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Review by Webster Forrest
This recording of Tristan is especially valuable, as it is the only
available recording featuring the Isolde of the great Astrid Varnay. The
performance is led by one of the German repertoire's most competent if not
most passionate conductors: Eugen Jochum. Jochum is by no means dry in his
style of conducting, and this Tristan emits more heat and commitment than
many, but we are not talking about a performance on the same level as the
famous Windgassen, Nilsson/Böhm recording which so many regard as the
finest available version of this opera.
From the outset the key words for this performance are concentration,
accuracy, and commitment. Jochum handles the orchestra with a beautiful
skill that reminds one of the more sensitive and beautiful performances
(infrequent as they may be) of a Haitink or Barenboim, yet where these
conductors usually deliver technical skill at the expense of emotional
expressiveness, Jochum keeps a Klemperer-like lid on proceedings which
actually have a true blood-filled core. The pace is exciting - and measured.
The conducting throughout keeps the drama moving very convincingly, though
there is not very much in the way of sudden excitement where it might be
wanted.
Varnay's Isolde is rather intelligent and proud, and where it counts,
passionate. She delivers the role with as much decisiveness and clarity as
her Brünnhilde, adding shading to the text which one seldom encounters.
Her 'Wie lachend sie mir Lieder singen' for example, is not as over the top
as many other singers' accounts, but come the end, one has the feeling that
this is a woman of self-assured majesty, rather than of, say, hot-headed
pride. Varnay's was a voice of huge volume and a rather hot and heavy
timbre; some found that she sat on words, using a peculiar pronunciation of
consonants to pry her way into a note. This can be true in some of her
recorded performances, but here (and this is after all from 1953, a golden
year for her: among others her Brünnhilde under Krauss from that year
is unparalleled to this day) she displays great vocal facility as well as
incredible musicality. Her involvement in the entire night scene, ending
with the great love duet in Act II is exceptionally rewarding both
musically and dramatically. Her Liebestod must be regarded as one of the
finest ever recorded. It is on par with any of her great recordings, and
although she was completely ideal in the role of Brünnhilde - which is
an accomplishment that would be hard to equal in any other great role -
Varnay's Isolde has much more skill and genuine feeling than almost any
other singer I can name. The Liebestod is as good a point of example of
this as any other portion of the present recording. If initially it tends
to the unsubtle, ultimately it slowly and surprisingly elevates the
listener to the kind of height one could only expect from the greatest of
Wagner performers.
The much-loved and under-recorded Ramón Vinay sings Tristan, and he
is a fine choice for the role. Vinay's tenor is one of fine baritonal
strength and a robust and penetrating top. His approach to the role is
full-blooded and martial without being at all strident. Whether he is a
match to the searing determination and interpretive depth of Astrid Varnay
is difficult to say. He certainly makes a great deal of the text in many
ways and in most instances convinces us of his character. His dying words
are a touching yet well-controlled expression of deranged love.
Gustav Neidlinger sings Kurwenal. Being so used to his Alberich (and never
having heard him do anything else) it is odd to hear him sing the great
role of Tristan's friend. His approach is straightforward and touching in
the right places. He brings an excellent incisive tone which is so often
lacking in recorded representations of this important character.
The role of Brangäne is skilfully sung by the great Bayreuth mezzo Ira
Malaniuk. Her approach reminds me a lot of Martha Mödl: it's a kind of
nearly wayward scream that has a lot of effect and actually hits the notes
right to the end of the show. Hers is indeed a passionate interpretation,
and considering the giantess she shares the stage with, it is well aimed
and successful.
King Mark is sung by Ludwig Weber. It's a monster (read Dragon, read
Fafner) of a voice, and while it would have been wonderful to have had the
more sensitive and charismatic Josef Greindl in the role, one learns to
make do. I have yet to find a recording of Weber's that is really worth
listening to, but I must say, here he is in better form and sings with more
focused intent than I have ever heard him.
There are a couple of notable names in the supporting cast as well: the
Hirt is sung by Gerhard Stoltze, and the Steuermann by Theo Adam.
The last forty minutes of the opera - from somewhere around Tristan's 'Ach
Isolde ... wie schön bist du' there is a distortion in the sound at
the upper dynamic levels. (This alone may perhaps account for the
recording's rarity.) It's a crackling, as though the recording levels were
a little too high, but it is a noise on top of the recorded music, and
apart from it there is no distortion of the actual sound captured (no loss
of detail, e.g., or no muffling - just this extra noise on top, like a
scratch on a record.) |
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