The Kleibers conduct Mozart and Wagner (or, Why I should listen to Graham more often)
Posted by: Tam on 25 September 2006
I spent much of last weekend enjoying two very fine opera recordings which, both recommended to my by Graham55. Now, the two of us don't always see eye to eye, or perhaps, ear to ear (over Kleiber jnr's Brahms 4th symphony, for example) however, I can thank him in the past for putting me on to various very fine recordings (the wonderful Szell disc of Wagner chunks would be one example). The two recordings here are perhaps two he has most frequently recommended to me (and two that I have been meaning for ages to acquire).
Erich Kleiber's recording of one of Mozart's finest operas (certainly one of my favourites), The Marriage of Figaro, has long intrigued me. Erich Kleiber was a conductor I first encountered almost by accident, at £6, the six disc Decca original masters set was too fine an offer to pass up and in it I found a treasure of recordings (not least his readings of Beethoven's 6th symphony, which I have not heard equalled and his magnificent, classical Schubert great C major). The Figaro is interesting because it was his only stereo recording. I believe it is true to say it was also the first complete recording of the opera (which alone makes it interesting since my favourite reading, Giulini, is not). About a week or so ago I finally decided to treat myself.
Carlos Kleiber's Tristan und Isolde was also his last studio recording (though his career in this regard was forestalled by something of a breakdown towards the end of the epic sessions). To begin with, I was less keen to pick up this. Perhaps because it is not my favourite Wagner by some margin, perhaps also because I already have a fine and satisfying recording in Furtwangler and, judging from the timings alone, I was not sure I would warm to what I expected would be significantly brisker tempi. I didn't intend to pick this up at all, my next Tristan was to have been the forthcoming issue from Donald Runnicles (featuring Christine Brewer as Isolde), however, that has been pushed back again (we may now see its release next week - though those lucky enough to reside in the States can pick it up now). However, a week and a half ago, wanting a new Tristan, I happened across this for £13 and it seemed rude not to pick it up.
Listening to the two on consecutive days proved fascinating as the recordings have much more in common (beyond the obvious that the conductors were father and son, both were their final recordings and both are great operas), but this will hopefully become apparent.
The first thing that strikes about the Figaro is what an edge there is to Kleiber's reading - that and what a fine recording this 1955 effort is (and once again how well formed stereo emerged and how little it has been improved upon - it is also well balanced with none of what I like to call the 'excessive stereo' effects that have me reaching for the mono switch). Kleiber takes the overture fairly briskly and from the start draws superb playing from the Vienna Phil (whose playing is one of the joys of this reading). However, it is very much not the last word in 'beautiful' Mozart (as Bohm offers in his reading or, in his way, Giulini) and, arguably the better for it. Here is Mozart at his most playful and joyful.
The Figaro of Cesare Siepi is another highlight of the set, not only is his voice fine but he acts the part wonderfully. Initially I was less convinced by the Susanna of Hilde Gueden - there seems to be a slight sourness in her voice I don't much care for; however, these doubts vanish during the recitatives which she sings with great beauty and also in the 'din-din' duet. The recitatives are another highlight of this set - something I never thought I would write (as they can so often seem like the gaps you have to put up with between the good bits). They may be slow (particularly in comparison to Kleiber's reading elsewhere), but they are full of character a joy to listen to (especially Siepi and Guenden).
The supporting cast is supporting cast is similarly fine. The Bartolo of Fernando Corena is wonderful malevolent. Hilde Rossel-Majdan's Marcellina is old but not past it or horribly ugly in voice (as she is to horrible effect on the Parry Opera in English issue). That said, there is not the passion in "That scoundrel Figaro" that Parry or Giulini's reading has. Suzanne Danco's Cherubino seems fine enough in the dialogue but when she sings there is too much vibrato for my tastes (though I am very sensitive to this and it will no doubt not bother, or even be a plus, to others), more seriously at times she becomes rather gratingly unfocussed in the strong high notes.
