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Recital with Jonathan Alder, piano
Franz Schubert: Frühlingsglaube op. 20 No. 2; Wehmut op. 22 No 2; Auf dem Wasser zu singen op. 72; Im Abendrot op. post.; Die junge Nonne op. 43 No 1; Ganymed op. 19 No 3; Suleika op. 14 No 1; Lied der Mignon op. 62 No 4; Gretchen am Spinnrade op. 2.
Johannes Brahms: Die Mainach op. 43 N0 2; Liebestreu op. 3 No 1; Vergebliches Ständchen op. 84 No 4
Gustav Mahler: Rheinlegendchen; Das irdische Leben; Lob des hohen Vertandes
Richard Strauss: Schlechtes Wetter op. 69 No 5; Meinem Kinde op. 37 No 3; Muttertändelei op. 43 No 2; Morgen op. 27 No 4; In goldener Fülle op. 49 No 2.
A new production of Die Fledermaus. Musikalische Leitung: Simone Young, Bertrand de Billy (7/11 Jan.)
Inszenierung: Leander Haußmann; Bühne: Bernhard Kleber; Kostüme: Doris Haußmann; Choreographie: Vivienne Newport; Licht: Michael Bauer; Chöre: Eduard Asimont
Rosalinde: Cheryl Studer. Adele: Birgid Steinberger. Gabriel von Eisenstein: Thomas Allen. Alfred: Eduardo Villa. Dr Falke: Martin Gantner. Prinz Orlofsky: Christopher Robson. Dr Blind: Ulrich Ress. Frosch: Torsten Ranft. Frank: Alfred Kuhn. Ida: Steffi Kühnert. Ivan: Ivan Unger.
First Act of Die Walküre, Bern Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Eliahu Inbal.
Sieglinde: Cheryl Studer. Siegfried: Stig Andersen. Hunding: Vidar Gunnarsson.
Many thanks to Frau Regula Haefliger, Sekretariat, Berner Symphonie-Orchester, for sending a copy of the program (photocopy attached).
Recital, with Semyon Skigin, piano
Franz Schubert: Frühlingsglaube D 686; Auf dem Wasser zu singen D 774; Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt (Lied der Mignon) D 877/4; ; Gretchen am Spinnrade D 118.
Johannes Brahms: Liebestreu op. 3/1, Alte Liebe op. 72/1, Von ewiger Liebe op. 43/1.
Gustav Mahler: Rheinlegendchen; Das irdische Leben; Lob des hohen Vertandes.
Richard Wagner: Wesendonk-Lieder.
Richard Strauss: Schletes Wetter, op. 69/5; Meinem Kinde op 37/3; Muttertändelei, op. 43 No 2; Morgen op. 27/4; In goldener Fülle, op. 49/2.
Many thanks to the Press Office of the Saarländisches Staatstheater for sending the program (photocopy attached).
A new production of Die Fledermaus:
Musikalische Leitung: Jun Märkl. Inszenierung: Leander Haußmann; Bühne: Bernhard Kleber; Kostüme: Doris Haußmann; Choreographie: Vivienne Newport; Licht: Michael Bauer; Chöre: Eduard Asimont
Rosalinde: Cheryl Studer. Adele: Birgid Steinberger. Gabriel von Eisenstein: Thomas Allen. Alfred: Eduardo Villa. Dr Falke: Martin Gantner. Prinz Orlofsky: Christopher Robson. Dr Blind: Kevin Conners. Frosch: Torsten Ranft. Frank: Alfred Kuhn. Ida: Steffi Kühnert. Ivan: Ivan Unger.
As part of its "Year of American Culture - Inventing America", the Barbican Centre presented an evening called "I Hear America Singing", a recital of American Songs by Cheryl Studer, Jerry Hadley and Thomas Hampson, accompanied by pianist Craig Rutenberg.
Cheryl Studer interpreted the following songs: Amy Beach: The Year's at the Spring; Ah, Love but a day. Charles Ives: Feldeinseimkeit; Berceuse; Where the Eagle. Samuel Barber: Strings in the Air and Earth; The Secrets of the Old; Solitary Hotel; From "Hermit Songs": Promiscuity; The Monk and His Cat; The Desire for Hermitage. Aaron Copland: Why Do They Shut Me Out of Heaven?; Simple Gifts.
