Tag Archives: Wagner

The root of all evil: Jurowski and the LPO pair Rachmaninov’s Miserly Knight with Wagner’s greedy dwarf

Rachmaninov: The Miserly Knight/ Wagner: Das Rheingold *** LPO/Jurowski, 21st January 2015 Vladimir Jurowski is a wily programmer. The London Philharmonic’s season has been most interesting, their “Rachmaninoff Inside Out” series digging out rarities and putting them into context. In … Continue reading

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A brace of ghost ships

Wagner: Der fliegende Holländer/ Dietsch: Le vaisseau fantôme (Naïve) *** One of the more enterprising celebrations to mark Wagner’s bicentenary last year now arrives on disc courtesy of Naïve. Conductor Marc Minkowski had been considering recording Die Feen, but opted … Continue reading

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Turgid tempi hamper Barenboim’s Rheingold

Prom 14: Das Rheingold *** Staatskapelle Berlin, Barenboim, Royal Albert Hall, 22nd July 2013 ‘A sultry haze hangs in the air,’ remarks Donner towards the finale of Das Rheingold. He wasn’t wrong. In a Royal Albert Hall sweltering like Nibelheim’s furnaces, … Continue reading

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Fairies at the bottom of Wagner’s garden

Wagner: Die Feen Chelsea Opera Group, Queen Elizabeth Hall, 17th March 2013 There are fairies at the bottom of the garden. On the Wagner-Verdi bicentenary dual carriageway, the Chelsea Opera Group charabanc trundled into town for the first of its … Continue reading

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Twilight of the Gods: an abattoir of ‘bleeding chunks’

Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (highlights): DG The cover of “Twilight of the Gods” features Bryn Terfel brooding darkly, a raven perched on his shoulder. Twilight of the Gods? But isn’t Wotan out of the picture by Götterdämmerung? Despite the … Continue reading

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