However, my biggest reservation on the cast concerns the Count of Alfred Poell. It isn't so much that there is anything wrong with his voice, more that his reading strikes me as dull, there is none of the passion that the character ought to have. During the chair scene in act I, for example the Count's exclamations of 'Poverino!' (poor boy - repeated after Susanna has used the term to describe Cherubino) lack the disgust and incredulity they ought to have.
However, these concerns are minor since the finer points of the set more than make up for it - the fire of Kleiber's reading combined with Siepi's performance make for a wonderful close to act I.
Lisa della Casa sings well as the Contessa (though again I would like less vibrato). Again the VPO are one of the real stars - the quality of their pizzicato playing as Cherubino is 'accompanied' as he since his love song is stunning (and the vibrato of her voice is also less intrusive here). The Count is also more convincing in the second act, and plays well against his wife, her voice also blends wonderfully with Susanna's. The production is, what might be described as 'semi-staged' (indeed, it had me flicking through the notes to see if one John Culshaw was involved - he isn't) and I find these effects (both in terms of placement of singers and also sound effects, e.g. slaps or things being knocked over) work very well and aren't intrusive in the way they can be. The quartet between Figaro, Susanna, the Count and Contessa at towards the end of the act is sublime. However, once again, it is the Count who lets the side down - there is not nearly enough passion in his reaction the Figaro's 'confession' that it was he who leapt from the window. In his act III aria he only finds flickers of fire. The liner note suggests he struck the right balance between overpowering (and, indeed dominating Figaro in voice) and underpowered. I have to say, I would not care to hear a seriously underpowered or played reading on that basis.
Again the supporting cast shines - Barbarina (Anny Felbermayer) is very fine, indeed, to my ears she upstages Cherubino and Murray Dickie's Basilio is wonderfully characterised (as are the gardener of Harold Proglhof and the Don Curzio of Hugo Meyer-Welfing). The 'sul' aria (a favourite moment of mine, and doubtless many others) is very fine, though not really close to being on a par with Giulini. I found the end of the third act a little underwhelming, but I put the fault more with Mozart than with Kleiber (one of my criticisms of Figaro as a work is that I feel much of the best music is concentrated in acts I&II, others may differ).
Act IV is where there are the most significant differences to Giulini (as his is cut). It drags slightly (but again, I think this is Mozart's fault) but not hugely so and less so than I might have expected.
One more thing struck me about this reading - it does not feel like a studio recording, it feels live. On an earlier thread Graham and I discussed Kleiber (jnr's) ability to achieve perfection in the studio - in many ways Erich does so here. However, what is incredible is the extent to which you are surprised when the applause doesn't break out (not only at the end of acts, but also, occasionally after arias - something I detest in the opera house). I think it takes a special conductor to work this magic in the studio.
However, the recording has three stars - Kleiber, the VPO and Siepi, and for that alone it is worth hearing. The many fine singers in the supporting cast only serve to make it more of a joy. I don't think the cast is as well rounded as Giulini's (and I think I still prefer his reading overall) but this is very special, not least in the sense of joyfulness and playfulness that Kleiber creates. Certainly it is an achievement to rank with his finest recordings such as those I mentioned at the start. If I was going to split hairs I would complain that while the booklet contains reasonably interesting notes and a full libretto, it does not have a synopsis. This is perhaps not such a great issue, after all, I already have 4 (5 if you count programmes) and no doubt one could easily be turned up by google, and the plot is more than familiar. Still, it shouldn't be and deserves a black mark at this price (or, frankly any).
