Lohengrin

This celebrated 1964 recording of Lohengrin with Rudolf Kempe and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra still stands the test of time: it's a terrifically exciting performance. Kempe is a superb draftsman, and he keeps the orchestra lively, exuberant, but never strident. Pride of place must be given to the soloists: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau is a riveting Friedrich, Jess Thomas a dynamic Lohengrin, and Elisabeth Grummer a most moving Elsa. --Joshua Cody Amazon.com essential recording

THIS RECORDING DESERVES TO BE CONSIDERED ONE OF THE GREATEST OF THE 20TH CENTURY

This recording of Lohengrin deserves not only 5 stars but 10. It is the best performance of this opera ever recorded. The playing of the VPO under Kempe is superb specially the strings. The chorus is also first rate. But it is the cast of singers that makes the difference. Both Gottlob Frick as the King and Otto Wiener as the Herald are superb. Jess Thomas is not one of my favorite singers, but here he has perhaps his best performance, now incisive, now romantic and passionate. In my opinion, he is much better than Placido Domingo for Solti, for he can control his huge voice much better according to the demands of each scene, whereas Domingo sounds a little bit gritty in his first performance of the character. He would sing Lohengrin much more satisfactorily some years later for Abbado in the Vienna Opera. Grummer was the perfect choice for Elsa; she conveys the frailty of the character as no other singer. But it is the couple of villains that steal the show. Fischer Dieskau and Christa Ludwig are among the greatest singers of the 20th century and here both are at their best. They simply set the standards for their roles, and whenever one listens to any performance of Lohengrin, it is inevitable that the singing and acting of the singers who play Ortrud and Telramund are judged taking the ones of Ludwig and Fischer Dieskau as the parameter. Sound quality is excellent, but, of course, it cannot match Solti's album, recorded in 1985. But this performance is worth every cent you pay for the CDs. April 13, 2007

Brilliant dark meanderings

Wagner was already into serious genius territory when he wrote this opera--which is practically as long, complex, maddening and fascinating as anything else he wrote. The recording and rendering of this lengthy maze of text and music is a testament to the genius of the producer, conductor, record company, engineers, musicians and singers, who are uniformly good to great. The texture of the sound is especially pleasing here--an analog warmth and silkiness comes across without the tape hiss and lack of definition and clarity that were troublesome with LP records. I've listened to it several times and am more impressed with each listening. One small complaint--Jess Thomas never really did much for me. He seems overshadowed by such towering singers as Gottlob Frick, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Christa Ludwig. Even the distinguished critic who wrote the liner notes for this set failed to include Thomas in his list of brilliant singers who were recruited for the cast--a telling omission. Oh well, heldentenors were not then, nor are they now hanging out on every street corner. This behemoth works anyway and provides, as they say, hours of entertainment for those long dark winter days....and nights. December 12, 2006

Only one nit to pick...

...Perfectionists, beware. Just a bit after 16 minutes into the second act, between Ortrud's words "er war in deiner Macht!" and Telramund's response "Entsetzlich!" the present "Great Recordings of the Century" issue of this recording suffers from a truly appalling editing error. About a half second of music just seems to have gone missing. It's not a subtle mistake. Anybody who's not sleeping through this incomparable scene will easily hear it. And it's painful.

Still the best version ever, of course. December 1, 2006

THE REAL THING

This is a disc that displays its credentials as a 'Great Recording of the Century' in every bar. Getting on for nearly half a century old now, it still stands firm as by far the most recommendable version of the opera.

Certainly the singing cast is uniformly outstanding. The villains of the piece, Ortrud and Telramund, almost take over the show in the hands of Christa Ludwig and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. The opening scene of Act 2, with its dark foreshadowings of Wagner's later style, is compulsive here as the witch-like disciple of the 'old religion' probes and explores every chink and weakness in her husband's psyche while he struggles and frets to cling onto the last vestiges of his 'honour' like a fly caught in her spider's web. Ortrud's invocation of her gods in the solo which follows his departure is absolutely hair-raising. And the way in which she subverts and manipulates Elsa in the scene after that is just as psychologically and vocally fascinating as anything in The Ring. Great singing actors both.

The somewhat goody-goody hero and heroine will always find it hard to live with all that. The Devil always did get the best tunes. But Elisabeth Grummer is a near ideal Elsa. Only Janowitz on the Kubelik set runs her close. The voice is pure and silvery, but her vocal acting makes the character far from the simpleton Elsa can often seem. The Dream and Euch luften are both treasurable. Jess Thomas is not to everyone's taste but he characterises the Grail Knight wonderfully (as he always did in the theatre) and sings with consistently thoughtful and musical sense. The voice perhaps lacks that degree of Italianate bel canto that fits this part better than any other of Wagner's tenor heroes. For that you have to go back to the likes of de Lucia from the tail-end of the 19th Century or the Frenchman Georges Thill between the Wars. Gigli recorded some fascinating bits in his own inimitable style. Melchior was, I always think, a bit stentorian for the part. Among modern singers, only Domingo really essays this approach.

Frick is a rock-solid King Heinrich: Otto Wiener is luxury casting indeed as the Herald. The chorus from the Vienna Opera are magnificent, as is the Vienna Phil. But the greatest accolades should go to Rudolf Kempe, a Wagner conductor who would never tear a passion to tatters like a Solti nor indulge in an over-upholstered bed of sound like a Karajan. Here he has the full measure of Wagner's most 'operatic' opera, delivering perfect pacing, consistently long-breathed phrasing and great punch when it's called for.

These are discs that fully live up to their billing as one of the 'Great Recordings of the Century'.
August 16, 2006

A beloved reading, but for me there are drawbacks

Every once in a while a classic opera set disappoints me. I cannot say that this Lohengrin is anything but fine. Even so, I didn't feel drawn in completely. Jess Thomas strikes me as straining to sound more heroic than his voice actually wants to be--this was a common problem in an era lacking true heldentenors, as witness Windgassen when he sang Tristan or Siegfried--but he looked every inch the part, and the gound was thin for Lohengrins. Kempe is a British favorite among condcutors because he headed the BBC Symphony in the Sixties, and that accounts a lot for the high praise for what he does here. He's scrupulous and restained much of the time; I don't find any genius present here, and Lohengrin benefits from less caution and more let 'er rip. Grummer is touching as a light-voiced Elsa, but there is a fast beat in her voice that took a while ot adjust to.

I sound like I'm niggling, but I've responded emotionally to other Lohengrins, like the Abbado and Solti, with more enthusiasm and visceral excitement. Classics can be superceded. September 5, 2005

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