Tristan & isolde versions - (1) EMI/karajan-Berlin, or (2) opera d'oro carlo!
Question: i don't know nothing of all of this - i'm going to see the opera and want to be a bit familiar, these are the two affordable cd's i find on-line, which should i get? just to play in the background a few times. any reasoning would be appreciated too. thanks!
Answers: i don't know nothing of all of this - i'm going to see the opera and want to be a bit familiar, these are the two affordable cd's i find on-line, which should i get? just to play in the background a few times. any reasoning would be appreciated too. thanks!
well, both conductors were very good at Wagner, so that's not the problem. who's doing the singing? If the EMI is the older recording with M?dl, Hotter, and Vinay, it will be a treat to listen to.
I personally, would go with the Kleiber. I think van Karajan is vastly over-rated.
Even better, if you can find one conducted by the likes of Georg Solti, Fritz Reiner, Bruno Walter or possibly even Arturo Toscanini(though I don't think he ever recorded it in its entirety), you would be much better off.
And also Leopold Stokowski: he seems to have had a particularly good feel for this one opera of Wagner's.
The latest, newest, recording of it that I've heard(and which will probably be the last), with Placido Domingo, is one I don't particularly care for.
Whichever one you decide upon, the night before the performance, be sure to get plenty of sleep; so that you will be "bright-eyed and bushy tailed" for an endurance test(also a good pillow for your behind): it lasts(not including intermissions)for upwards of 4 hours.
Nevertheless, if you spiritually connect with Wagner's erogenous "musical mystique", you will have the experience of a life time: enjoy.
Alberich
Carlos Kleiber - the musics the thing and his interpretation bets any cast weakness. Kliber is never suitable for background music, he demands your full attention. I can't imagine reducing any T & I to background music come to think about it.
The best cast is the EMI with John Vickers.