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Richard
Wagner has ever been a beloved, hated or, what's more, fondled by the
public and critics. All that has always leaded to a steady attention
toward his style and production. Every year in Bayreuth, the Wagnerian
Festival represents all the theatrical works of the German compositor,
and interprets with renewed attention his impassioned pages. He was
born in Leipzig in 1813 and dead in Venice in 1883, he knew how to revolution
the musical theatre by eliminating all traditions, to leave space to
a wide and historically new link of literature and music. His original
style put the rules of the eighteen-century in a difficult position
and offered the possibility to the authors of the nineteenth century
to go new ways and to reach new targets. Even by the discography viewpoint
the compositor offers several examples of his production: indeed many
performers measured themselves with his works: by interpreting them
in different ways and without losing the shine featuring him. For example
several performers interpreted the "Parsifal" among which it highlights
P. Boulez in the wonderful recording of the EMI 157-270-178-3 (5LP)
It' s already well known that the Boulez 's performances are plenty
of a deep philological research, highlighting the powerful orchestration
and unity in order to achieve a dramatic and dark voice use. Solti too
for the Decca 417-143-22c (4CD) interpreted the score in a clearly way
lacking at all the traditions added in the first years of the nineteenth
century. The "Tannhauser" too is a further example of his genius, since
the work proves a deep acknowledgment of the drama. As regard to discography,
we find Solti conducing the Wiener Philarmoniker in the recording of
the Decca 41450I-22B (3CD) maybe excessively rhythmical but incisive
as regard to voices, calibrated for Wagner's style. In the Idyll of
Siegfried we find many interprets that recorded this orchestral. Among
the most interesting recordings we can remember the Ashkenazy with the
English Chamber Orchestra for the Decca 410 111-22k, since the director
adopts an abrupt sonority without neglecting the veiled romanticism
the piece lies over. Getting briefly back in time, we find the superb
performance of Furtwangler with the Wiener Philarmoniker for EMI 149.0II97/99
M (3 LP); maybe less flaunty even if plenty of sound games that makes
this page historical and unforgettable. Even Toscanini measured himself
with the difficult score and indeed in the discography archives there's
a document that will delight fans (RCA 26.35 111 EK, 4LP). Going on
the discography research, we find piano pages that did not become famous
as the opera works. For example the B. dur "Sonate fur Klavier" represented
a precious aspect of Wagners' way in using the piano. The most reliable
performers are Galling and Speidel that recorded the piece for little
record companies: Galling for the FSM (Fono Schallplatten Gmbh. Munster
33043/44) and Speidel for Car (Camus Uerlag Stuttgart 53 113). We wonder
why the great operas have been always recorded by prestigious recording
companies and the few known pieces by the more modest ones. And yet
it is always Wagner! Power of the recording market!
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