Most helpful customer reviews
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Exceptional performances, Jun 16 2004
Toscanini was a mercurial conductor, a force of nature and the performances of Wagner are filled with deep commitment , when you play Wagner you must notice the existence of several gravity centers you must keep in mind. Otherwise you can play a lineal Wagner and that would be a mess. The score and the dramatic sequence are so important and even more perhaps that the music itself . They work out as if they were twins , So if you want to win in Wagner you have to maintain in your mind the dyoinisiac and apolinean features in the performance .
Beethoven seventh is filled with histamine and powerful and overwhelming rhytm presence .
It's not my favorite Seventh I must confess but it has character , violence and rapture , and with these elements it's very difficult for you to fail the challenge.
One of the major achievements of the master Toscanini.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Toscanini and Wagner, Oct 22 2003
Although Toscanini was usually associated closely with Italian opera, particularly the works of Verdi, he made it clear that he considered Richard Wagner the master when it came to musical drama. He had a long-standing appreciation of Wagner, which led him to conduct many of the composer's works during his long career. Furthermore, Toscanini was the first non-German conductor to be invited to conduct at the Bayreuth Festival, in 1930. The invitation came from no less than Siegfried Wagner, the composer's son. Unfortunately, the only complete opera by Wagner that Toscanini ever recorded was "Meistersinger," during the Salzburg Festival in 1937. In Toscanini's many recordings with the NBC Symphony for RCA Victor, he recorded only excerpts from Wagner's operas. Nevertheless, the excerpts of Wagner's music are quite impressive. One of the more memorable recordings was of the finale to Act I of "Walkure," recorded during a broacast concert in Carnegie Hall in February 1941 with soprano Helen Traubel and tenor Lauritz Melchior. Typically, the Maestro drove the orchestra relentlessly, maintaining intensity and excitement throughout. The same wonderful results can be heard in the 1952 recording of "The Ride of the Valkyries," a concert arrangement derived from "Walkure." This performance builds and builds as the valkyries ride.
Toscanini's recordings in the early 1950's tend to be rather "bright," since RCA was emphasizing the highs in "high fidelity," sometimes overshadowing the bass tones. Still, despite some tampering with the sound, such performances are absolutely amazing, given the fact that the Maestro was in his eighties at the time. In all of the Wagner music he conducted, one is absolutely amazed at his fidelity to the composer's intentions. He may have come closer to what Wagner wanted than any other conductor. An unfortunate incident came in Toscanini's final NBC broadcast concert, in Carnegie Hall on April 4, 1954, when his emotions over his impending retirement got the best of him. It has become legendary how he faltered during the "Venusburg" music of the Tannhauser overture (Paris version) and NBC temporarily replaced the broadcast with a recording of the Brahms first symphony. Adding to the misfortune of that concert is that it was one of the few times the NBC Symphony under Toscanini was recorded in stereo; despite excellent sound, the orchestra simply did not play its best that day. None of that happened in the 1952 studio recording of the same overture, also recorded in Carnegie Hall. This compilation features the best of Toscanini's performances of Wagner and is definitely worth having. It is an opportunity to really appreciate the greatness of Wagner's music, even if his personal life was marred by his egotism and racism.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Clarity of sound...impeccable conducting...masterful..., April 20 2003
This review relates to the Toscanini recordings
of Wagner selections with the NBC Symphony
Orchestra, Vol. VII, in the BMG series, "Arturo
Toscanini: The Immortal"
In the enclosed brochure, the producers of the
recording tell about the new remastering which
has prompted the releasing of this particular
set of Toscanini recordings. "The recordings in
this new series were made using 20-bit recording
technology, UV22 (TM) Super CD Encoding, Cello
and Struder tape systems and were processed from
the original analog source tape masters at the
BMG/RCA Studios in New York."
All it takes is listening to the "Forest Murmurs"
selection from -Siegfried- to hear what the
"masterful" and "clarity" mean. The sound of
the French horns and glockenspiel are brilliant
and fascinating...the final orchestral chord
on each of these pieces is august. There is
no murkiness in these interpretations --
all is pristine, but the pace is not slow.
I was privileged to be able to preview
listen to the recordingbefore I bought the recording...just
hearing the first section of the "Ride of
the Valkyries" let me know that I wanted
the recording (2 CDs for the price of one).
My ears are perfectionist, so it takes a
lot of different elements combined to satisfy
my acutely sensitive ears and aesthetic
longings. The quality of the earphones or
playback system will, no doubt, affect
the quality of sound delivery. The earphones
at the sound was richer than the earphone
quality of a Sony Discman which I am playing
it on as I type this review. On the Discman
earphones, the sound is a bit too treble (though
those brasses still come through with full-
bodied energy and verve) and "boxy." One
of the recordings is from a live performance,
so be forewarned that you will hear a cough or
two. But, for the price, the mastery of
conducting and recording reprocessing, this
duo can't be bettered.
"Holder Sang/ singt zu mir her." ["Lovely
sounds/ ravish my ears."] -Das Rheingold-.
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