Richard Wagner: Wesendonck-Lieder; Overtures (2007)

The two unifying factors on this 2008 Archipel release are the composer Richard Wagner and the conductor Joseph Keilberth. Wagner, of course, was the nineteenth century German composer whose reputation had been soiled by his posthumous association with National Socialism, while Keilberth was the German conductor of the younger generation whose direct and dramatic approach to Wagner's music entirely bypassed the blended textures and epic lengths of the previous generation.The three performances here date from during and ... Read More

The two unifying factors on this 2008 Archipel release are the composer Richard Wagner and the conductor Joseph Keilberth. Wagner, of course, was the nineteenth century German composer whose reputation had been soiled by his posthumous association with National Socialism, while Keilberth was the German conductor of the younger generation whose direct and dramatic approach to Wagner's music entirely bypassed the blended textures and epic lengths of the previous generation.The three performances here date from during and after the war and show that Keilberth's approach to Wagner did not so much change as intensify over time. His Overture to Tannhäuser with the Grosses Orchester der Deutschlandsenders und des Senders Berlin from 1940 doesn't lack majesty in the "Pilgrim's Hymn" nor sensuality in the "Venusberg Bacchanal." But its colors are much brighter than older conductors' and its tempos are always moving forward so that the piece never slows down and sinks under its own weight.More characteristic of... Read Less