*When we get to the main post, you'll see that we can maybe think of this as "Part 1a" of our Josephine Veasey remembrance.
Or: How Fricka & Wotan get from "Example 1" --
to "Example 2" --
Both clips: Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan, cond. DG (1966)
by Ken
In a moment we're going to hear fuller versions of the above "examples," and in multiple performances. First I should explain, though, that (ever so unusually!) we're encountering a mild detour. I thought we would be continuing with the remembrance, begun two weeks ago, of the fondly remembered English mezzo Josephine Veasey (tentatively labeled "Part 1?"), and I've been pondering some intereting repertory. What I should have realized is that the chances were never great that we might tiptoe past the great Fricka-Wotan scene of Act II of Die Walküre with just a polite wave. Sure enough, I got sucked in.
Some of it had to do with the curious moment in time we stumbled into with the Covent Garden Walküre we sampled, from late September 1965, in which Veasey sang Fricka with Georg Solti conducting, as he was weeks away from heading to Vienna to complete the Ring recording, the first ever, with Walküre, with Christa Ludwig as Fricka, even as Herbert von Karajan was preparing to being the second-ever Ring recording the following year with, of all things, Walküre -- and with, of all people, Josephine Veasey as Fricka both in Walküre and, the following year, Das Rheingold. Meanwhile, when Karajan actually launched Ring stage production, in 1967 at the brand-new Salzburg Easter Festival (engineered by guess-who), the Fricka of the broadcast was not Veasey but Ludwig, who was also Karajan's Fricka when he brought the Salzburg Walküre production to the Met that fall! So I've been rooting around among this material, trying to hear what there is to hear.
Some of this we're going to hear in this week's main post, currently in production -- along with some of the other material I've retrieved from the Sunday Classics Archive, I mentioned in last week's under-construction post. Plus, I actually wound up typing out an English text for the whole Fricka-Wotan scene, which again has entailed all manner of complications -- and opportunities.
FOR NOW LET'S JUST HEAR OUR ASSORTED TAKES
ON THAT FULLER VERSION OF EXAMPLES 1 AND 2
Example 1 (fuller version)
Thomas Stewart (b), Wotan; Josephine Veasey (ms), Fricka; Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan, cond. DG, recorded in the Jesus-Christus-Kirche, 8-9&12/1966
Hans Hotter (bs-b), Wotan; Christa Ludwig (ms), Fricka; Vienna Philharmonic, Georg Solti, cond. Decca, recorded in the Vienna Sofiensaal, Oct. 29-Nov. 19, 1965
Siegmund Nimsgern (b), Wotan; Yvonne Minton (ms), Fricka; Staatskapelle Dresden, Marek Janowski, cond. Eurodisc, recorded in the Lukaskirche, Aug. 22-29, 1981
Ferdinand Frantz (bs-b), Wotan; Margarete Klose (c), Fricka; Vienna Philharmonic, Wilhelm Furtwängler, cond. EMI, recorded in the Vienna Musikvereinssaal, Sept. 28-Oct. 6, 1954
Example 2 (fuller version)
Thomas Stewart (b), Wotan; Josephine Veasey (ms), Fricka; Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan, cond. DG, recorded in the Jesus-Christus-Kirche, 8-9&12/1966
Hans Hotter (bs-b), Wotan; Christa Ludwig (ms), Fricka; Vienna Philharmonic, Georg Solti, cond. Decca, recorded in the Vienna Sofiensaal, Oct. 29-Nov. 19, 1965
Siegmund Nimsgern (b), Wotan; Yvonne Minton (ms), Fricka; Staatskapelle Dresden, Marek Janowski, cond. Eurodisc, recorded in the Lukaskirche, Aug. 22-29, 1981
Ferdinand Frantz (bs-b), Wotan; Margarete Klose (c), Fricka; Vienna Philharmonic, Wilhelm Furtwängler, cond. EMI, recorded in the Vienna Musikvereinssaal, Sept. 28-Oct. 6, 1954
YES, WE'VE GOT SOME "EXTRA" PERFORMERS
Apart from our current preoccupation with the collaborative overlaps of Teams Veasey, Ludwig, Solti, and Karajan, it's almost always a special pleasure for me to return to the Solti-Decca and Karajan-DG Ring recordings, and I think these excerpts give a good idea why. At this juncture I've added some peformances. Let me explain.