Despite being the longer, denser work, Carlos's Tristan actually feels the lighter of the two. That it didn't wear at all when heard in one sitting with only brief pauses between acts is no small testimony (this set also scores by having each act fit on to a single disc). That led me to expect a quick reading. If it is (and at 20-25 minutes longer than Furtwangler it must be) it certainly doesn't feel it. The tempi in the prelude feel right and the playing of the Dresden Staatskapelle is wonderful (and here we find the first similarity to Figaro) and one of the set's highlights. I think this orchestra play Wagner like no other I've heard (something that is certainly demonstrated by the Runnicles disc of Ring exerts - which Warner have shamefully deleted - out of interest, does anyone know if a Ring has been recorded with them?). The orchestral balance is superb and to judge from both the liner note and the sound, Kleiber has though long and hard about where to place his instruments (and to excellent effect), yet there are no 'extra' stereo effects. The 'staged' effects such as the wonderfully judged distance of the young sailor work well. Right from her first notes, Margaret Price has me convinced as Isolde - indeed, as Siepi on the Figaro, this is one of the set's great highlights. Brigitte Fassbaender's Brangane is also fine. However, I am not convinced Kleiber always gets the right balance between singer and orchestra and sometimes voices are drowned rather more than I would like. But this is of small matter next to the things he does well, there is a terrible (in the best way) wildness to his conducting, never more so than as Isolde calls upon the elements to wreck the ship - so much so that you are absolutely convinced both that you are at sea and that they will. There is something wonderfully frantic to his reading too. The Rundfunkchor Leipzig perform wonderfully.
On his first entry I wondered if Fischer-Dieskau's casting had been a terrible mistake and whether he might not be past it. One of the pleasures of this set is that that is emphatically not the case. He turns in a wonderful performance and I suspect it to be finer than he gave for Furtwangler (certainly, I do not notice him so much on that set). Indeed, his performance is arguably too fine - at times he upstages the Tristan of Rene Kollo. In places Kollo is very fine - there is a moment in the act 1 love duet when the libretto indicates a 'trembling' voice which he captures wonderfully. However, his voice doesn't entirely blend with Prices and to my ears lacks the passion - I want to suggest that he was past it when he made this recording, but in his early 40s that seems unlikely.
The recording is full of wonderful touches - the perfectly judged way in which the hunting horns gradually fade away on each repetition at the start of act II. The raw power in Price's voice at the end of scene 1 as she extinguishes the flame so that Tristan will come to her. Throughout the second scene the orchestral playing is extraordinary yet the passion of the singers is not quite there - certainly it lacks the energy that Domingo's reading with Pappano bring here (the scene being perhaps the highlight of that recording). Brangane's warnings from the tower don't seem quite right and as the opera progressed, I must say I cooled to her voice. Scene 3 turns up another gem in the supporting cast in the form of Melot of Werner Gotz. At first listen the Marke of Kurt Moll seems overly light, yet this is clearly intended as he becomes stronger and more moving as the scene progresses.
During the prelude of act III, Kleiber is once again at his most convincing in the music. Kurwenal and the Shepherd are wonderful. In places, Kollo finds the kind of passion that I feel his reading lacks - his cries of "Das schiff" a terribly moving. To be sure his voice is less beautiful here, but the emotion more than makes up for it. That act III doesn't drag as it so often can is a testament to Kleiber's reading. But not quite everything works - there is something funny, on which I cannot quite put my finger, about the shepherds horn-pipe. But it is a little thing set against the power Kleiber generates with the arrival of the ship, the frantic energy of the second scene and Tristan's death. Somehow, he manages to raise the voltage still further for the closing scene (and in particular Kurwenal's death) and then brings things down perfectly for Isolde's closing aria.
Much as the best of the 'slow' Wangerians have such a way as they never feel sluggish, Kleiber never feels rushed (this is in stark contrast to Pappano who clearly was much influenced by Kleiber in this work, dedicating the recording to him, and thanking him for a masterclass before his first performance of it).
Interestingly, unlike his father's, this recording in now way creates the illusion of a live performance, it is unashamedly a studio reading and feels it. Not that this matters. Apparently Kleiber stormed out towards the end of Act III and rehearsals had to be used for the finish as wall as the preludes - if the liner notes hadn't told me I would never have known.
Much as with the Figaro this is a wonderful reading I wouldn't want to be without (and serious Wagnerians, or Tristan fans) ought to hear. However, it doesn't quite displace Furtwangler from his spot were I only allowed one on my desert island.
A final note - as this set was without slipcase (and I've seen it more expensively with), I was expecting no libretto - to get one (as well as a synopsis) was a pleasant surprise. However, I would have liked to get biographies (ditto on the figaro).