In Memoriam Kammersängerin Leonie Rysanek-Gausmann
Die Walküre
Musikalische Leitung: Hans Wallat. Inszenierung: Adolf Dresen. Bühnenbild und Kostüme: Herbert Kapplmüller.
Siegmund: Siegfried Jerusalem. Hunding: Kurt Rydl. Wotan: John Tomlinson. Sieglinde: Cheryl Studer. Brünnhilde: Gabriele Schnaut. Fricka: Marjana Lipovsek. Helmwige: Maria Russo. Gerhilde: Marjorie Vance. Ortlinde: Petra-Maria Schnitzer. Waltraute: Nelly Boschkova. Siegrune: Katalin Halmai. Roßweiße: Mihaela Ungureanu. Grimgerde: Jutta Geister. Schwertleite: Andrea Bönig.
Recital with Jonathan Alder, piano. Same program as Saarbrücken.
Ariadne auf Naxos
Musikalische Leitung: Marek Janowski. Inszenierung: Tim Albery. Bühne und Kostüme: Antony McDonald. Choreographie: Rose English. Licht: Mimi Jordan Sherin.
Der Haushofmeister: Rufus Beck. Ein Musiklehrer: Hans Günter Nöcker. Der Komponist: Dagmar Pecková. Der Tenor/Bacchus: Thomas Moser. Ein Offizier: James Anderson. Ein Tanzmeister: Claes H. Ahnsjö. Ein Perückenmacher: Jan Zinkler. Ein Lakai: Hans Wilbrink. Zerbinetta: Susanne Elmark. Primadonna/ Ariadne: Cheryl Studer. Harlekin: Martin Gantner. Scaramuccio: James Anderson. Truffaldin: Gerhard Auer. Brighella: Kevin Conners. Najade: Margarita De Arellano. Dryade: Silvia Fichtl. Echo: Annegeer Stumphius.
Der Rosenkavalier. Gala performance to celebrate the 450th Anniversary of the orchestra.
Musikalische Leitung: Wolfgang Rennert. Spielleitung: Jürgen Muck nach einer Inszenierung von Joachim Herz. Bühnenbild und Kostümentwürfe: Rudolf Heinrich. Umsetzung: Gerhard Schade. Chor: Christof Bauer.
Die Feldmarschallin: Cheryl Studer. Ochs auf Lerchenau: Kurt Moll. Octavian: Kerstin Witt. Herr von Faninal: Hans Helm. Sophie: Birgit Fandrey. Marianne Leitmetzerin: Andrea Ihle. Valzacchi: Helmut Henschel. Annina: Angela Liebold. Ein Polizeikommissar: Hajo Müller. Haushofmeister der Marschallin: Jürgen Hartfiel. Haushofmeister bei Faninal: Gerald Hupach. Ein Notar: André Eckert. Ein Wirt: Armin Ude. Ein Sänger: Norbert Orth. Eine Modistin: Lucja Zarzycka. Ein Tierhändler: Peter Küchler. Ein Hausknecht: Konrad Weihermüller.
Württenbergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn, Jörg Faerber.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Ouvertüre zu "Cosi fan tutte", KV 588;
Nachgelassene Arie der Susanna "Un moto di gioia" aus "Die Hochzeit des Figaro", KV 492
Ballettmusik aus "Idomeneo", KV 366
Rezitativ und Arie der Gräfin "E Susanna non vien" aus "Die Hochzeit des Figaro", KV 492.
Arie der Electra "D'Oreste e d'Aiace", aus "Idomeneo", KV 366
Hugo Wolf: Italienische Serenade für kleines Orchester
Richard Wagner: Wesendonck-Lieder für Sopran und Orchester
Württenbergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn, Jörg Faerber. Same program as Heilbronn.
Württenbergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn, Jörg Faerber. Same program as Heilbronn.
Württenbergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn, Jörg Faerber. Same program as Heilbronn.
Württenbergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn, Jörg Faerber. Same program as Heilbronn.
Württenbergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn, Jörg Faerber. Same program as Heilbronn.
Die Walküre.
Sieglinde: Cheryl Studer. Siegfried: Siegfried Jerusalem. Fricka: Gabriele Schnaut. Hunding; Matti Salminen. Wotan: James Morris. Conductor: Donald Runnicles.
Richard Wagner: Wesenkonk-Lieder
Philharmonia Orchestra, Conductor: Christian Thielemann.
Tannhäuser.
Elisabeth: Cheryl Studer. Venus: Margareta Hintermeier. Landgrave: Kurt Rydl. Tannhäuser: Heikki Siukola. Wolfram: Bryn Terfel. Conductor: Dietfriet Bernet.
Der fliegende Holländer.
Recital for the Richard Wagner Society, which presents one recital every year. For 1998, Cheryl Studer has been invited to celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the Opera House. Probably same program as in Saarbrücken.
- Sunday, 15 March 1998, RaiTre TV, 8:05 a.m.
Buongiorno Musica!: Music by Brahms, Mahler and Strauss; with Cheryl Studer and Jonathan Alder. Stereo; 50 min. From the recital given in the Auditorio di Via della Conciliazione, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Rome, on 7 November 1997, 8:45 p.m.
- Sunday, 22 March 1998, RaiTre TV, 8:05 a.m.Buongiorno Musica!: Lieder by Franz Schubert; with Cheryl Studer and Jonathan Alder. Stereo; 45 min. From the recital given in the Auditorio di Via della Conciliazione, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Rome, on 7 November 1997, 8:45 p.m.
Image Entertainment, Inc. has announced the release of the first commercial DVDs (Digital Video Disc) for the consumer market (tentative date: 4 March 1998). One of them is the La Scala Guglielmo Tell, with Cheryl Studer, Chris Merritt and Giorgio Zancanaro.
Refrence number: ID4357PUDVD $49.99 C/S/D IED:Image DVD 1991 237 min.
Stereo PCM Audio/ SUB:English/ Two-sided disc.
UPC#014381435726 Opera
Prebook: 01/20/98 Street Date: 03/04/98
Recital with Jonathan Alder, piano. Many thanks to the Ufficio Stampa of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia for sending the program and press review (photocopies attached).
"I Hear America Singing", a recital of American Songs by Cheryl Studer, Jerry Hadley and Thomas Hampson, accompanied by pianist Craig Rutenberg. Many thanks to the Press Office of the Barbican Centre for sending a copy of the program and press review (photocopies attached).
The reviews of these releases printed in the last Bulletin (Volume 4, Number 4, Winter 1997), were published by Gramophone in its Special Awards Issue, at the end of October 1997.
The Cheryl Studer Society Bulletin continues to present the Gramophone reviews, in chronological order.
Verdi REQUIEM. Cheryl Studer (sop); Dolora Zajic (mez); Luciano Pavarotti (ten); Samuel Ramey (bass); Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala, Milan / Riccardo Muti.EMI digital (Full price) (LP) EX749390-1 (two records, nas); (Cassette)
EX749390-4 (CD) CDS7 49390-2 (two discs, nas: 88 minutes). Text and translation included. Recorded at performances in the Teatro alla Scala on June 26th and 29th, 1987 in association with the ENI Group.
Selected comparisons
Solti (10/68) SET374(12/84) 411 944-2DH2
Muti (12/79) SLS5185
Abbado (11/80) 2707 120(10/86) 415 976-2GH2
Giulini (7/64R) SLS909(4/87) CDS7 47257-8
Kord (4/87) RP12470/1(4/87) RPC32470/1
I had thought I was beginning to tire a little of the Requiem because it seemed no performance in concert or on record was really coming near to my ideal of an interpretation, which remains the unavailable Toscanini/RCA. Then I heard Massimo Freccia, a Toscanini protege, direct it at the Royal Albert Hall last spring. The 80-Plus veteran had come out of retirement to do a charity performance and without the score in front of him gave a straight, unvarnished reading in the Toscanini/Serafin mould that proved to me that the ideal, or something near it, is still capable of achievement by largely following what Verdi actually wanted.
