Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
Die Walküre
Siegmund – Wolfgang Windgassen (tenor)
Sieglinde – Gré Brouwenstijn (soprano)
Wotan – Hans Hotter (bass-baritone)
Brünnhilde – Astrid Varnay (soprano)
Hunding – Josef Greindl (bass)
Chorus and Orchestra of the Bayreuther Festspiele/Hans Knappertsbusch
rec. live, 14 August, 1956, Bayreuth
Reviewed as 24-bit FLAC download. Ambient stereo XR remastering
Score and libretto available as download
Pristine Audio PACO211 [3 CDs: 231]
Having warmly welcomed Pristine’s remastering of Knappertsbusch’s Das Rheingold, I was keen to hear the next instalment of his 1956 Ring at Bayreuth, performed the following evening.
Once again, the immediacy of the sound in the opening storm and pursuit music is astonishing – as good as any late 50s studio, stereo recording, some annoyingly persistent and inconsiderate coughing apart.
The cast is again as good as it gets; Windgassen was now far more experienced in the role of Siegmund, hence his performance is less accident-prone than it was when he debuted in the role for Clemens Krauss three years earlier – the only problem being that he was clearly unhappy with Kna’s more measured pulse and sometimes pushes ahead of the beat; as a result, he is too often out of synch, but despite some passing intonation issues, he is in as robust voice as I have ever heard him, darker and richer than was sometimes the case – admirable in his cries of “Wälse!”. He is matched by the fresh, vibrant Gré Brouwenstijn and Kna caresses the soaring lines of the love music so beguilingly. Greindl’s Hunding is black, faithful and steady – a really imposing, menacing presence. Knappertsbusch lets the tension slacken rather too much in Siegmund’s first narrative but the firmness, clarity and expressivity of Windgassen’s use of text give real pleasure. The first Act is still in many ways as compelling as any I know, my occasional slight reservations regarding the conductor’s measured beat and the rhythmic slips from Windgassen notwithstanding.
The Prelude to Act II is weighty and mighty, serving as a suitably heroic introduction to the two titanic voices we next hear: Hotter and Varnay. Both are in best voice; there is little of the rockiness which later set into the former’s bass-baritone, nor of the sliding to which the latter sometimes resorted; she sings with laser accuracy and power. Georgine von Milinkovic completes a trio close to ideal, just as the three principal singers in the first act were. The dramatic potential of key exchanges such as “Heut’ hast du’s erlebt!”, “Nimm den Eid!”, Wotan’s despair as he yearns for “das Ende!” and the Todesverkündigung between Brünnhilde and Siegmund is given maximum scope by artists who know how to “sing on the words”. A superb gaggle of Valkyries completes a cast of which today we can only dream. Only that constant, pitiless coughing from the audience – in mid-August? – it must have been all that smoking – spoils the idyll. Someone even manages to hack just before Wotan’s last “Geh!” as he contemptuously slays Hunding with a wave of his hand – and that is preceded by what sounds like an alarm clock going off; such are the vagaries of live performance.
The famous Walkürenritt is actually rhythmically tricky to pull off and it goes very well here under Kna’s steady hand, even if at first the brass occasionally marginally lag behind the beat. The whole act tingles with theatrical energy – Brouwenstijn soars in “O hehrstes Wunder!”, Varnay is wonderful in the tricky, chromatic “War es so schmählich” supplication, Hotter is profoundly moving in “Leb wohl”, its pathos enhanced by majestic conducting and playing; the agony of “einer…freier als ich, der Gott” (one freer than I, the God”), the tenderness of “Der Augen leuchtendes Paar” (that bright pair of eyes ) and “so küßt er die Gottheit von dir” (thus he kisses away your godhead) are palpable – not that it is enough to distract the tubercular terrorists. The whole is capped by a shimmering Magic Fire Music and Hotter’s magnificently hefty “Wer meines Speere Spitze fürchtet/durchschreite das Feuer nie!” (Whosoever fears the point of my spear/will never pass through the fire), silence, then rapturous applause and thunderous feet-stamping – fully deserved.
Were it not for the heedless coughing and Windgassen’s coordination problems, I would rate this Die Walküre as highly as any.
Ralph Moore
Availability: Pristine Classical
Other Cast
Fricka – Georgine von Milinkovic (mezzo-soprano)
Gerhilde – Paula Lenchner (soprano)
Ortlinde – Gerda Lammers (soprano)
Waltraute – Elisabeth Schartel (mezzo-soprano)
Schwertleite – Maria von llosvay (contralto)
Helmwige – Hilde Scheppan (soprano)
Siegrune – Luise Charlotte Kamps (mezzo-soprano)
Grimgerde – Georgine von Milinkovic (mezzo-soprano)
Roßweiße – Jean Madeira (contralto)
