Search - Wagner, Otto Klemperer, Philharmonia Orchestra :: Klemperer Legacy - Wagner: Orchestral Music, Vol. 2 / Philharmonia Orchestra

NEW LIFE FOR GREAT RECORDINGS

R. Q. Hofacker Jr. | Basking Ridge, NJ USA | 01/21/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In 1960, Otto Klemperer led The Philharmonia Orchestra in a
series of EMI stereo recordings of selected orchestral music
from some of Richard Wagner's later operas -- minus the singers
-- to commemorate his 75th birthday. The original tape
recordings were released as two vinyl LPs, plus another LP in
1961. This CD, Volume 2, is mostly from the later sessions. EMI has reissued these memorable performances several times,
but in today's unsteady climate for classical music recordings,
there is no guarantee they will issue them again. My
recommendation to lovers of Wagner's Teutonic tones is to seize
the opportunity and grab Volumes 1 and 2 while they're still
available... The original LP issues... seemed to lack depth
and sometimes shattered at peak volumes...but that has been beautifully
corrected by the new digital remastering. I must say that I prefer Sir Georg Solti's version on the
London label of the Entry of the Gods into Valhalla, from "Das
Rheingold," if only because of the tremendous crack-and-crash
produced for Solti when Donner slams his hammer into the rock
to create a rainbow bridge to Valhalla. That sound effect was
achieved with a combination of two bass drums and a special
20-foot-long 5-foot-wide sheet of steel hung vertically; two
men struck the drums, followed by two men shaking the steel.
However, that's a theatrical effect rather than a musical effect.
On the whole, Solti's conducting of Wagner is edgier than
Klemperer's, so to my mind Solti loses some of the majesty of
the music. The grandeur of the Philharmonia's Wagner recordings is more
impressive on the whole. Klemperer has a reputation for slower-
than-normal tempi, so it should be noted that his "Ride of the
Valkyries" from "Die Walküre" is one of the
fastest on record."