Tristan und Isolde (CD): Fritz Reiner, Lauritz Melchior, Kirsten Flagstad, Herbert Janssen, Emanuel List
Conductor: Fritz Reiner
Tristan Lauritz Melchior
Isolde Kirsten Flagstad
Brangäne Sabine Kalter
Kurwenal Herbert Janssen
Marke Emanuel List
Melot Frank Sale
Seemann Roy Devereux
Hirt Octave Düa
Steuermann
Leslie Horsman
London Philharminic Orchestra
Chorus of the Royal Opera, Covent Garden
Recorded by HMV on 52 78-rpm sides during performances on 18 May and 2 June, 1936
Reviews and comments
"Recorded live at Covent Garden in 1936, this is quite simply the greatest performance of Wagner's masterpiece to survive in sound. It captures the definitive coupling of Kirsten Flagstad and Lauritz Melcher as the doomed lovers, both singing with a sensuous ease, a purity of line and a supreme voluptuousness of tone that eradicates all competition. ...The visceral sexuality and the sense of neurotic decadence that Fritz Reiner gets from every bar is overwhelming, while the LPO-which doubled as the opera house's orchestra in the 1930s-play with an electric excitement that no studio recording could ever quite capture. You emerge from the whole feeling elated and emotionally battered beyond belief. This is by no means its first outing on CD, though the Naxos re-mastering is unquestionably the finest to date: admirably clear and avoiding the distortion that has marred its previous appearances. At the price, it's the bargain of the year. Avoid all lesser and more expensive imitations."
Tim Ashley,
Guardian, December 2000
"Mark Obert-Thorn is, along with Ward Marston, one of the finest transfer engineers restoring historic material. He has redone the previously issued and justly famous Reiner Tristan from Covent Garden, 1937. With Flagstad and Melchior, Naxos' budget price, and its best sound yet, this self-recommends."
Henry Fogel
Fanfare, January 2009
"Kirsten Flagstad and Lauritz Melchoir are archetypal Wagner performers, displaying not only the requisite heft to soar over a large orchestra but also abundant passion, understanding, and physical stamina, and this famous performance, recorded live at Covent Garden in 1936, is a thrilling monument to their artistry. The current dearth of Wagnerian singers has turned Tristan und Isolde into a conductor's opera, but despite the exciting and exacting leadership of Fritz Reiner, Flagstad and Melchoir hold center stage here. One is swept away as much by the beauty of their sound as by their ecstatic expressions of desire. Rarely has the second-act love duet been so intoxicatingKit is remarkable how much detail comes through, given the recording's ageKNaxos has done Wagnerites an immeasurable service by re-releasing this classic performance. It is a priceless document from a particularly resplendent era of Wagner interpretation."
Andrew Farach-Colton,
Barnes & Noble, January 2009
"...I still prefer Fritz Reiner's performance, taped live at Covent Garden in 1936. Flagstad again is the Isolde, her voice twining round Lauritz Melchior's gorgeous Tristan. Reiner's conducting exudes decadent splendour, and the playing from the LPO is awesome. Reiner offers an overwhelming experience that is second to none."
Tim Ashley,
Guardian, April 2001