Tristan und Isolde discography
This is an audio and video discography of Tristan und Isolde, an opera by Richard Wagner which was first performed on 10 June 1865 in Munich.
Recording history
Tristan und Isolde has a long recorded history. In the years before World War II, Kirsten Flagstad and Lauritz Melchior were considered to be the prime interpreters of the lead roles, and mono recordings exist of this pair in a number of live performances led by conductors such as Thomas Beecham, Fritz Reiner, Artur Bodanzky and Erich Leinsdorf. Flagstad recorded the part commercially only near the end of her career in 1952, under Wilhelm Furtwängler for EMI, producing a set which is considered a classic recording.[1] Following the war, the performances at Bayreuth with Martha Mödl and Ramon Vinay under Herbert von Karajan (1952) were highly regarded, and these performances are now available as a live recording. In the 1960s, the soprano Birgit Nilsson was considered the major Isolde interpreter, and she was often partnered with the Tristan of Wolfgang Windgassen. Their performance at Bayreuth in 1966 under the baton of Karl Böhm was captured by Deutsche Grammophon—a performance often hailed as one of the best Tristan recordings.[2] Some collectors prefer the pairing of Nilsson with the Canadian tenor Jon Vickers, available in "unofficial" recordings from performances in Vienna or Orange.
There are several DVD productions of the opera including Götz Friedrich's production at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin featuring the seasoned Wagnerians René Kollo and Dame Gwyneth Jones in the title roles. Deutsche Grammophon released a DVD of a Metropolitan Opera performance featuring Jane Eaglen and Ben Heppner, conducted by James Levine, in a production staged by Jürgen Rose and a DVD of the 1993 Bayreuth festival production with conductor Daniel Barenboim and featuring Waltraud Meier as Isolde and Siegfried Jerusalem as Tristan, staged by Heiner Mueller.
Audio recordings
Year | cast: (Tristan, Isolde, Brangäne, King Marke, Kurwenal) |
Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra |
Label[3] |
---|---|---|---|
1928 | Gunnar Graarud, Nanny Larsen-Todsen, Anny Helm, Ivar Andresen, Rudolf Bockelmann |
Karl Elmendorff, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Bayreuth Festival Chorus (abridged) |
Naxos Historical,[4] Cat: 8.110200-02 |
1936 | Lauritz Melchior, Kirsten Flagstad, Sabine Kalter, Emanuel List, Herbert Janssen |
Fritz Reiner, Royal Opera House Covent Garden Orchestra, Royal Opera House Covent Garden Chorus (Live recording and the sound is good considering the age of the recording) |
VAI Audio: VAIA 1004-3, Naxos «Historical, Cat: 8.110068.70 |
1937 | Lauritz Melchior, Kirsten Flagstad, Margarete Klose, Sven Nilsson, Herbert Janssen |
Thomas Beecham, Royal Opera House Covent Garden Orchestra, Royal Opera House Covent Garden Chorus, (Only part of the EMI recording is conducted by Beecham; the rest is conducted by Reiner) |
EMI Classics, Cat: 64037 |
1943 | Lauritz Melchior, Helen Traubel, Kerstin Thorborg, Alexander Kipnis, Julius Huehn |
Erich Leinsdorf, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra |
Naxos Historical, Cat: 8.110010-2 |
1948 | Set Svanholm, Kirsten Flagstad, Viorica Ursuleac, Ludwig Weber, Hans Hotter |
Erich Kleiber, Buenos Aires Opera |
Myto, Cat: H031 |
1950 | Gunther Treptow, Helena Braun, Margarete Klose, Ferdinand Frantz, Paul Schöffler |
Hans Knappertsbusch, Bavarian State Opera Orchestra |
Orfeo, Cat: C355 943 D |
1951 | Max Lorenz, Gertrude Grob-Prandl, Elsa Cavelti, Sven Nilsson, Sigurd Björling |
Victor de Sabata, Orchestra of La Scala Milan |
Archipel, Cat: ARPCD 0027[5] |
1952 | Ramón Vinay, Martha Mödl, Ira Malaniuk, Ludwig Weber, Hans Hotter |
Herbert von Karajan, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra |
Arkadia, Cat: CDHP 528.4 and other labels[6] |
1952 | Ludwig Suthaus, Kirsten Flagstad (with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf providing some top notes in the Act II Love Duet),[7] Blanche Thebom, Josef Greindl, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau |
Wilhelm Furtwängler, Royal Opera House Covent Garden Chorus, Philharmonia Orchestra |
EMI Classics Naxos Historical Cat: 8.110321-24 |
1959 | Wolfgang Windgassen, Birgit Nilsson, Hilde Rössel-Majdan, Hans Hotter, Gustav Neidlinger |
Herbert von Karajan, Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro alla Scala |
Golden Melodram, Cat: GM 1.0080 |
