Search - Herbert von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra :: Wagner: Orchestral Music

If you get only 1 Wagner orchestral "highlights" CD,

Joseph Kimsey | Pac NW | 09/15/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"... make sure it's this one! Although the Solti, Kleiber and Bohm complete opera sets are much better than any of Karajan's recordings of complete Wagner operas, this recording of Wagner's orchestral highlights is far & away the best single disc out there!



Von Karajan was always great at conveying orchestral beauty, and while that alone won't carry along a whole opera, that approach works wonders in this format. The Hollander overture is given an absolutely shimmering reading, and the Tannhauser music is truly lovely! The same goes for the Lohengrin music; the prelude sounds positively otherwordly!



But nothing comes close to touching the Tristan music. This is music of supreme power, beauty and eroticism, and it was never more so than on this recording. Simply put, the Liebestod is the most beautiful music on Earth, and Karajan made sure that no nuance was missed. This disc is absolutely essential for any Wagner admirer, or for any music-lover, really."

Unsurpassed in the postwar era

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 01/08/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Karajan is competing with himself in several of these excerpts, which appear on his Wagner collections from DG in the 1980's. Of those later recordings the live one with Jessye Norman is a touching farewell to Wagner from just before Karajan's death. That said, these 1974 readings on EMi far surpass the DG versions for energy and recorded sound. Karajan succeeded Furtwangler as the dominant Wagner conductor of his generation. His Ring cycle was overshadowed by Solti's in the public mind, but there is no comparison between the two--Karajan is in the direct line of inspired Wagnerians going back to Nikisch and Muck, Solti is an exciting theater man who tromps over the landscape.



Amazon doesn't make clear that the program consists of the overtures to Die Meistersinger, Flying Dutchman, and Tannhauser, the latter with a hair-raising version of the Venusberg love music, complete with chorus. We also get the Prelude to Act 1 of Lohengrin and the Prelude and Love-Death from Tristan, much the best of Karajan's several recordings over the decades.



What sets these readings apart is their increidble virtuosity, Karajan's total mastery of line, the excellent recorded sound, and a sense of inner life in every bar. That last quality marked Furtwangler's Wagner but wasn't always present in Karajan's--those later DG recordings lack it, for example. But Furtwangler's Wagner is hampered by mono sound, and his Berlin Phil. cannot match Karajan's for power and ensemble. I'm taking nothing away from Klemperer's traversal of these same excerpts for EMI, another glorious experience, by saying that if a desert-island CD had to be chosen, this would be it."

Outstanding! Has Hardly Been Matched, Let Alone Surpassed!

dv_forever | Michigan, USA | 11/05/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Exceptionally beautiful and powerful performances of the preludes and overtures from Wagner's operas not associated with the Ring tetralogy. When Karajan was truly working at his pinnacle, there was barely a single conductor who could hope to compete with him. Such things can be said about this superb Wagner collection, the passion and glory of this music in Karajan's hands is at times overwhelming in it's impact! EMI is to be thanked for not letting Karajan down, the engineers provided a gorgeous, expansive sound picture on which the Berlin Philharmonic summons all it's intricate virtuosity.



We start with a muscular account of the Meistersinger Prelude to Act 1, which in actuality is more of a concert overture, than a typical prelude. All the sections of the orchestra play wonderfully and you really feel the impact of this piece, especially at the climax.



The Tannhauser Overture and Venusberg Music has never received a more thrilling performance, once the Bacchanale starts it gets truly frenetic, it will have you on the edge of your seat for sure! The offstage chorus at the close is beautiful and the perfect capstone to nearly 24 minutes of music.



The two Lohengrin preludes are also of the highest class, the opening number is utterly breathtaking in it's rich romanticism and the famous prelude to act 3 with it's thrilling horns is vivid and exciting.



The Flying Dutchman overture brings tremendous thrills to the forefront but the Tristan and Isolde track which links the Act 1 Prelude with the Liebestod at the end of the opera is the perfect way to end this phenomenal Wagner collection. The richness of the orchestra and Karajan's involvement in every bar is truly a sound to behold. Karajan recorded the Prelude to Act 1 many times and the only time that he did it better than here is on a digital recording from the early 1980's, the passion in that version is frightening. If you are a true Wagner fan, you'll want to get that CD as well as this one. Apart from that, none of these EMI performances have ever been surpassed, this is one of those Karajan recordings that must be in your classical music collection! I insist!

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