Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90: Act 2. O König, das kann ich dir nicht sagen
Track Listings (8) - Disc #3
Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90: Act 3. Prelude
Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90: Act 3. Kurwenal! He!
Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90: Act 3. Wo ich erwacht, weilt' ich nicht
Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90: Act 3. Noch losch das Licht nicht aus
Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90: Act 3. O diese Sonne!
Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90: Act 3. Ha! Ich bin's, ich bin's, süßester Freund!
Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90: Act 3. Kurwenal! Hör! Ein zweites Schiff
Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90: Act 3. Mild und leise wie er lächelt
"Magic happens as Kleiber conducts with fire, unearthing little nuances that others throw away, always in the interest of the piece at large. For the Kleiber-Tristan experience, this is the recording to get..." -Jens F. La... more »urson, Ionarts.org As all collectors lament, recordings of the late, great conductor Carlos Kleiber are far too few. Those that exist are often among the greatest ever made. Kleiber made a studio recording of Tristan and Isolde, but this live performance from Bayreuth in 1974 is generally considered to be superior. Some of the soloists are unsurpassed in their roles, and the conducting is perhaps the best one will ever hear.« less
"Magic happens as Kleiber conducts with fire, unearthing little nuances that others throw away, always in the interest of the piece at large. For the Kleiber-Tristan experience, this is the recording to get..." -Jens F. Laurson, Ionarts.org As all collectors lament, recordings of the late, great conductor Carlos Kleiber are far too few. Those that exist are often among the greatest ever made. Kleiber made a studio recording of Tristan and Isolde, but this live performance from Bayreuth in 1974 is generally considered to be superior. Some of the soloists are unsurpassed in their roles, and the conducting is perhaps the best one will ever hear.
CD Reviews
By all means, snap this one up!
Joseph Kimsey | Pac NW | 09/22/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"What happens when my favorite opera is conducted by my favorite conductor at my favorite theatre? Pure magic! Add to this a very reasonable price tag, and decent sound quality, and you have one VERY happy listener!
While it's true that people rarely think of Helge Brilioth & Catarina Ligendza as the ultimate Tristan and Isolde, they both give stirring performances, aided in no small part by the incredible Bayreuth acoustics. Their voices effortlessly glide over the sublime orchestral sound, and Kleiber lovingly teases every orchestral detail out of this musical tapestry. Also present are Bayreuth favorites of mine - Heinz Zednick and Donald McIntyre, both of whom give excellent performances.
Personally, I much prefer this recording to the recent Domingo Tristan. While Domingo is (of course) superb, the rest of the cast, and the conductor, tend to verge on mannered artificiality. You certainly won't find that here!
The only miniscule complaint I have is that the sound quality can be iffy at times, with the occasional crackle and hiss. But, on the whole, this is a very minor inconvenience when one can enjoy a performance such as this.
This is a fabulous recording of the world's greatest opera, and while you won't find a libretto, snazzy booklet, or an erudite essay included, you will be treated to a Tristan conducted by Carlos Kleiber, who was at the height of his powers at the time. By all means, enjoy!
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Great performance, awful recording.
Jeff D. Wolf | Abilene, TX | 07/18/2007
(1 out of 5 stars)
"It must have been great to be in the Bayreuth audience on July 27, 1974, to hear Carlos Kleiber conduct this performance. Or it sounds as though it probably was, or might have been, a great performance. The harsh, constricted, home-garage sonics of the mono recording demand that a red flag be raised for the mainstream opera-recording collector. If you want a memorable performance in rich sound, try Barenboim on Teldec or Furtwangler on EMI, one of the genuinely great recordings of the century despite its mono vintage. I'd even take Thielemann's less-than-ideal live recording from Vienna and Kleiber's DG studio "Tristan" over this one. Maybe afficionados of bootleg opera recordings made by a tape deck held in an audience member's lap love this sort of thing. But when I listen to Wagner, I want to hear lush music, not distant, rumbling noise."
Ladies and Gentleman: Carlos Kleiber!!!
Miguel Campinho | 05/30/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"First of all, for a budget price, you won't get a libretto. Also, in a live recording, not everything will be accounted for. But if you know the work of the junior Kleiber, you know that live is where he lets go more, where magic happens. The great pianist Sviatoslav Richter considered Carlos Kleiber the best conductor alive, and after attending a Bayreuth Tristan he wrote in his notebook that, congratulating Kleiber backstage, he answered: "Ah, wirklich gut?". To which Richter added: "Such a Titan, and so unsure of himself." (a similar case could be made of Richter himself...)
This is a musical bargain. But I would hesitate as to give it out as a reference, for a work as complex as Tristan doesn't exhaust itself in one vision. For me, aquainted with both studio recordings of Furtwangler and Karajan, I've completed my tryptic. A triumph, one which makes one wish such magical musicians could live forever."
Magic and Passion
Michael F. Burdick | Chino Valley, AZ, United States | 10/01/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"There is always a risk in purchasing a live performance of any opera, especially if you are a "perfectionist" expecting every note and orchestral passage on a recording to be perfect. This performance is not perfect, as there are moments when certain performers--especially Helge Brilioth, as Tristan--are out-of-tune or out-of-breath. Plus, there is a fair amount of audience noise, especially noticeable in the quieter moments. But, this performance is so passionate and beautiful in the long run that I must give it 5 stars. There are scenes here that are disturbingly "mad" ("out of control"), to a degree that I have never experienced before in an opera. On the other hand, the love duet ("O sink hernieder, Nacht der Liebe") is almost indescribable in its beauty and other-worldliness--enough to give anyone goosepimples or teary eyes! The entire performance is magical and passionate, thanks largely to Carlos Kleiber. Just beware, there is no libretto with this particular recording, so you will need to find one somewhere else. Wagner was quite a poet (in German, of course), so I wish that I had a copy of the German libretto to appreciate his poetry along with his music."
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1