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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Recorded live from the Bayreuth Festival, 2010
Johan Botha (Siegmund), Kwangchul Youn (Hunding), Albert Dohmen (Wotan), Edith Haller (Sieglinde), Linda Watson (Brünnhilde), Mihoko Fujimura (Fricka), Sonja Mühleck (Gerhilde), Anna Gabler (Ortlinde), Martina Dike (Waltraute), Simone Schröder (Schwertleite), Miriam Gordon-Stewart (Helmwige), Wilke te Brummelstroete (Siegrune), Annette Küttenbaum (Grimgerde) & Alexandra Petersamer (Rossweisse) Bayreuther Festspiele Chorus & Bayreuther Festspiele, Christian Thielemann (conductor) & Tankred Dorst (director) Christian Thielemann, “by common consent the leading Wagner conductor of our time” (Die Presse), returns to Bayreuth for this radiant account of Die Walküre filmed at the 2010 Festival. Appearing on DVD and Blu-ray for the first time, it provides the only audio-visual document of Tankred Dorst’s Ring production, and follows the hugely successful release of the whole cycle on CD. Two new singers join the cast: Johan Botha as Siegmund, who was showered with praise by the press (“ideal vocal casting” in the words of the critic on the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) and Edith Haller, with her “beautiful, strong soprano voice” (Süddeutsche Zeitung) as his sister and lover Sieglinde. Extra features: The making of Die Walküre Cast Gallery Running time 258 mins Region Code All regions Picture format 16:9 Anamorphic Sound format 2.0LPCM + 5.1(5.0) DTS Menu languages EN Subtitles EN/FR/DE/ES “The sets, reflecting the blue-grey and orange hues of the Festspielhaus foyer, create some striking stage pictures...Botha as Siegmund is ungainly, yet gives this dark character unusual innocence and a voice both clarion and lyrical...Edith Haller's creamy-voiced Sieglinde is even more heartfelt...Albert Dohmen's voice isn't large, but delivery and acting make him a powerful Wotan.” BBC Music Magazine, June 2011 **** “[Botha] is outstanding throughout as Siegmund...Dorst's production, and this filming of it, are at their best in the latter stages of Act 3 and the result is a powerful and affecting account of one of The Ring's greatest episodes...there's nothing obscure or understated about Thielemann's galvanising presence in the pit and seeing its effect on his singers in Act 3 makes these DVDs even more recommendable than the original CDs.” Gramophone Magazine, June 2011 “[Botha] cuts an ungainly figure but sings Siegmund just about perfectly; there's power to spare, he sings off the text, his soft singing is appropriate and touching. Haller has a warm sound and uses legato like a bel cantist; the occasional high note may fly sharp but she's exciting and committed...Thielemann and the Bayreuth Orchestra create a ravishing wall of sound and not a moment is less that aurally stunning: one listens, agape.” International Record Review, April 2011 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Recorded live at Festspielhaus Baden-Baden 29 Jan, 1 & 4 Feb 2010
Conducted by Christian Thielemann, this performance was the sensation of the 2010 Baden-Baden Festival. A one-act masterpiece inspired by Greek mythology, it is a dense, jagged cry for justice and vengeance. With its powerfully expressive chords, spooky waltz rhythms and mad dance of triumph, it shakes the audience to the core. Herbert Wernicke’s legendary production for the Bayerische Staatsoper stands out for its clear lines, classical structural elements and striking colour contrasts. Linda Watson, one of the great Wagnerian sopranos of today, superbly masters her role debut as Elektra, one of opera’s most demanding roles. Extra features: Cast gallery Running time 1 hour 40 mins Region code All regions Video codec AVC/MPEG-4 Disc size BD50 Picture format 1080i High Definition / 16:9 Sound format 2.0 LPCM + 5.1(5.0) DTS digital surround Menu language EN Subtitles: EN/FR/DE/ES “Watson has physical stature, an expressive face...the necessary intelligence and a suitable instrument, which is saying a great deal in this most formidable of roles...[Henschel] makes a capital Klytämnestra, lavishing lovelier tone on the role than it usually receives...Never do Christian Thielemann and the Munich Philharmonic overwhelm the singers: they make chamber music, in effect, with no bombast whatever” International Record Review, March 2011 “Perhaps taking its cue from Electra's repeated cry of 'Allein!' ('Alone!') the production presents all its characters as both alone and alienated from one another...Possibly in reaction to the statuesque starkness of the staging, Thielemann seems to want to tone down the score's mythic violence and tease out its moments of human (essentially womanly) warmth.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2011 *** | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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