Bumped for Duncan (originally posted at the other place):
Well, to get this thread back on track, I have finished listening to Siegfried, and very enjoyable it was too. Indeed, I'd suggest it's a must for any serious Wagnerian. In particular, I do not believe that Hans Hotter has ever been caught finer on disc. Nor, for that matter Varnay (is there a stereo account of her other than this available?). Whether the same is true of Windgassen, I'm not as sure (see my comments about the Kruass ring further down). The most significant reservation I have is that the voices, right at the end of act 3, do distort a little, particularly Varnay's, and given the quality with which they are captured elsewhere, this is a real shame.
Some general comments first, Act 2 is especially fine, and Fafner is wonderfully played and captured. Keilberth goes at quite a pace and there are no moments whatsoever where the action drags at all, indeed, in one or two places one wishes he might slow down ever so slightly. As suggested above, the strings are a little harsh in places but the brass is very well caught as is percussion and the recording is so fine that you would hardly believe and audience was present (this especially impressive given the quality of the other 50s Bayreuth performances I've heard, and the less said about Furtwangler/Scala in this regard the better!).
One other minor reservation: the included booklet, while including an interesting foreword and essay, biographies of the cast, some nice pictures and a full libretto (in English and German only), does not contain a synopsis. This doesn't matter to me per se - I have plenty and know the plot very well, still it is the kind of oversight one does not expect from testament. I would also have liked a little more detail on how much work the Testament people needed to do on the original tapes. While it is clearly live it is not quite so live as the Krauss (they recorded the second cycle - though they could only patch certain bits since Varnay and others only appeared in the first); they also had the taping of one rehearsal to call upon. The booklet suggests only 21 such edits (which were mainly between the primary and back up tape for the original performance. They've done a good job as I can't detect them (as I can in the Bohm cycle).
So, where does this Siegfried stand in relation to the competition. Clearly I'm not going to compare it to everything, indeed I'm going to use the same three comparisons as Blyth did in his Gramophone review:
The finest 'live' Siegfried' I'd heard before - Krauss at Bayreuth in 1953
The finest 'live' stereo Siegfried - Boehm at Bayreuth in 67
The finest studio recording - Solti and the VPO.
Others may disagree as to whether those truely are the finest in their categories.
So, against Boehm first. Well, the sound on the Keilberth ring, as one might expect is not quite so fine, it is a little harsh in places and there is much more sibilance on the voices. Also, in one or two very loud points there is a little distortion. That said, they've done a remarkable job, especially considering how new stereo was at the time. The singing, overall, is finer for Testament, and one thing, more than anything else, decides it in favour of Keilberth: he has Hans Hotter whereas Boehm only has Theo Adam, and, as a result the opera suffers. Whether you prefer Nilsson or Varnay is probably a personal choice, both are exceptionally fine. Windgassen probably sings better for Testament, though the sibilance and distortion (mentioned above) are issues. Still, if you want a live, stereo Siegfried it is, at the end of the day, a pretty easy choice: Testament.
So, what about Krauss, which, as I've said above, is probably my favourite Siegfried on disc. Well, early on in act one I found Keilberth disappointingly lacking in energy in comparison but as soon as the Wanderer arrived those doubts began to disappear. I would venture to suggest Hotter has never been caught so finely on disc and it is a joy to listen to his scene - you wish he stays longer! Things only get better with Act two as we have the Wotan/Albrich confrontation and some of the most lovely woodbird music I've ever heard. Then Fafner awakes in a superbly characterised performance. I put Krauss back on for comparison and it underscores how significantly improved the Keilberth sound is. Also that the two interpretations aren't too far apart - indeed, according to the liner notes the two shared rehearsals when the shared the ring cycles in '53 and got along very well indeed. I suppose the Krauss is marginally finer musically (save for Hotter who is magical), but I think Keilberth's combination of performance and sound quality makes it the winner. The only thing that makes me think twice, is that I don't think Erda is among the finest performances on disc, that aside, the beginning of act 3 is very fine.
So what of Solti. Well, orchestral playing for Solti is better recording - a live recording will never sound like that, which, perhaps is the point. I wouldn't want to be without either (and the one I would listen to would depend on what I wanted to hear). Keilberth's singers perform better than Solti's and, in many ways the performance is more compelling. Of course, Solti has a critical weakness in the Woodbird (one of my favourite parts of Siegfried - Joan Sutherland's diction is absolutely abysmal), that said, the recording of the Part for Keilberth isn't perfect either and I suspect nothing is ever going to have the magic of the scottish opera staging of that part.
This set should be owned by all serious Wagnerians (along with the likes of Solti, Krauss, and Furtwangler). I think if you're on the studio side of the studio/live set, you'll still prefer Solti, for people like me who sit on the fence, you'll want both, for people wanting it live, this has to be a first choice - if you fall into that category buy these discs, buy them now! Put another way, at the moment I have both Solti and Krauss on my ipod, if the rest of the cycle is as good, it will be Solti and Keilberth.
I cannot wait to hear the rest of the releases: HURRY UP PLEASE TESTAMENT!
regards, Tam
