Pristine Classical release: Furtwängler's RAI Ring - Die Walküre
Andrew Rose
WAGNER Die Walküre
Recorded 1953
Siegmund Wolfgang Windgassen
Hunding Gottlob Frick
Wotan Ferdinand Frantz
Sieglinde Hilde Konetzni
Brünnhilde Martha Mödl
Fricka Elsa Cavelti
Helmwige Judith Hellwig
Ortlinde Magda Gabory
Gerhilde Gerda Scheyrer
Waltraute Dagmar Schmedes
Siegrune Olga Bennings
Rossweisse Ira Malaniuk
Grimgerde Elsa Cavelti
Schwertleite Hilde Rössl-Majdan
Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma della RAI
Wilhelm Furtwängler conductor
Downloads include full orchestral scores of each act
Producer and Audio Restoration Engineer: Andrew Rose
Web page:
http://www.pristineclassical.com/LargeWorks/Vocal/PACO058.php
A beautiful voice is not enough for a successful interpretation,
especially in Wagner and hence cannot in itself be decisive: conveying
the meaning of the text is almost as important.
(Wilhelm Furtwängler, 1949)
Short Notes
Pristine Classical's remastering of Das Rheingold, the first of the four
Ring cycle operas recorded for Italian radio in 1953 by Wilhelm
Furtwängler, was heralded as a revelation by those who had only known
the recording from previous CD issues - which had seemingly deteriorated
in quality since its original 1972 LP release.
Now we turn to Die Walküre, from which even greater possibilities lay in
the grooves of those classic records. The original release was not
called "the gramophone event of the century" without good reason - this
is surely one of the greatest Rings from a Wagnerian conductor who
towers above almost all the rest.
With superb clarity, depth and punch, this new 32-bit Pristine XR
remastering knocks the spots off all previous issues!
Notes on the transfers:
There are two full recordings of Wagner's Ring cycle conducted by
Furtwängler, but neither is the full studio recording planned by EMI to
begin in 1954 and left incomplete by the conductor's death at the age of
68 on 30th November of that year. There is a 1950 recording of his La
Scala cycle, and this, a series of recordings made for broadcast on
Italian radio (RAI) across ten sessions in October and November 1953 in
front of a very quiet invited audience.
The final broadcasts were cut from both these recordings and taped
rehearsal sessions, as chosen by Furtwängler and the RAI engineers the
day after recording. The recordings were broadcast a short time after
but were not commercially issued until the early 1970s on LP by EMI.
Two CD reissues I've examined closely - EMI in 1990 (reissued without
apparent alteration in 2011) and Gebhardt in 2005 - managed between them
to reduce the quality achieved by those 1972 LPs. EMI's issue has come
under criticism for its dull and rather dead sound, whilst the
Gebhardt's choice of equalisation is at best unusual, and the sound
quality is - according to one's tastes - either improved or severely
degraded by the kind of dynamic compression which more usually graces
rock music recordings. The latter, which raises the levels of everything
by squashing them all into a smaller dynamic space, has the additional
side effect of boosting hiss levels throughout.
Pristine's 32-bit XR remastering aims to avoid these pitfalls: using
predictive, ultra-sensitive re-equalisation to tease out of the
recording the precise frequencies expected from Die Walküre in the
proportions expected of them, it expands the lower frequencies to
provide a fuller and more convincing bass whilst extending the upper
treble to produce natural clarity and sparkle, whilst avoiding excessive
noise or hiss. Although this recording had a number of shortcomings: a
tendency to peak distortion in places; a large number of bass thuds and
bumps; these have largely been eradicated or ameliorated, and the result
is particularly satisfying and enjoyable - especially if you have the
Ambient Stereo version!
Andrew Rose
MP3 Sample Act 1: Prelude and First Scene
http://tinyurl.com/PACO058
--
Andrew Rose
Pristine Classical: "The destination for people interested in historic
recordings..." (Gramophone)