There is another, much more flexible and 'interventionist' tradition of interpreting it stemming from de Sabata. Muti, both in his 1979 EMI version and here, follows this later fashion, which involves tempos that are substantially faster (Sanctus) or slower (opening "Kyrie", "Rex tremendae", "Lacrymosa") than Verdi indicates and permits far more rallentandos than are marked. Nobody wants slavish adherence to what may be accounted only as suggestions on the composer's part, but I do find that Muti sometimes loses the overall view of a movement by overplaying his hand as an interpreter. That is my main criticism of a performance that is certainly positive in its dramatic strength, deriving from Muti's close rapport with his Scala forces, who perform with great dedication in carrying out his meticulous attention to instrumental and rhythmic detail, though I cannot say it can be as clearly heard as on the earlier version (but more about the recording in a minute).
Here he has a very different chorus from the much smaller professional British group on the earlier set. That has advantages and disadvantages. The sound here is grander, more specifically operatic in scale as one would expect, with some arrestingly histrionic effects such as the bold, black-browed singing at "Rex tremendae" and the awed senza misura incantation at the start of the Libera me. But there is not quite the bright, incisive quality found on the former recording. The Sanctus, a few seconds slower than in 1979, is still unwontedly quick, but the Scala singers seem to revel in coping with the speed, as they do with the hard-driving Dies irae. Similar detailed effects inform the fine playing of the Scala orchestra, not least the beseeching strings right at the start of the whole work and the plangent wind in the "Ingemisco".
Recording live, or mostly so (see Edward Seckerson on page 696), always helps to catch the frisson of a real occasion, but it has a certain drawback here in the fact that the performance starts hesitantly, particularly where the soloists are concerned Cheryl Studer, whom I have much admired for her Wagner singing at Bayreuth and Munich, seems at the beginning a shade tentative and over-awed; no wonder, given the circumstances of her appearance described by Seckerson, which may explain some cloud in the tone at her "huic ergo" entry in the "Lacrymosa", but as the evening develops she confirms that she is one answer to the dearth of lirico-spinto sopranos at the moment. The final phrase of the Offertorio is perfectly accomplished and the whole of the Libera me is delivered with strong, firm tone and a deal of passion. Even the slow speeds of the reprise of the "Kyrie" at "Requiem aeternam" is easily encompassed with the voice carried over from "domine" to "et lux" as it should be. This is a most auspicious recording debut.
Her slightly resinous tone blends very well with Zajic's in the "Recordare" and the Agnus Dei, one of the set's most successful movements. On her own Zajic, who was Muti's Preziosilla in La forza, also improves from an anonymous start to reach heights of eloquence at the start of the Lux aeterna. The dark grain of her chest register contrasts with a degree of brilliance at the top; I don't think the mezzo 'role' has been better filled in any of the recent versions.
Many will probably buy the recording for Pavarotti so I am happy to assure them that he is in his best, most persuasive form, more individual and subtle in utterance (listen to his many shades of colour in the "Ingemisco") than for Solti (Decca), even if the voice has lost a little of its old opulence. He is also more considerate of his colleagues in the unaccompanied passages, which here are as carefully blended as on any recording, much helped by Ramey's solid bottom line. Ramey trumps even Pavarotti at "Hostias" in the "Domine Jesu", his dolcissimo singing here full of inward feeling. "Oro supplex", taken up to Verdi's tempo rather than being dragged as it can be by heavier basses, is firmly and securely phrased. Others have sung the bass part with more character, fewexcept Pinzawith such security and musicality.
With so much to enjoy in the performance, why do I hesitate giving this set my recommendation? Mainly on account of the recording. From the very start, I realized this was a recessed recording.
