Coming Soon,
Hong Kong Ring Cycle on Naxos
Chris is working over in the States at present, and messaged me last night with some rather exciting news from Naxos: they'll be releasing the Hong Kong Philharmonic's Ring Cycle, conducted by Jaap van Zweden, over the next four years, starting with Das Rheingold which is already in the can and due for release this autumn (cast includes Kim Begley as Loge, Peter Sidhom as Alberich and Michelle De Young as Fricka). The live performances (astoundingly, the Hong Kong premiere of the work) were very well received, with BachTrack observing that 'a combination of earnest singing and dramatic insight made it a remarkable evening' and TimeOut Hong Kong writing of 'tour-de-force characterisations across the board'.
These recordings will be made over the course of two live concert performances of each of the individual operas at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall, with Die Walküre happening in January 2016 and scheduled for release towards the end of the year; the cast is really something special, with Stuart Skelton (surely one of the finest heldentenors around) repeating one of his signature roles as Siegmund, the glorious young American dramatic soprano Heidi Melton as his sister, seasoned Wagnerienne Petra Lang as Brünnhilde, and DeYoung returning as Fricka.
But perhaps the biggest draw for me is the prospect of Matthias Goerne as Wotan - primarily acclaimed as a lieder-singer, the German baritone is not perhaps the most obvious choice for the role, given that his forays into heavier repertoire have been relatively few and far between (I noticed earlier today that he has, however, sung both Amfortas and Bluebeard), but I can't wait to hear him bring his trademark intensity and care for the text to bear on sections such as Wotan's long Act Two monologue in particular. In many ways Goerne reminds me of his great teacher Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who ventured only as far as the Rheingold Wotan but whom I treasure as Sachs and the Dutchman, and I have a hunch that Goerne's Ruler of the Gods might approach a similar level of eloquence.
Related recordings featuring these artists
Stuart Skelton sings Siegmund on Simone Young's 2010 Walküre with the Hamburg Philharmonic, with Deborah Polaski as Brünnhilde, Yvonne Naef as Sieglinde, and Falk Struckmann as Wotan; Musical Criticism observed that he 'musters some thrillingly heroic tones as Siegmund'.
Available Formats: 4 CDs, MP3, FLAC
Skelton repeated the role for Seattle Opera in 2013, with Asher Fisch conducting and Margaret Jane Wray as his 'Braut und Schwester'; Alwyn Mellor is Brünnhilde, Greer Grimsley Wotan and Stefan Vinke Siegfried.
Available Formats: 14 CDs, MP3, FLAC
Michelle DeYoung is Kundry on Pentatone's series of Wagner operas, which International Record Review considered to be 'by some margin her most compelling performance to date...She pins you to your seat'. Marek Janowski conducts, with Christian Elsner in the title-role.
Available Formats: 4 SACDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
The first glimpse of Lang's Brünnhilde (a thrilling Immolation Scene) on disc came courtesy of Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra on Channel Classics, a Gramophone Editor's Choice and one of Presto's Discs of the Week in August 2013'; our own Chris O'Reilly praised her 'laser-sharp accuracy and thrilling power'.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Her first complete Götterdämmerung Brünnhilde came later that year, as part of Marek Janowski's Wagner series on Pentatone; Lance Ryan is Siegfried and Matti Salminen Hagen, with Marina Prudenskaja in Lang's 'old' role of Waltraute.
Available Formats: 4 SACDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Katherine Cooper - Head of Editorial