1961 | Fritz Uhl, Birgit Nilsson, Regina Resnik, Arnold van Mill, Tom Krause |
Georg Solti, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Friends of Music Society Chorus |
Decca, Cat: 470814 |
1966 | Wolfgang Windgassen, Birgit Nilsson, Christa Ludwig, Martti Talvela, Eberhard Wächter |
Karl Böhm, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Bayreuth Festival Chorus (Recording of a performance at the Bayreuth Festival, August) |
Deutsche Grammophon, Cat: 449772 |
1971 | Jon Vickers, Birgit Nilsson, Grace Hoffman, Franz Crass, Norman Mittelman |
Horst Stein, Buenos Aires Teatro Colón Orchestra |
VAI, Cat: VAIA 1178-3 |
1972 | Jon Vickers, Helga Dernesch, Christa Ludwig, Karl Ridderbusch, Walter Berry |
Herbert von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin Deutsche Oper Chorus |
EMI Classics, Cat: 69319 |
1981 | Alberto Remedios, Linda Esther Gray, Felicity Palmer, John Tomlinson, Norman Bailey |
Reginald Goodall, Chorus and Orchestra of Welsh National Opera, Performance in English |
Oriel Music Society, OMS 181 |
1981 | Peter Hofmann, Hildegard Behrens, Yvonne Minton, Hans Sotin, Bernd Weikl |
Leonard Bernstein, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Chorus |
Philips, Cat: 2PH5410-447 |
1980/82 | René Kollo, Margaret Price, Brigitte Fassbaender, Kurt Moll, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau |
Carlos Kleiber, Leipzig Radio Chorus, Dresden Staatskapelle |
Deutsche Grammophon, Cat: 403202 |
1995 | Siegfried Jerusalem, Waltraud Meier, Marjana Lipovšek, Matti Salminen, Falk Struckmann |
Daniel Barenboim, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin State Opera Chorus |
Teldec, Cat: 94568 |
2003 | Thomas Moser, Deborah Voigt, Petra Lang, Robert Holl, Peter Weber |
Christian Thielemann, Vienna State Opera Orchestra, Vienna State Opera Chorus (Live) |
Deutsche Grammophon, Cat: 474 974 |
2004 | Plácido Domingo, Nina Stemme, Mihoko Fujimura, René Pape, Olaf Bär |
Antonio Pappano, Royal Opera House Covent Garden Orchestra, Royal Opera House Covent Garden Chorus |
EMI Classics, Cat: 5.58006 |
Video recordings
- Tristan und Isolde Conductor: Pierre Boulez. Soloists: Wolfgang Windgassen; Birgit Nilsson; Hans Hotter; Chorus and Orchestra of the Osaka Festival. Recorded [on black and white film], Osaka, 10 April 1967. Wieland Wagner directed the production.
- Tristan und Isolde Conductor: Karl Böhm. Soloists: Jon Vickers; Birgit Nilsson. New Philharmonia Chorus; ORTF Orchestra. Théâtre Antique, Orange, France, 7 July 1973. This is a highly valued video recording due to its excellent performance despite some technical problems (as of 2005-11-21). DVD: Hardy Classic Video HCD 40009 (2 DVDs) (2003) is a good print
- Tristan und Isolde Conductor: Daniel Barenboim, Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele, Staged and Directed by: Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, Soloists: René Kollo, Johanna Meier, Matti Salminen, Hermann Becht, Hanna Schwarz, Unitel 1983, Laserdisc Philips 070-509-1
- Tristan und Isolde Conductor: Jiří Kout, Orchestra & Chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staged and Directed by: Götz Friedrich, Soloists: René Kollo, Dame Gwyneth Jones, Robert Lloyd, Gerd Feldhoff, Hanna Schwarz. TDK 1993 DVD
- Tristan und Isolde Conductor: Zubin Mehta; Chorus of the Bayerische Staatsoper, Bayerisches Staatsorchester; Stage Director: Peter Konwitschny; Soloists: Jon Frederic West, Waltraud Meier, Kurt Moll, Bernd Weikl, Marjana Lipovšek. Opus Arte DVD 1998.
- Tristan und Isolde Conductor: Peter Schneider. Soloists: Robert Dean Smith, Iréne Theorin, Michelle Breedt, Robert Holl, Jukka Rasilainen; Bayreuth Festival Orchestra & Chorus. Staged and directed by Christoph Marthaler. 3-DVD set: Opus Arte, ASIN: B002QEXC6W 2009.
References
- Notes
- ↑ Holloway, Robin (1982) in "Opera on Record", Harper and Row ISBN 0-06-090910-2, page 367.
- ↑ Blyth, Alan (1992), "Opera on CD" Kyle Cathie Ltd, ISBN 1-85626-056-9 page 65.
- ↑ Recordings of Tristan und Isolde on Wagner Discography
- ↑ Brown, p. 36
- ↑ Brown, p. 13
- ↑ Brown, p. 16
- ↑ Naxos, Notes to Tristan und Isolde. Retrieved 11 December 2015
- Sources
- Brown, Jonathan (2000). Tristan und Isolde on record: a comprehensive discography of Wagner's music drama with a critical introduction to the recordings. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-31489-6.
External links
- Recordings of Tristan und Isolde, wagnerdisco.net
- Jonathan Brown's discography