The Yvonne Minton excerpts are here, not because I love Minton's Walküre Fricka -- I like it but not so much that I would feel compelled to spotlight it -- but because, as I've mentioned before, I truly love her Rheingold Fricka, which we're going to be resampling as part of a quick look-back at the state of the Fricka-Wotan marriage coming into Die Walküre. I might add that Marek Janowski's steady, sensible conducting, with some lovely playing by the Staatskapelle Dresden, is a more "normal" alternative to the "dig down deep" mode both Karajan and Solti are in here.
Finally, because it seemed to me we were overweighted with vocally underweight Frickas -- singers approaching the role more from the lyric-mezzo rather than dramatic-mezzo direction -- I added Margarete Klose to the mix, which also gave us a chance to sample some Furtwängler Ring-ery.
I realize, though, that the 55-year-old Klose's voice* isn't a thing of sensual beauty. In order to appreciate her '50s recordings I had to get to know some of her earlier recordings, when the voice really was something special, and then I was able to re-appreciate the later stuff. We've heard, for example, her make something close to magic as the First Norn (such a beautiful, meaty part!) in the Götterdämmerung from Furtwängler's 1953 Rome Radio broadcast Ring cycle. So I thought we might tack on some of her 1938 Fricka, where we can also hear snatches of the 1938-vintage Hans Hotter, a very different sound from the Hotter of even the mid-to-late '40s and certainly the '50s and '60s. (This is from EMI's complicatedly hybrid 1935/38 Walküre Act II, which unfortunately incorporates some nasty cuts in the Wotan-Brünnhilde scene -- but not, as far as I noticed, and as I recalled -- in the Fricka-Wotan scene.)
Example 1: Klose (1938)
Hans Hotter (b), Wotan; Margarete Klose (c), Fricka; Berlin State Opera Orchestra, Bruno Seidler-Winkler, cond. EMI, recorded Sept. 19-20, 1938
Example 2: Klose (1938)
UPDATE: All that said, now with the post published I'm taking advantage of the opportunity to listen to some of the clips, and I have to say, "1954 Margarete" sounds awesome! Oh, there's a little unease on a couple of sustained notes, and sometimes a little "catch" as she moves off one, but in the main, wow, what a grand, indomitable sound for the mature Fricka, and what a grabbingly canny singer! I had to quickly add the 1954 "Deiner ew'gen Gattin heilige Ehre" below. (Hmm, do we need to listen to more MK? I'm adding an MK post to the growing "must-do post" list.)
And here's the 1938-vintage Klose in perhaps Fricka's most memorable moment, which we'll be hearing more of in the main post. UPDATE: And, as noted above, the 1954-vintage Klose as well. Pretty spectacular!
Die Walküre: Act II/1, Fricka, "Deiner ew'ge Gattin heilige Ehre"
Margarete Klose (c), Fricka; Berlin State Opera Orchestra, Bruno Seidler-Winkler, cond. EMI, recorded Sept. 19-20, 1938
Margarete Klose (c), Fricka; Vienna Philharmonic, Wilhelm Furtwängler, cond. EMI, recorded in the Vienna Musikvereinssaal, Sept. 28-Oct. 6, 1954
STILL TO COME
The famous main post, of course. As soon as I can get it more or less right, or rightish.
Or: How Fricka & Wotan get from "Example 1" --
to "Example 2" --
Both clips: Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan, cond. DG (1966)
by Ken
In a moment we're going to hear fuller versions of the above "examples," and in multiple performances. First I should explain, though, that (ever so unusually!) we're encountering a mild detour. I thought we would be continuing with the remembrance, begun two weeks ago, of the fondly remembered English mezzo Josephine Veasey (tentatively labeled "Part 1?"), and I've been pondering some intereting repertory. What I should have realized is that the chances were never great that we might tiptoe past the great Fricka-Wotan scene of Act II of Die Walküre with just a polite wave. Sure enough, I got sucked in.