The producer, talking to Seckerson, speaks of the need for space, Well, in achieving it he seems to have lost much sense of immediacy. Quite exceptionally when playing the CDs, I had to have my volume control up to an unusually high level to achieve any kind of impact. Even then the character of the soloists' voices is hard to discern as they are so backwardly recorded. To make certain my ears didn't deceive me, I made a direct comparison, in the "Lacrymosa", with the Giulini version (also EMI). There the voices really have presence at a comparatively low volume setting, and I must say I prefer it, as I still prefer that performance in spite of its considerable sonic limitations. As a whole it seems both more spiritual, more refined than the new one. However, where the chorus and orchestra are concerned, the new Muti certainly achieves a theatrical perspective, catching the atmosphere of La Scala, and the choral recording obviously has a bigger range than on his old set. Aurally, for those who admire it more as a performance than I do (HF among them), the Solti on Decca still sounds as impressive as ever, but studio-bound when compared with the EMI. The Abbado (DG), also made with La Scala forces, hasn't the character of the new Muti and on the whole less satisfactory soloists. On the other hand, the Kord performance (Rodolphe), is both persuasive and very well recorded, if a little too well mannered.
Even after all these years, the Giulini is hard to beat, and it has the added advantage of including the Four Sacred Pieces. On its own the Requiem isn't that good value on two CDs. For all that, I found much to enjoy in this new Muti and will return to it often. In spite of reservations about the recording, it would easily be my preference among the more modern versions.
A(lan) B(lyth) November 1987
R. Strauss DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN. Cheryl Studer (sop) Empress; René Kollo (ten) Emperor; Ute Vinzing (sop) Dyer's Wife; Alfred Muff (bass-bar) Barak the Dyer; Hanna Schwarz (mez) Nurse; Andreas Schmidt (bar) Spirit Messenger; Julie Kaufmann (sop) Voice of the Falcon; Cyndia Sieden (sop) Guardian of the threshold of the Temple; Paul Frey (ten) Voice of a young man; Marjana Lipovsek (sop) Voice from above; Jan-Hendrik Rootering (bass) One-eyed Brother; Kurt Rydl (bass) One-armed Brother; Kenneth Garrison (ten) Hunchback Brother; Tolz Boys' Choir; Bavarian Radio Chorus and Symphony Orchestra / Wolfgang Sawallisch.EMI (Full price) (LP) EX749074-1 (three records, nas); (Cassette)
EX749074-4; (CD) CDS7 49074-2 (three discs, nas: 191 minutes: DDD).
Notes, text and translation included.
Comparative version:
Bohm LP (2/86) 415 473-1GH3 (CD) (2/86) 415 473-2GH3
Here, at long last, is the uncut Die Frau ohne Schatten, every note of it, for the first time on disc. Böhm's two recordings (for Deccanla, and DG) were savagely cut, as are most stage performances (including Sawallisch's at Munich this summer). In fact, the complete work cannot have been heard very often since 1919. Clemens Krauss conducted it uncut in Munich in 1939, and I doubt if anyone else has until now. One can understand why it is cut in live performance, but it should not be, all the same. Some fine music in Acts 2 and 3 will be unknown to most people until now.
The role that always suffers most is that of the Nurse, ostensibly because some of Hofmannsthal's most abstruse text is put into her mouth. It emerges here, in Hanna Schwarz's glorious performance, as one of Strauss's most memorable creations for the female voice, and if there were no other reasons (which there are) for hailing this EMI achievement, the Nurse would be enough.
This is a studio recording and has all the merits of the best of its kind. Balance is admirable, the off-stage voices are atmospherically recorded and the playing of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, which Sawallisch chose in preference to his own opera orchestra, is magnificent. One is convinced, after listening to these discs, that this is Strauss's grandest and most ambitious, if not his most consistent, score, and that the beauty and imaginative genius of the orchestration are unsurpassed in all his music. There is a Mahlerian sound-quality in the chamber-music textures and in the use of the celesta, glass harmonica and other exotic instruments.
But Böhm's 1977 Viennese performance on DG, issued in 1986, has the inestimable thrill of having been recorded live and, for all the cuts, errors and stage noises, it is more exciting, just as Kempe's 1954 Munich live performance (not generally available) is incomparably lyrical, with Rysanek at her best as the Empress. The Böhm also has Birgit Nilsson in wonderful form as the Dyer's Wife. I cannot hide some disappointment with Sawallisch's choice of Ute Vinzing for this rewarding and demanding role. She characterizes it well, sounding all too shrewish at times, but there is a wobble and the tone lacks the radiance which should be there for her reconciliation with Barak. He is sung extremely well by Alfred Muff who is in turn genial, rough, tender, mystified and compassionate, a performance near to ideal vocally and dramatically.
