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With This. It Leads to a Harmonic Resolution That Does Not Minor Third) i ude with its proper concert ending, as the practiced Wagnerians and when the writing composer intended it to be heard, rather than calls for forceful declamation all is well and awkwardly mismatched to the Liebestod. good. But both Klose and Lorenz are not espe- Buckle (Leinsdorf is the only other conductor in re- cially successful with the sustained Italianate cent years to record the Prelude in this text.) lines of their arias; these are strenuous roles Moreover the Boult performance is unusually but more flexible voices are required if the lyr- your eloquent, filled with the special magic these ical portions of the music are to tell effectively. pages can have. Lorenz's tenor was becoming rather thick and Neither of the Meistersinger extracts has a beery at this stage in his career, while Klose's swash proper ending in concert form. The Act 1 Prel- massive voice never really "spoke" freely in ude really needs its choral close, and the intro- the more agile mezzo repertory (like most duction to Act 111 always sounds strange when Adrianos she takes "Gerechter Gott" down a with this. it leads to a harmonic resolution that does not minor third). The other singers have little to do here and Schiller's conducting is not espe- Itch RED SEAL exist in the opera. The other three works stand well by themselves. And everyone, musicians, cially invigorating. Sonically, the constricted, engineers, and conductor, appears to be at his boxy quality is subpar even for 1942: There is very best, working con amore. R.C.M. a plentiful amount of fade-out and surface bra noise on the broadcast transcription originals. Until the EMI edition arrives, though, these "bleeding chunks" will offer the curious Wag- WAGNER: Rienzi (excerpts). nerian at least a good taste of the young com- H Cola Rienzi Max Lorenz (t) poser's first major operatic effort. P.G.D. Irene Hilde Scheppan (s) Steffan° Colonna Robert von der Linde (bs) Adriano Margarete Klose (ms) WAGNER: Der Ring des N ibelu ng en. Martha CHARLES GERHARDT Paolo Orsini Jaro Prohaska (b) Modl, Ludwig Suthaus, Wolfgang Wind- NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA Baroncelli Gustav Rodin (t) Cecco Wilhelm Hiller (bs) gassen, Ferdinand Frantz, Josef Greindl, Gottlob Frick, et al.; Chorus and Orchestra of Chorus of the Berlin State Opera; Ber- RAI Rome, Wilhelm Furtwangler, cond. For a lin Staatskapelle, Johannes Schuler, feature review of this recording, see page 63. The classicErich Wolfgang cond. Top Classic/Historia H 657/8, Korngold film themes: from Cap- $11.96 (two discs, mono; recorded in tain Blood, The Sea Hawk, Robin 1942). Hood, Juarez, Kings Row, and WEBER: Symphony No. 1, in C, Op. 19. more. Wagner's three early operas-Die Feen, Das CHERUBINI: Symphony in D. New Philhar- Includes illustrated notes on Liebesverbot, and Rienzi-will probably al- monia Orchestra, Wilfried BOttcher, cond. films and music. ways remain shadowy names for the opera Philips 6500 154, $6.98. goer. Unlike Verdi's initial endeavors, these RC/1 Records and Tapes flawed, groping attempts by a budding genius One would think that after the Eroica and the are simply too problematical to be revived to- Fifth, few of Beethoven's contemporaries CIRCLE 56 ON READER -SERVICE CARD day. In the case of Rienzi, the difficulties are would have cared to write but the especially acute: It is an opera on an immense symphony remained the most exalted form of scale, a vast historical spectacle that would tax instrumental music, and production was NEW FINCO the facilities (and limited budgets) of any ma- plentiful. This interesting recording demon- jor opera house; its music, despite many inter- strates why this was possible: The composers esting prophetic overtones, effective moments, got around the colossus by carefully avoiding 0, le r ,// and youthful high spirits, is extremely uneven. any confrontation. There was only one excep- Furthermore, for reasons too complex to ex- tion, Schubert, who not only clearly saw plore here, the score itself was never left in a Beethoven's greatness but was willing to chal- G-922 definitive state by Wagner and the textual lenge him. The others, among them Weber problems are fearsome. and Spohr, either could not grasp the Beetho- Still, recordings of these works would be in- venian symphony, or if they did, like Cheru- valuable reference items, not only for the pro- bini, preferred to go back to the late Haydn's world rather than risk the unequal battle. That 300 ohm fessional but the general opera lover as well. system. EMI is presently engaged in a Rienzi in Dres- there was room for all kinds of symphonies is VHF.UHFF M. 300 ohm input and den, but until that welcome project material- also evident from this recording, for there four 300 ohm outputs izes, here are two discs imported from Austria, could scarcely be personalities and works using twin lead wire. a 1942 Berlin radio broadcast of excerpts more antithetic than those of these two com- List $43.95 evidently celebrating the opera's centenary. posers. Weber, carrying the fake title of nobil- About one hour and twenty minutes of Rienzi ity, writes "popular" music, a bit lacking in co- is barely enough to give a general flavor of the hesion, style, and form, but fresh, inventive, HOME TV/FM work (the uncut world premiere in 1842 lasted and colorful. Cherubini, an authentic musical MULTIPLE SET over six hours), but fortunately this includes aristocrat, offers a chiseled score that explains SOLID-STATE much of the best music: the Overture, Adri- why both Haydn and Beethoven considered ano's "Gerechter Gott," Rienzi's Prayer (the him their true confrere. most famous and often recorded set numbers), Weber wrote two symphonies, both in C AMPLIFIERS and three large-scale finales. These latter con- major, of which the firstis recorded here. Amplifies TV/FM signals certed sections show the young Wagner at his Composed in 1807, when Beethoven was at his for distribution to most ambitious, trying to outdo Meyerbeer in Sixth, it shows total unawareness of the Bee- every set in the house! grandiose effects.Forall theirocca- thovenian world, indeed, even of the prin- Five different models for sional clumsiness, these passages convey a tre- ciples of symphonic construction as codified every reception requirement. mendous amount of vitality and even theatri- by Haydn. The first movement has no shape For Color...Black &White... cal excitement-one can easily understand (Weber later apologized for this movement) FM/FM Stereo. why the opera had such a vogue early in its ca- but plenty of dramatic ideas, brilliant orches- reer. The third -act finale is particularly im- tration, and appealing tunes. The second WRITE DEPT. movement, in C minor, is a remarkable ro- FOR CATALOG NO. 20-594. pressive for its crafty manipulation of choral ensembles, on-stage band, and unabashed mantic genre piece the like of which the sym- THE FINNEY COMPANY blood -and -thunder melodrama. phony had not known up to this point. It is the 34 W. Interstate Street The performance here demonstrates an- work of the born opera composer, and its dra- Bedford. Ohio 44146 other Rienzi dilemma. All these singers were matic turns are impressive. The twenty -one - CIRCLE 25 ON READER -SERVICE CARD 12 HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE.
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