In summary (well done if you managed to read through all that - sadly funds to do not permit a prize), these are two wonderful recordings and made for a most enjoyable weekend. I want to thank Graham very much for so doggedly recommending them - I recently picked up a cheap set of vintage Celibidache recordings (once again at his urging) and while it contains no Bruckner it does have some Brahms and I am very much looking forwards to it.
regards, Tam
Erich Kleiber's recording of one of Mozart's finest operas (certainly one of my favourites), The Marriage of Figaro, has long intrigued me. Erich Kleiber was a conductor I first encountered almost by accident, at £6, the six disc Decca original masters set was too fine an offer to pass up and in it I found a treasure of recordings (not least his readings of Beethoven's 6th symphony, which I have not heard equalled and his magnificent, classical Schubert great C major). The Figaro is interesting because it was his only stereo recording. I believe it is true to say it was also the first complete recording of the opera (which alone makes it interesting since my favourite reading, Giulini, is not). About a week or so ago I finally decided to treat myself.
Carlos Kleiber's Tristan und Isolde was also his last studio recording (though his career in this regard was forestalled by something of a breakdown towards the end of the epic sessions). To begin with, I was less keen to pick up this. Perhaps because it is not my favourite Wagner by some margin, perhaps also because I already have a fine and satisfying recording in Furtwangler and, judging from the timings alone, I was not sure I would warm to what I expected would be significantly brisker tempi. I didn't intend to pick this up at all, my next Tristan was to have been the forthcoming issue from Donald Runnicles (featuring Christine Brewer as Isolde), however, that has been pushed back again (we may now see its release next week - though those lucky enough to reside in the States can pick it up now). However, a week and a half ago, wanting a new Tristan, I happened across this for £13 and it seemed rude not to pick it up.
Listening to the two on consecutive days proved fascinating as the recordings have much more in common (beyond the obvious that the conductors were father and son, both were their final recordings and both are great operas), but this will hopefully become apparent.
The first thing that strikes about the Figaro is what an edge there is to Kleiber's reading - that and what a fine recording this 1955 effort is (and once again how well formed stereo emerged and how little it has been improved upon - it is also well balanced with none of what I like to call the 'excessive stereo' effects that have me reaching for the mono switch). Kleiber takes the overture fairly briskly and from the start draws superb playing from the Vienna Phil (whose playing is one of the joys of this reading). However, it is very much not the last word in 'beautiful' Mozart (as Bohm offers in his reading or, in his way, Giulini) and, arguably the better for it. Here is Mozart at his most playful and joyful.
The Figaro of Cesare Siepi is another highlight of the set, not only is his voice fine but he acts the part wonderfully. Initially I was less convinced by the Susanna of Hilde Gueden - there seems to be a slight sourness in her voice I don't much care for; however, these doubts vanish during the recitatives which she sings with great beauty and also in the 'din-din' duet. The recitatives are another highlight of this set - something I never thought I would write (as they can so often seem like the gaps you have to put up with between the good bits). They may be slow (particularly in comparison to Kleiber's reading elsewhere), but they are full of character a joy to listen to (especially Siepi and Guenden).
The supporting cast is supporting cast is similarly fine. The Bartolo of Fernando Corena is wonderful malevolent. Hilde Rossel-Majdan's Marcellina is old but not past it or horribly ugly in voice (as she is to horrible effect on the Parry Opera in English issue). That said, there is not the passion in "That scoundrel Figaro" that Parry or Giulini's reading has. Suzanne Danco's Cherubino seems fine enough in the dialogue but when she sings there is too much vibrato for my tastes (though I am very sensitive to this and it will no doubt not bother, or even be a plus, to others), more seriously at times she becomes rather gratingly unfocussed in the strong high notes.
However, my biggest reservation on the cast concerns the Count of Alfred Poell. It isn't so much that there is anything wrong with his voice, more that his reading strikes me as dull, there is none of the passion that the character ought to have. During the chair scene in act I, for example the Count's exclamations of 'Poverino!' (poor boy - repeated after Susanna has used the term to describe Cherubino) lack the disgust and incredulity they ought to have.
