Recordings Review: The Hero on the Podium

Christian Thielemann is the star of this new Vienna Ring.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Getting the point: Siegfried (Stephen Gould) swears on Hagen's (Erik Halfvarson) spear in
Act II of Götterdämmerung from the Vienna State Opera. These performances are the
basis for the new CD cycle conducted by Christian Thielemann.

Any recording of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen is a major artistic statement. When you're the Vienna State Opera, whose orchestra members recorded the first studio cycle of the operas (as the Vienna Philharmonic under the late Georg Solti), that statement must be of the utmost profundity. After all, the "Solti Ring" from 1958-1964 remains the industry standard for opera recordings and stereo demonstration, and features an all-star cast from the silver age of 20th century Wagner singing.

Opera Review: Tristan: The Hot Parts Version

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra presents Act II of Wagner's opera.
by Paul J. Pelkonen 

Esa-Pekka Salonen. Photo by Clive Barda © EsaPekkaSalonen.com

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has a long tradition of presenting Wagner operas, from its 1891 stint accompanying the touring Metropolitan Opera (in an Italian-language performance of Lohengrin) to a 1995 concert performance of Die Meistersinger  (which became a Grammy-winning 1997 recording) with the late Sir Georg Solti.

On Thursday night, conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen offered his own spin on this tradition with a 90-minute, intermission-less concert that paired the Prelude from Act I of Tristan with the complete second act of that opera. Performing  the work in this fashion allowed the audience to hear this familiar music in a new way and focus on the grand love duet that dominates the second act. More importantly, Mr. Salonen, an award-winning composer himself showed the connection between the famous Tristan chord and the tragic events that end the opera's second act.

Mr. Salonen took an idiosyncratic approach to the Act I Prelude, He waited for absolute silence in Orchestra Hall before launching into the three-note figure that forms this opera's orchestral signature. The conductor sped up as the swell sound increased, leading the heaving central climax at a passionate clip. Throughout, there was a perfect, limpid clarity of strings, wind and horns, right down to the two cello plucks that lead into Act I.