Tristan und Isolde

Richard Wagner (1813–1883)

DESCRIPTION

No one really likes being asked, “Who’s your favorite tenor?” Once a singer reaches a certain level of artistry, ranking becomes not just difficult, but beside the point. Still, if I had to choose, it would be Lauritz Melchior. With singers like Franco Corelli or Wolfgang Windgassen, there are others you might reasonably compare them to. But in the dramatic tenor repertoire, Melchior remains in a class of his own. That rare mix of golden tone and overwhelming vocal power simply has never been matched.

This 1943 performance of Tristan und Isolde brings all of that into focus. Melchior sings with the same security heard in his performances from the 1930s. More compelling still is the emotional depth he brings to Tristan—reaching the heart of the role with devastating effect.

He’s joined by Helen Traubel, who also belongs to a very select group of singers who’ve fully mastered the role of Isolde. Some may point out that she avoids the high Cs in Act II, but given the sheer opulence and beauty of her singing, it hardly seems worth mentioning. She’s especially compelling in the Act I exchange with Tristan, where her sense of phrasing and responsiveness to the text are wonderfully alive.

CAST

Tristan – LAURITZ MELCHIOR
Isolde – HELEN TRAUBEL
Brangäne – LYDIA KINDERMANN
Kurwenal – HERBERT JANSSEN
König Marke – EMANUEL LIST
Melot – RENATO CESARI
Hirt – ROGELIO BALDRICH
Steuermann – ANGEL MATTIELLO
Stimme eines jungen Seemanns – UMBERTO DI TOTO

DETAILS

Location: Buenos Aires
Date: August 7, 1943
Conductor: Fritz Busch
Catalogue Number: OD 12305-3
Label: Opera Depot
Number of Discs: 3
In Mono

NOTE

A note about the restoration: The original source was pieced together from several tapes, each recorded at different speeds. Considerable work went into aligning the pitch and smoothing over the edits to give us a seamless version of this historic broadcast.