James Rutherford sings Wagner

Listen on Presto Music. Free thirty day trial. Find out more.

The Norfolk-born bass-baritone's voice, on this showing, is close to ideal - chocolate-dark and rich in tone, with a deceptive effortlessness and secutiry that shows up many more famous exponent.... — BBC Music Magazine, July 2014, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 28th Apr 2014
Catalogue No: BIS2080
Label: BIS
Length: 78 minutes

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Excerpt, Wagner: Der fliegende Holländer

Work length10:22

$1.50

$2.30

James Rutherford
Bergen Filharmoniske Orkester
Andrew Litton

Ouverture

Track length10:22

$1.50

$2.30

Wagner: Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman), Act I Scene 2

Work length10:57

$1.50

$2.30

James Rutherford
Bergen Filharmoniske Orkester
Andrew Litton

Aria. Die Frist ist um

Track length10:57

$1.50

$2.30

Wagner: Tannhauser, Act II

Work length4:46

$1.00

$1.50

James Rutherford
Bergen Filharmoniske Orkester
Andrew Litton

Blick ich umher in diesem edlen Kreise

Track length4:46

$1.00

$1.50

Wagner: Tannhäuser, Act III

Work length5:56

$1.00

$1.50

James Rutherford
Bergen Filharmoniske Orkester
Andrew Litton

Wie Todesahnung Dämmerung deckt die Lände - O du mein holder Abendstern

Track length5:56

$1.00

$1.50

Wagner: Lohengrin, Act II Scene 1

Work length2:57

$1.00

$1.50

James Rutherford
Bergen Filharmoniske Orkester
Andrew Litton

Du fürchterliches Weib!

Track length2:57

$1.00

$1.50

Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Act II Scene 3

Work length6:33

$1.00

$1.50

James Rutherford
Bergen Filharmoniske Orkester
Andrew Litton

Was duftet doch der Flieder

Track length6:33

$1.00

$1.50

Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, Act III

Work length6:22

$1.00

$1.50

James Rutherford
Bergen Filharmoniske Orkester
Andrew Litton

Prelude

Track length6:22

$1.00

$1.50

Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, Act III Scene 1

Work length7:53

$1.50

$2.30

James Rutherford
Bergen Filharmoniske Orkester
Andrew Litton

Wahn! Wahn!

Track length7:53

$1.50

$2.30

Wagner: Parsifal, Act III Scene 2

Work length6:04

$1.00

$1.50

James Rutherford
Bergen Filharmoniske Orkester
Andrew Litton

Ja! Wehe! Wehe! Weh'über mich!

Track length6:04

$1.00

$1.50

Wagner: Die Walküre, Act III Scene 4

Work length16:50

Album only

James Rutherford
Bergen Filharmoniske Orkester
Andrew Litton

Leb wohl, du kühnes, herrliches Kind!

Track length16:50

Album only

About
Reviews
Explore

About

From pillars of society to shunned outcasts, the baritone and bass-baritone roles in Richard Wagner’s operas span from Hans Sachs, shoemaker/poet and Nuremberg’s voice-of-reason, to the Flying Dutchman, tortured forever by past sins. Whether their function in the over-all drama is as a foil to the main character – like the knight Wolfram von Eschenbach, Tannhäuser’s eternally loyal supporter – or, like Wotan in the Ring, as a linchpin of the entire dramatic argument, they are all memorable as individuals, and have as such been endowed by their creator with music of great individuality and expressivity. Following his acclaimed recital of English songs, Most Grand to Die (BIS-1610), James Rutherford now gives us a grand tour of Wagner-land, ranging from the three operas that ‘made’ Wagner – Der fliegende Holländer, Tannhäuser and Lohengrin – to Parsifal, the composer’s final work, described by himself as ‘the last card’ he had to play. Winner of the first Seattle Opera International Wagner competition in 2006, Rutherford has since performed in a number of Wagner productions, and is something of the Hans Sachs of our day, having sung the part at the Bayreuth Festival (in 2010 and 2011), as well as at the Wiener Staatsoper, the Graz, Hamburg and Cologne Operas, the Budapest Wagner Festival and at the Glyndebourne Festival. He here receives the support of Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra under their music director Andrew Litton, himself a regular guest conductor at leading opera houses such as the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera Covent Garden and Deutsche Oper Berlin.

Reviews

July 2014

The Norfolk-born bass-baritone's voice, on this showing, is close to ideal - chocolate-dark and rich in tone, with a deceptive effortlessness and secutiry that shows up many more famous exponent. He approaches Hans Hotter's 'bel canto Wagner' ideal, but with incisively clear diction. His expressiveness isn't overdone or showy

14th June 2014

[Rutherford] remains virtually unknown in Britain’s opera houses.
This recital shows what we are missing...Best of all are the Nuremberg cobbler’s two great monologues from Meistersinger, which sum up the character’s dignified warmth and humanity.

September 2014

Rutherford's baritone, almost a bass-baritone, is dark, nutty brown in colour, and broad in its phrasing. He could afford to lighten his touch sometimes; but the deep seriousness of his Sachs, his warmth and generosity, come across impressively from his stage experience.

James Rutherford sings Wagner

SACD

Downloads

Contents

Download queue