Some of it had to do with the curious moment in time we stumbled into with the Covent Garden Walküre we sampled, from late September 1965, in which Veasey sang Fricka with Georg Solti conducting, as he was weeks away from heading to Vienna to complete the Ring recording, the first ever, with Walküre, with Christa Ludwig as Fricka, even as Herbert von Karajan was preparing to being the second-ever Ring recording the following year with, of all things, Walküre -- and with, of all people, Josephine Veasey as Fricka both in Walküre and, the following year, Das Rheingold. Meanwhile, when Karajan actually launched Ring stage production, in 1967 at the brand-new Salzburg Easter Festival (engineered by guess-who), the Fricka of the broadcast was not Veasey but Ludwig, who was also Karajan's Fricka when he brought the Salzburg Walküre production to the Met that fall! So I've been rooting around among this material, trying to hear what there is to hear.
Some of this we're going to hear in this week's main post, currently in production -- along with some of the other material I've retrieved from the Sunday Classics Archive, I mentioned in last week's under-construction post. Plus, I actually wound up typing out an English text for the whole Fricka-Wotan scene, which again has entailed all manner of complications -- and opportunities.
FOR NOW LET'S JUST HEAR OUR ASSORTED TAKES
ON THAT FULLER VERSION OF EXAMPLES 1 AND 2
Example 1 (fuller version)
As BRÜNNHILDE disappears behind the mountain at the side, FRICKA's chariot emerges from the gorge onto the ridge, and FRICKA leaps to the ground and advances vehemently toward WOTAN.
WOTAN [aside, as he sees FRICKA approaching]:
The same old storm, the same old trouble!
But I must stand firm!
[FRICKA moderates her pace as she nears WOTAN.]
FRICKA [in a dignified manner]:
Here in the mountains, where you hide
in order to escape your wife's eye,
here in solitude I seek you out,
that you may promise me help.
Thomas Stewart (b), Wotan; Josephine Veasey (ms), Fricka; Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan, cond. DG, recorded in the Jesus-Christus-Kirche, 8-9&12/1966
Hans Hotter (bs-b), Wotan; Christa Ludwig (ms), Fricka; Vienna Philharmonic, Georg Solti, cond. Decca, recorded in the Vienna Sofiensaal, Oct. 29-Nov. 19, 1965
Siegmund Nimsgern (b), Wotan; Yvonne Minton (ms), Fricka; Staatskapelle Dresden, Marek Janowski, cond. Eurodisc, recorded in the Lukaskirche, Aug. 22-29, 1981
Ferdinand Frantz (bs-b), Wotan; Margarete Klose (c), Fricka; Vienna Philharmonic, Wilhelm Furtwängler, cond. EMI, recorded in the Vienna Musikvereinssaal, Sept. 28-Oct. 6, 1954
Example 2 (fuller version)
WOTAN [in a state of the most profound dejection mingled with exasperation, flinging himself down on a rocky seat]:
Take my oath!
[As FRICKA strides towards the back, she meets the approaching BRÜNNHILDE. The two women regard each other for a moment in silence.]
FRICKA [to BRÜNNHILDE]:
The father of legions awaits you:
let him inform you how the lot is to fall!
[She gets into her chariot and quickly drives away.]
Thomas Stewart (b), Wotan; Josephine Veasey (ms), Fricka; Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan, cond. DG, recorded in the Jesus-Christus-Kirche, 8-9&12/1966
Hans Hotter (bs-b), Wotan; Christa Ludwig (ms), Fricka; Vienna Philharmonic, Georg Solti, cond. Decca, recorded in the Vienna Sofiensaal, Oct. 29-Nov. 19, 1965
Siegmund Nimsgern (b), Wotan; Yvonne Minton (ms), Fricka; Staatskapelle Dresden, Marek Janowski, cond. Eurodisc, recorded in the Lukaskirche, Aug. 22-29, 1981
Ferdinand Frantz (bs-b), Wotan; Margarete Klose (c), Fricka; Vienna Philharmonic, Wilhelm Furtwängler, cond. EMI, recorded in the Vienna Musikvereinssaal, Sept. 28-Oct. 6, 1954
YES, WE'VE GOT SOME "EXTRA" PERFORMERS
Apart from our current preoccupation with the collaborative overlaps of Teams Veasey, Ludwig, Solti, and Karajan, it's almost always a special pleasure for me to return to the Solti-Decca and Karajan-DG Ring recordings, and I think these excerpts give a good idea why. At this juncture I've added some peformances. Let me explain.