However, these concerns are minor since the finer points of the set more than make up for it - the fire of Kleiber's reading combined with Siepi's performance make for a wonderful close to act I.
Lisa della Casa sings well as the Contessa (though again I would like less vibrato). Again the VPO are one of the real stars - the quality of their pizzicato playing as Cherubino is 'accompanied' as he since his love song is stunning (and the vibrato of her voice is also less intrusive here). The Count is also more convincing in the second act, and plays well against his wife, her voice also blends wonderfully with Susanna's. The production is, what might be described as 'semi-staged' (indeed, it had me flicking through the notes to see if one John Culshaw was involved - he isn't) and I find these effects (both in terms of placement of singers and also sound effects, e.g. slaps or things being knocked over) work very well and aren't intrusive in the way they can be. The quartet between Figaro, Susanna, the Count and Contessa at towards the end of the act is sublime. However, once again, it is the Count who lets the side down - there is not nearly enough passion in his reaction the Figaro's 'confession' that it was he who leapt from the window. In his act III aria he only finds flickers of fire. The liner note suggests he struck the right balance between overpowering (and, indeed dominating Figaro in voice) and underpowered. I have to say, I would not care to hear a seriously underpowered or played reading on that basis.
Again the supporting cast shines - Barbarina (Anny Felbermayer) is very fine, indeed, to my ears she upstages Cherubino and Murray Dickie's Basilio is wonderfully characterised (as are the gardener of Harold Proglhof and the Don Curzio of Hugo Meyer-Welfing). The 'sul' aria (a favourite moment of mine, and doubtless many others) is very fine, though not really close to being on a par with Giulini. I found the end of the third act a little underwhelming, but I put the fault more with Mozart than with Kleiber (one of my criticisms of Figaro as a work is that I feel much of the best music is concentrated in acts I&II, others may differ).
Act IV is where there are the most significant differences to Giulini (as his is cut). It drags slightly (but again, I think this is Mozart's fault) but not hugely so and less so than I might have expected.
One more thing struck me about this reading - it does not feel like a studio recording, it feels live. On an earlier thread Graham and I discussed Kleiber (jnr's) ability to achieve perfection in the studio - in many ways Erich does so here. However, what is incredible is the extent to which you are surprised when the applause doesn't break out (not only at the end of acts, but also, occasionally after arias - something I detest in the opera house). I think it takes a special conductor to work this magic in the studio.
However, the recording has three stars - Kleiber, the VPO and Siepi, and for that alone it is worth hearing. The many fine singers in the supporting cast only serve to make it more of a joy. I don't think the cast is as well rounded as Giulini's (and I think I still prefer his reading overall) but this is very special, not least in the sense of joyfulness and playfulness that Kleiber creates. Certainly it is an achievement to rank with his finest recordings such as those I mentioned at the start. If I was going to split hairs I would complain that while the booklet contains reasonably interesting notes and a full libretto, it does not have a synopsis. This is perhaps not such a great issue, after all, I already have 4 (5 if you count programmes) and no doubt one could easily be turned up by google, and the plot is more than familiar. Still, it shouldn't be and deserves a black mark at this price (or, frankly any).
Despite being the longer, denser work, Carlos's Tristan actually feels the lighter of the two. That it didn't wear at all when heard in one sitting with only brief pauses between acts is no small testimony (this set also scores by having each act fit on to a single disc). That led me to expect a quick reading. If it is (and at 20-25 minutes longer than Furtwangler it must be) it certainly doesn't feel it. The tempi in the prelude feel right and the playing of the Dresden Staatskapelle is wonderful (and here we find the first similarity to Figaro) and one of the set's highlights. I think this orchestra play Wagner like no other I've heard (something that is certainly demonstrated by the Runnicles disc of Ring exerts - which Warner have shamefully deleted - out of interest, does anyone know if a Ring has been recorded with them?). The orchestral balance is superb and to judge from both the liner note and the sound, Kleiber has though long and hard about where to place his instruments (and to excellent effect), yet there are no 'extra' stereo effects. The 'staged' effects such as the wonderfully judged distance of the young sailor work well. Right from her first notes, Margaret Price has me convinced as Isolde - indeed, as Siepi on the Figaro, this is one of the set's great highlights. Brigitte Fassbaender's Brangane is also fine. However, I am not convinced Kleiber always gets the right balance between singer and orchestra and sometimes voices are drowned rather more than I would like. But this is of small matter next to the things he does well, there is a terrible (in the best way) wildness to his conducting, never more so than as Isolde calls upon the elements to wreck the ship - so much so that you are absolutely convinced both that you are at sea and that they will. There is something wonderfully frantic to his reading too. The Rundfunkchor Leipzig perform wonderfully.
