarina Andreasson fram denna läckra raritet på sin violin."<br/> <br/>Lennart Bromander (Aftonbladet)<br/><br/>Nina Stemme belönad med priset som "bästa sångerska" vid den första "International Opera Awards" i London 2013!

Wagner: Parsifal Suite [CD]

Royal Swedish Orchestra (Kungliga Hovkapellet) / Lawrence Renes<br/><br/>Henk de Vlieger's orchestral arrangement of Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle boils down this monumental music drama in four parts to a symphonic poem with a duration of a fifteenth of the original score. Unlike certain other arrangements, de Vlieger's follows the chronology of the operas so that the irrevocable process towards the twilight of the gods is clearly delineated. His method has been to select and link together the most important orchestral passages in the score, already closely interconnected as a result of Wagner's leitmotif technique The excerpts have in most cases been taken over without alterations; only occasionally has an essential vocal line been replaced by wind instruments. Quite possibly, Wagner himself would have objected to the undertaking, but in fact one of his own strongly held convictions was that the text - or rather its content - should be continuously present, by means of the hidden-away orchestra exploring the dramatic background to the action presented on stage. With this orchestral arangement the turn has thus come for the Royal Swedish Orchestra to take its place on centre stage, in music which has been part of its repertoire for close to 120 years at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm. (Some of that impressive history is reflected in the CD booklet through images from Ring productions past and present.) The conductor Lawrence Renes, recently named music director at the Royal Swedish Opera, has admired de Vlieger's arrangement since it was premièred, in 1991, by his own mentor, the conductor Edo de Waart. The arrangement has been recorded previously, but never before by a bona fide opera orchestra. The result is indeed an adventure, as well as a sonic spectacular, and an excellent calling card for a fine orchestra all too often relegated to the shadows.<br/><br/>"Hovkapellet stryker sångpartierna och rensar bort 86 procent av musiken. Så här har ni aldrig hört Wagners operor förr." <br/>/CarlHåkan Larsén (Sydsvenskan) <br/><br/><br/>.