The Yvonne Minton excerpts are here, not because I love Minton's Walküre Fricka -- I like it but not so much that I would feel compelled to spotlight it -- but because, as I've mentioned before, I truly love her Rheingold Fricka, which we're going to be resampling as part of a quick look-back at the state of the Fricka-Wotan marriage coming into Die Walküre. I might add that Marek Janowski's steady, sensible conducting, with some lovely playing by the Staatskapelle Dresden, is a more "normal" alternative to the "dig down deep" mode both Karajan and Solti are in here.
Finally, because it seemed to me we were overweighted with vocally underweight Frickas -- singers approaching the role more from the lyric-mezzo rather than dramatic-mezzo direction -- I added Margarete Klose to the mix, which also gave us a chance to sample some Furtwängler Ring-ery.
I realize, though, that the 55-year-old Klose's voice* isn't a thing of sensual beauty. In order to appreciate her '50s recordings I had to get to know some of her earlier recordings, when the voice really was something special, and then I was able to re-appreciate the later stuff. We've heard, for example, her make something close to magic as the First Norn (such a beautiful, meaty part!) in the Götterdämmerung from Furtwängler's 1953 Rome Radio broadcast Ring cycle. So I thought we might tack on some of her 1938 Fricka, where we can also hear snatches of the 1938-vintage Hans Hotter, a very different sound from the Hotter of even the mid-to-late '40s and certainly the '50s and '60s. (This is from EMI's complicatedly hybrid 1935/38 Walküre Act II, which unfortunately incorporates some nasty cuts in the Wotan-Brünnhilde scene -- but not, as far as I noticed, and as I recalled -- in the Fricka-Wotan scene.)
*UPDATE -- about MK's age: Our Margarete was one of those singers -- mostly female -- who successfully subtracted some years from her age, in her case three of them. So people thought she was 52 when the Furtwängler Walküre was recorded. Uh-uh.Okay, here are the same excerpts as above:
Example 1: Klose (1938)
Hans Hotter (b), Wotan; Margarete Klose (c), Fricka; Berlin State Opera Orchestra, Bruno Seidler-Winkler, cond. EMI, recorded Sept. 19-20, 1938
Example 2: Klose (1938)
UPDATE: All that said, now with the post published I'm taking advantage of the opportunity to listen to some of the clips, and I have to say, "1954 Margarete" sounds awesome! Oh, there's a little unease on a couple of sustained notes, and sometimes a little "catch" as she moves off one, but in the main, wow, what a grand, indomitable sound for the mature Fricka, and what a grabbingly canny singer! I had to quickly add the 1954 "Deiner ew'gen Gattin heilige Ehre" below. (Hmm, do we need to listen to more MK? I'm adding an MK post to the growing "must-do post" list.)
And here's the 1938-vintage Klose in perhaps Fricka's most memorable moment, which we'll be hearing more of in the main post. UPDATE: And, as noted above, the 1954-vintage Klose as well. Pretty spectacular!
Die Walküre: Act II/1, Fricka, "Deiner ew'ge Gattin heilige Ehre"
FRICKA: Your eternal spouse's sacred honor
let her shield protect today!
Derided of men, deprived of might,
we gods would be ruined
if my rights sublime and glorious
were not to be avenged today by the valiant maid.
The Volsung shall fall for my honor;
Margarete Klose (c), Fricka; Berlin State Opera Orchestra, Bruno Seidler-Winkler, cond. EMI, recorded Sept. 19-20, 1938
Margarete Klose (c), Fricka; Vienna Philharmonic, Wilhelm Furtwängler, cond. EMI, recorded in the Vienna Musikvereinssaal, Sept. 28-Oct. 6, 1954
STILL TO COME
The famous main post, of course. As soon as I can get it more or less right, or rightish.
#
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