Nor can any admirer of this opera fail to be entranced by Cheryl Studer's Empress. She is delightfully light and airy in the coloratura of her first entrance and gradually, as the drama deepens, gains in richness and passionlovely singing and interpretation. René Kollo as the Emperor is, well, Kollo, which means some of it is good and some coarse and ill-considered, but where it matters most, in his two big arias, he comes up trumps.
Great care has been taken with the smaller roles such fine singers as Marjana Lipovsek, Jan-Hendrick Rootering, Paul Frey (a better choice as Emperor?) and Julie Kaufmann contributing their artistry to the whole splendid enterprise. The highest honours, though, must go to Wolfgang Sawallisch himself, whose passionate devotion to Strauss in general and to this opera in particular results here in a notable milestone in the gramophone's operatic progress.
M(ichael) K(ennedy) September 88
Wagner DIE WALKüRE. Reiner Goldberg (ten) Siegmund; Cheryl Studer (sop) Sieglinde; Eva Marton (sop) Brünnhilde; James Morris (bass) Wotan; Waltraud Meier (mez) Fricka; Matti Salminen (bass) Hunding; Anita Soldh (sop) Gerhilde; Ruth Falcon (sop) Helmwige; Sylvia Herman (sop) Ortlinde; Ute Walther (mez) Waltraute; Margarita Lilowa (mez) Rossweisse; Margaretha Hintermeier (contr) Siegrune; Carolyn Watkinson (contr) Grimgerde; Ursula Kunz (mez) Schwertleite; Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra / Bernard Haitink.EMI (Full price) (LP) EX749534-1 (four records, nas); (Cassette)
EX749534-4; (CD) CDS7 49534-2 (four discs, nas: 232 minutes: DDD).
Notes, text and translation included.
Selected comparisons:
Bohm (CD) (2/85) 412 478-2PH4
Solti (CD) (4/85) 414 105-2DH4
Krauss (CD) (6/88) LCD4 4003
Levine LP (11/88) 423 389-1GH4; (CD) (11/88) 423 389-2GH4
Bernard Haitink's Wagner is no longer an unknown quantity: in 1988 alone he has conducted both Parsifal and Das Rheingold at Covent Garden. And yet, as he embarks on his first Ring cycles in the theatre and on record, one senses a continuing search for an identity, a quest for a distinctive, personal quality within what is in some respects a relatively orthodox reading of this familiar yet formidable work. It is obviously harder to create a strongly individual impression from a basis of orthodoxy than from one of eccentricity. In the case of James Levine's recent DG recording of Die Walküre, for example, both likers and loathers will recognize its amplitude, and what seems to be a deliberate opposition between strongly dramatic and intensely lyrical impulses as characteristic of this conductor and no other (at least on disc). In the crucial matter of tempo Haitink offers fewer surprises, fewer challenges to what one instinctively feels to be the right pace. And yet the most personal feature of his approach evident on these new records is a tendency to point up the expressiveness of certain episodes by slowing down to what can seem like a dangerously unnatural extent, given his basically forthright, unmannered way with the work. The result is a reading in which a sense of dramatic tension remains satisfyingly predominant, but whether it is quite all of a piece is a matter of opinion, and of longer acquaintance.
