Despite the odd recording balances, Vickers weird vowels, and
Dernesch's somewhat underpowered Isolde, this has always been a
favorite.
> Kleiber/DG - probably came the closest to supplanting Vickers/Karajan when I first heard it, but Kollo seems to lose any grip on my imagination after hearing him 2-3 times in any given part/recording. DFD seems almost washed up, and Fassbaender doesn't compete. Kleiber is the primary attraction, and a very exciting one at that.
For me the only real attraction is Margaret Price, but the whole
affair has a very sterile, studio-bound quality.
> Böhm/DG - well sung, and Böhm's dramatic drive is as appealing here as it is in the Ring. Perhaps a better appreciation for this classic will emerge from my revisitation.
Another favorite, largely for the recorded sound of the Festspielhaus
and the sense of real occasion.
> Furtwängler/EMI - the heavy favorite of many.
Not really for me, I'm afraid. If I want to hear Flagstad, I turn to
one of the live Met performances, and if I want to hear Suthaus and/or
Furtwangler, I turn to the live abridgement from 1947 with the Berlin
Staatskapelle, which has appeared on several labels. It's a white hot
performance of a nearly complete Act 3, with Suthaus in substantially
better voice than for the EMI studio recording. Suthaus, BTW, can
also be heard to better effect with Konwitschny, issued by Preiser.
The rest of the cast is marginal (particularly Baumer as Isolde), but
Frick is superb as King Mark.
> Goodall/Decca - I got this a few years back as part of an order of Tower Japan special exclusive reissues (sort-of a throw-in to increase the size of the order and share the S&H costs). I think it is now available internationally again.
Only via Archiv. I have the same Tower Japan version, and I can't
remember much about it - it's been a while.
> Karajan/Bayreuth/1952/Orfeo - a recording I covetted for many years, even more so when the Orfeo release of it appeared, being already familiar with many other historic treasures those folks have given us such splendid distributions of
Probably my desert island choice. Cast is much better than it looks
on paper, and Karajan is at his best.
> I also own the Bernstein/Philps recording, again having obtained a used copy for less than the going price for the OOP originals or resissues. I have not heard any of it. Some friends with interest in Wagner sneered at me when I mentioned that I bought it. Bernstein polarizes opinions as always.
Well, Lenny's not the problem. He draws a truly opulent sound from
the orchestra, and it's really a shame that his Tristan and Isolde are
simply not up to their tasks. Bernstein seems to be aware of that,
and tries to drown them out whenever possible.
> I do not own the Pappano, Thielemann, Barenboim, or the recent Janowski.
Barenboim is worth hearing, although I don't think that either Meier
or Jerusalem is at their best here, and I hate the way that they split
Act 1 by fading it out. Despite Pape's King Mark, the Pappano is
pretty much worthless, unless you have greater tolerance for Domingo's
generic expression and mediocre German. The Thielemann is utterly
without any redeeming quality whatsoever. I haven't bought the
Janowski yet, but plan to; I was very impressed by the live broadcast
associated with the recording.
Despite the cuts, I would certainly explore some of the live Met and
Covent Garden recordings from the 30's and 40's with Flagstad or
Traubel and Melchior.
I'm really hoping that at some point in the next few years, one of the
recording labels finds a way to assemble a suitable cast, orchestra,
and conductor around Christine Goerke and Jonas Kaufmann.
Bill