Search - Richard [Classical] Wagner, Edward Downes, BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra :: Wagner: Rienzi

Wagner: Rienzi
Richard [Classical] Wagner, Edward Downes, BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra
Wagner: Rienzi
Genre: Classical
 

     
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All Artists: Richard [Classical] Wagner, Edward Downes, BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra, Adrian de Peyer, David Ward, Elizabeth Gale, John Mitchinson, Lois McDonall, Lorna Haywood, Michael Langdon, Paul Hudson, Raimund Herincx
Title: Wagner: Rienzi
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Ponto [Mitridate]
Original Release Date: 1/1/2006
Re-Release Date: 2/28/2006
Album Type: Import
Genre: Classical
Styles: Opera & Classical Vocal, Symphonies
Number of Discs: 4
SwapaCD Credits: 4
UPCs: 675754886028, 8717202250400, 675754886028
 

CD Reviews

A Terrific Surprise!
Ronald F. Payne | Alexandria, VA United States | 09/10/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)

"Many years back curiosity got the better of me and I purchased the Hollreiser recording of "Rienzi" with Rene Kollo. It was so boring that, try as I might, I couldn't slog my way through it. I eventually donated it the the local library. I was slow to buy this Ponto recording, in spite of the good reviews I'd read, because I thought the opera itself was a dud. Just goes to show how a good performance can totally change your mind about a work. Not only did I not have trouble getting through it, I was engrossed from the first note of disc 1 all the way to the end of disc 4. Unlike with Hollreiser, Downes performance actually sounded like real Wagner, and not like the work of some plodding Meyerbeer wannabe. I won't be giving this one to the library--it's a keeper. It's so inexprensive that I would recommend it as a must to those folks who have a more than passing interest in Wagner. Good sound, great conducting, very good singing (not a frayed voice in the cast--rare for any Wagner recording)...and (surprise!) a darned enjoyable opera in it's own right!"
The place to start
Mike Leone | Houston, TX, United States | 10/31/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)

"For many years, Rienzi was the most popular of Wagner's operas, but in recent years (decades) has been neglected. Wagner himself no doubt has had something to do with this neglect because he repudiated the opera in later life and forbade it ever to be presented at Bayreuth.



Like many others, I first got to know Rienzi through the EMI recording with René Kollo. Unlike other reviewers here, I enjoy the recording quite a bit, despite problematic performances from some of the principals, and have listened to it many times. I think the EMI recording served as a valuable stopgap for the many years that we didn't have all that much more. Going back farther still, listeners of a certain age may remember the pirate recording on the wonderfully named Penzance label that used the 1957 Stuttgart performance starring Wolfgang Windgassen under Lovro von Matacic as a basis and then dropped in excerpts from other performances (even a couple of excerpts with Giuseppe di Stefano, in another performance that is now available complete) to cover for places where the music was cut in the Stuttgart performance.



Ponto has also issued the BBC performances of Wagner's first two operas, Die Feen and Das Liebesverbot. These two were available on LP on the MRF label. MRF did not issue the Rienzi, probably because the EMI recording was already available at the time it issued the others, and it was probably thought that to issue the Rienzi would have been redundant. Nothing could have been farther from the truth, as the BBC performance, unlike the EMI, was as complete as could be at this remove. The original manuscript last belonged to Adolf Hitler and has disappeared.



Once I became aware of this performance, I, already being a Rienzi fan, began to seek it out. Eventually I found a pirate tape of it that had so-so sound, good enough to at least let me know what the performance was like. Later still, a better sounding but mono recording surfaced on a CD-ROM that was devoted to all the operas of Richard Wagner. Besides offering some interesting performances, it gave me a chance to hear the 13 operas as a continuum, and I realized that the jump between Rienzi and Der fliegende Holländer was not as great as I had once thought. That CD-ROM by the way is, I believe, still available at a very low price from www.imagemogul.com for those who want to hear this performance while saving some pennies.



Still, this recording, in stereo and with a wider dynamic range, is a must for anyone wanting to really get acquainted with the early Wagner score. The singing is on a consistently high level, with dark-voiced John Mitchinson an especially excellent Rienzi. Lorna Haywood and the little known Lois McDonnall are likewise very good as Adriano and Irene, respectively. Among the other soloists is David Ward who recorded Hunding for Leinsdorf in the RCA Victor recording of Die Walküre.



The completeness of the score is a constant revelation. Even those who only know the overture will find that there is additional music in that old chestnut that is not usually performed.



My particular favorite part is the ballet. This 40-minute piece falls neatly into two halves that last exactly 20 minutes apiece, each of which tells a different story. The EMI recording, in contrast, only has about 15 minutes of the ballet, all of it from the second half. The Orfeo d'Or recording, also starring René Kollo, only has about six minutes of the ballet.



This recording also includes the legendary "Silbergroschen" section from the Act III finale. At the suggestion of the original Rienzi, Joseph Aloys Tichatschek (later the first Tannhäuser), the performers paid Wagner each time they rehearsed this music. Nevertheless, Wagner eventually cut this section and it is missing from the EMI set, although the notes in at least the LP edition make reference to it.



I always enjoy hearing recordings of Rienzi and don't plan on giving away any of the versions I have. And the aforementioned Orfeo d'Or version is a must-hear if for no other reason than that it contains the overture that Wagner wrote for Act III when Rienzi was temporarily divided over two nights (Rienzi remains the longest of Wagner's operas), although for some reason conductor Wolfgang Sawallisch moves it to the beginning of Act II. Still, when I want to hear the version that is closest to what Wagner originally conceived, this is the one I head for. There may well be a studio recording of this edition someday, although I can't imagine that it will be any better than this one. This recording will not be available forever so grab it while you can."
A real surprise
70Randy | VA | 01/22/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)

"I didn't believe that this could be such an enjoyable experience. As noted elsewhere this is not anything like his later works but the music is bright and fun to listen to. I'm very surprised that it has never been presented at Bayreuth. No, it is not great but it is entertaining. The principals, orchestra and director are fine and so is the sound and of course the overture is superb. I do wish there had been a libretto included though."