Like his 1985 recording of Tannhäuser (also for EMI) Haitink's Walküre is based in Munich, and on the secure foundation of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, whose sweet, reedy oboes and woody horns are merely the most obvious evidence of a distinctive and most attractive sound, easily distinguishable from Levine's magnificent Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, but not significantly inferior. Haitink and Levine are at their most complementary in Act 1. In place of Levine's majestically assured Jessye Norman, Haitink has the affectingly vulnerable Cheryl Studer as Sieglinde. In place of Levine's rather reticent Gary Lakes, Haitink's Siegmund is the stronger, at times stolid Reiner Goldbergthough even he lacks the baritonal timbre of James King for Böhm (Philips) or Ramon Vinay for Krauss (Laudis/Music Discount Centre). Haitink's sensitive phrasing enables both Goldberg and Studer to give of their best. Goldberg may tend to be unyielding, and not always ideally secure in the upper register, but he responds well to the text and offers a convincing account of Siegmund's progress from despair to ardour. Cheryl Studer may hold back a little too much in the act's exultant later stages, but she is as successful as any Sieglinde on disc (and certainly in the studio recordings) in conveying the character's dreamlike transformation from subservience to decisiveness. With Matti Salminen as a peerless Hunding, the omens for Haitink's Walküre are excellent. Yet it is Hunding's music in Act 1 that gives the first indication of that 'personal' way with tempo change that I mentioned in my first paragraph. Hunding's characterizing chordsa kind of baleful bass fanfareseem too deliberately articulated, and the central stages of the act, until the tempo suddenly picks up again at Siegmund's "Ein Schwert verhiess mir der Vater", lose some of the necessary concentration and impetus.
In Act 2 there are only minor instances of such awkward reining-inFricka's final statement, Siegmund's "Zauberfest". Indeed, if there is a problem in this act, it is in the other direction, with an impulsive Todesverkundigung that misses rather too much of the gravity necessary to balance the urgency. Once again, this is very much a matter of taste, and of which other performance is most vividly in your mind as you hear the Haitink. The contrast with Levine could scarcely be greater, not just because of tempo but because of the differences between Brünnhildes. Levine has the sensitive, sympathetic Hildegard Behrens, Haitink the grandly imperious Eva Marton. Marton's account is by no means so stentorian or unvaried as one might fear from her first appearance. In quiet phrases, especially in the lower register, she can be warmly expressive. Higher up there is a certain amount of shrill, squally singing with too little purity of tone on the really high notes to equal the best interpreters of the roleNilsson for Böhm (and Solti on Decca) and Varnay for Krauss. Yet it may well be Marton's sheer power, coupled with Haitink's search for dramatic spontaneity, that combine to inspire a Wotan from James Morris that adds a few extra degrees of involvement and excitement to his DG account.
Morris's Act 2 narration has even greater variety of colour and responsiveness to the text in the Haitink recording than it does in the Levine, and his progress from rage to resignation in Act 3 is, if anything, even more moving. Sometimes sheer intensity does roughen the tone and disturb the line, but this is still overall a performance of great distinction, and to mention such details as the underarticulated final word"nie!"is merely to report a reaction to a mannerism (evident also on the DG recording) that is very unlikely to affect anyone's response to the whole. As with the Hunding music in Act 1, it is possible to feel that Haitink holds back the central stages of the dialogue between Brünnhilde and Wotan too severely, and that the concluding Feuerzauber, at least to start with, is too dance-like and easygoing, Levine is immensely imposing here.
Such unevenness is also to be found when Haitink underlines certain phrases, as if consciously to counter a tendency towards understatement, and it is points like this that led me to suggest earlier that this performance may not be quite all of a piece. Such relatively slight reservations must be set against the excellence of much of the singing (including Waltraud Meier's vibrant Fricka), the fine orchestral playing, and a recorded sound which, if not so deeply spacious as the DG, is well suited to Haitink's generally unfussy handling of the drama. I am still reluctant to raise Haitink (or Levine) above the performances that are already established in the catalogueBöhm and Krauss, in particular. Yet, if you buy either or both of these new studio versions, you will have the excitement of hearing two fine conductors working hard to carve out their own niches in an already crowded Pantheon. And either will certainly complement the qualities of any earlier recordings you may already have. Above all, it is James Morris who ensures that these new recordings are far from carbon copies of their predecessors.
A(rnold) W(hittall) December 1988
With the present bulletin, the Cheryl Studer Society makes available to those members holding full membership status the press reviews of Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem (EMI recording, under Riccardo Muti). Any additional articles provided by the members will be gratefully received, and a copy sent to all with the subsequent issue.
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