Wagner: Die Frist ist um (from Der fliegende Holländer) (Dutchman's Monologue)

2013 sees a series of Wagner reissues on Eloquence from complete operas and highlights to Wagner singer portraits and even an audiobook!

This is a 50-year retrospective (1950 – 2000) of great Wagner singing on Decca and Deutsche Grammophon featuring twelve extracts from eight operas (including all four operas of the Ring cycle) with nine great singers. Wagner’s knowledge of heroes derived from two sources: the myths of ancient Greece, and the sagas and poetry of northern Europe. In both traditions, heroes possess god-like attributes which set them apart from non-heroic mortals and reinforce the view that they are superhuman. They often have gods as parents or grandparents. But Wagner humanizes his heroes, most notably Siegmund (sung inimitably by Jon Vickers in the legendary Decca recording of Die Walküre with Erich Leinsdorf), and the naïve Siegfried (with Wolfgang Windgassen singing both the Siegfried and Götterdämmerung Siegfrieds). Other great heldentenors represented on this collection include James King and James McCracken. Celebrated bass-baritones are also represented here: Paul Schöffler (singing Wotan’s Farewell from a rare 1950 recording), Ernst Haefliger (as the Dutchman) and most recently, Matthias Goerne (Wolfram). The insightful notes are provided by Wagner scholar Peter Bassett and a photo gallery of the singers is also included.

Celebrating the 200th Anniversary of Wagner in 2013, David Zinman conducts the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich performing Scenes and Orchestral Pieces from “The Flying Dutchman” and “The Ring of the Nibelung”.

David Zinman is one of the world’s finest, most respected conductors, whose passion for music, dedication to furthering careers of young musicians and as an orchestral builder makes ‘music a better world’.

This CD features famous international Wagner baritone Egils Silins who can be heard as “Dutchman” and as “Wotan”.

Zinman has extended his contract with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich until 2014, where, since 1995 as conductor and music director, he has raised the standard of the orchestra to an international level.

Zinman’s previous recordings on Sony have been received with superb critical acclaim.

In January 2006, David Zinman, received the prestigious Theodore Thomas Award, presented by the Conductors Guild in New York’s Roosevelt Hotel. The award is presented biannually to a conductor, in recognition of outstanding achievement and extraordinary service to one’s colleagues in advancing the art and science of conducting, reflecting honour on the profession.

This world famous singer was Belgian, yet only appeared at La Monnaie on the 20th anniversary of his career. After returning from exile, he took many roles and has worked with some of the greatest conductors. This CD includes works by Wagner, Strauss, Mussorgsky, Verdi, Mozart, Rossini, Debussy, Berlioz and Offenbach. These CDs contain a fragment of history.

George London was born in Montreal, Canada; when he was fifteen the family moved to the United States. His original surname was Burnstein (he also used Burnson for a time) and his forebears were from Širvintos in Lithuania. He began his singing studies in Los Angeles, and by the 1940s was touring with a trio that included Frances Yeend and Mario Lanza. His début in a leading role was in Rigoletto for San Francisco Opera in 1946. Three years later, in Vienna, he sang Amonasro in Aida, a role that also launched his Metropolitan Opera career in 1951.

It was while London was singing the four villains in The Tales of Hoffmann in Vienna that Hans Knappertsbusch decided to recommend London to Wieland Wagner for the 1951 Bayreuth Festival. Seven years later, Knappertsbusch recorded four great Wagner scenes for Decca with George London. The recording appears here in its entirety, supplemented with one of the great scenes from their 1962 performance of Parsifal (recorded ‘live’ at the Bayreuth Festival it went on to become one of most venerated recordings of this opera) and the closing scene of Rheingold in which London appears on the celebrated Solti recording as Wotan.

London’s vocal health began to deteriorate rapidly during the 1963–64 season; eventually the problem was diagnosed as paralysis of the vocal cords. Efforts to restore the voice proved fruitless, and in due course London had to accept that, at 46, his singing career was over. The operatic world had suffered a great loss. He died after a series of heart attacks in March 1985. George London is remembered as an exceptional and intelligent artist who combined a great voice and superb musicianship with a commanding stage presence.

Bryn Terfel is one of Britain’s best-loved singers, as comfortable in popular musical repertoire as he is in the great roles of opera. Ahead of his curated BrynFest appearances at London’s Southbank Centre, and his career-defining role as Wotan in Wagner’s Ring Cycle at the Royal Opera House this autumn, Deutsche Grammophon is proud to release this 2CD career retrospective.

This double-CD set brings together for the first time two of Claudio Abbado’s Wagner recordings, the first of orchestral music, the second a selection of vocal works with Bryn Terfel, the leading Wagner baritone of our day.

“Terfel brings a wide palette of tone to peer into the Dutchman's soul and express Wolfram's evening thoughts, where his legato and half-voice are admirable” (Gramophone)

Simon Estes, the American bass-baritone, had an extraordinary beginning to his career. As a young medical student in Iowa he was fascinated by show tunes and loved singing, but knew nothing about opera, until a voice teacher heard him and lent him some opera recordings. This was the turning point. He auditioned and won a full scholarship to the Juilliard School in New York in 1963, and two years later he began his operatic career singing Ramfis in Aida at the Deutsche Oper, Berlin. Many other major roles followed, including Philip II (Don Carlos), Boris (Boris Godunov), John the Baptist (Salome) Gounod’s Méphistophélès (Faust) and Porgy (Porgy and Bess). He also became renowned for his striking performances in Wagner’s operas. He became the first black male artist to take a major role at Bayreuth when he sang the title in role in Der fliegende Holländer, giving an astonishing performance, and he continued in the role for several seasons. He was also praised for his intelligent, articulate interpretation of Wotan.

This CD includes a selection of extended extracts from Der fliegende Holländer (Dutchman), Die Walküre (Wotan) and Parsifal (Amfortas), where Estes is joined by soprano Eva-Maria Bundschuh (Brünnhilde), and bass Heinz Reeh (Titurel).