On his first entry I wondered if Fischer-Dieskau's casting had been a terrible mistake and whether he might not be past it. One of the pleasures of this set is that that is emphatically not the case. He turns in a wonderful performance and I suspect it to be finer than he gave for Furtwangler (certainly, I do not notice him so much on that set). Indeed, his performance is arguably too fine - at times he upstages the Tristan of Rene Kollo. In places Kollo is very fine - there is a moment in the act 1 love duet when the libretto indicates a 'trembling' voice which he captures wonderfully. However, his voice doesn't entirely blend with Prices and to my ears lacks the passion - I want to suggest that he was past it when he made this recording, but in his early 40s that seems unlikely.
The recording is full of wonderful touches - the perfectly judged way in which the hunting horns gradually fade away on each repetition at the start of act II. The raw power in Price's voice at the end of scene 1 as she extinguishes the flame so that Tristan will come to her. Throughout the second scene the orchestral playing is extraordinary yet the passion of the singers is not quite there - certainly it lacks the energy that Domingo's reading with Pappano bring here (the scene being perhaps the highlight of that recording). Brangane's warnings from the tower don't seem quite right and as the opera progressed, I must say I cooled to her voice. Scene 3 turns up another gem in the supporting cast in the form of Melot of Werner Gotz. At first listen the Marke of Kurt Moll seems overly light, yet this is clearly intended as he becomes stronger and more moving as the scene progresses.
During the prelude of act III, Kleiber is once again at his most convincing in the music. Kurwenal and the Shepherd are wonderful. In places, Kollo finds the kind of passion that I feel his reading lacks - his cries of "Das schiff" a terribly moving. To be sure his voice is less beautiful here, but the emotion more than makes up for it. That act III doesn't drag as it so often can is a testament to Kleiber's reading. But not quite everything works - there is something funny, on which I cannot quite put my finger, about the shepherds horn-pipe. But it is a little thing set against the power Kleiber generates with the arrival of the ship, the frantic energy of the second scene and Tristan's death. Somehow, he manages to raise the voltage still further for the closing scene (and in particular Kurwenal's death) and then brings things down perfectly for Isolde's closing aria.
Much as the best of the 'slow' Wangerians have such a way as they never feel sluggish, Kleiber never feels rushed (this is in stark contrast to Pappano who clearly was much influenced by Kleiber in this work, dedicating the recording to him, and thanking him for a masterclass before his first performance of it).
Interestingly, unlike his father's, this recording in now way creates the illusion of a live performance, it is unashamedly a studio reading and feels it. Not that this matters. Apparently Kleiber stormed out towards the end of Act III and rehearsals had to be used for the finish as wall as the preludes - if the liner notes hadn't told me I would never have known.
Much as with the Figaro this is a wonderful reading I wouldn't want to be without (and serious Wagnerians, or Tristan fans) ought to hear. However, it doesn't quite displace Furtwangler from his spot were I only allowed one on my desert island.
A final note - as this set was without slipcase (and I've seen it more expensively with), I was expecting no libretto - to get one (as well as a synopsis) was a pleasant surprise. However, I would have liked to get biographies (ditto on the figaro).
In summary (well done if you managed to read through all that - sadly funds to do not permit a prize), these are two wonderful recordings and made for a most enjoyable weekend. I want to thank Graham very much for so doggedly recommending them - I recently picked up a cheap set of vintage Celibidache recordings (once again at his urging) and while it contains no Bruckner it does have some Brahms and I am very much looking forwards to it.
regards, Tam