COMPOSERS: Wagner
LABELS: Testament
ALBUM TITLE: Wagner
WORKS: Der fliegende Holländer
PERFORMER: Hermann Uhde, Astrid Varnay, Ludwig Weber, Rudolf Lustig, Josef Traxel; Bayreuth Festival/Joseph Keilberth
CATALOGUE NO: SBT 2 1384
It’s good to have this classic live
performance back, even if it’s less
of a rarity than Joseph Keilberth’s
contemporary Ring. For some weird
reason Teldec released this on CD in
mono; Testament thankfully restores
Decca’s stereo tapes, capturing the
special Bayreuth acoustic.
Performed in its one-Act version,
it centres on two exceptional leading
performances. The great singing
actor Hermann Uhde embodies
the Dutchman almost perfectly
with his darkly powerful baritone
and anguished characterisation,
consumed with bitterness and
agonising hope. If the late Astrid
Varnay’s distinctively shaded tones
don’t quite suggest the idealistic
young girl, her passion and power are
no less compelling, and their rapport
in the great duet is moving.
Lustig’s fine-voiced Erik
inevitably sounds lower voltage
by comparison. The great Ludwig
Weber is a characterful but rather
leathery-sounding Daland, Josef
Traxel a mellifluous Steersman; and
the Bayreuth chorus is in fine voice,
even banished off-stage in Act I.
What disagreement there has been
centres on Keilberth’s conducting,
but I doubt anyone would now be
disappointed with this spacious and
exciting reading. If he throttles back
a little in the great setpiece solos,
that only strengthens the singers,
and he builds up the big ensembles
powerfully, with a positively
incandescent finale.
In its combination of cast and
conductor this outclasses worthy
Bayreuth rivals under Nelsson,
Böhm and Sawallisch. Alongside
Klemperer’s searing three-Act
studio recording and Steinberg’s
spirited bargain set, it ranks as a
prime recommendation.
Michael Scott Rohan