Search - Wagner - Die Walkure (Act One) / Knappertsbusch, Uhl, Watson, Greindl, Vienna Philharmonic on DVD

Very nice walkure act one

Groeneveld | holland | 12/07/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a marvelous performance. I mnot a singers expert but i enjoy the singing and also the images. Nice black and white with a good sight at the singers. Uhl and Watson are great and i like the tension which is under the surface. Not the kitsch style of a levine but sincere musicianship. Because of the images of kna a document of great importance. It is very nice to see him lifting up a bit to increase the intensity in the orchestra
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Some glorious moments here....

S. Evans | San Francisco, CA | 06/17/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Although this isn't an ideal cast (especially for 1963), there is much to admire in this performance, and it's certainly something every Knappertsbusch admirer should see. The tempi are as always on the slow side, but the music making is glorious. This is the polar opposite of the Solti ring (of which I am an ardent admirer), so rather than the white heat of that performance you have a lovely, musical interpretation of the Siegmund-Sieglinde romance. This is about love, not passion. The singers do a fine job, with no missed notes or scary passages, and the orchestra has some marvelous moments, especially some incredible violin section work and a beautiful solo cello. The camera work is for the most part pretty good, although there are a few moments where the camera is not focused on the singer, or not focused on the correct singer. So if you love Kna and his wonderful way with Wagner, this is a must. It's also a rare chance to see Uhl and Watson live. Watson's portrayal of Sieglinde was refreshingly real, and has moments of tenderness that are too often forgotten in this opera. Uhl has some moments of "barking" but overall sounds fine - he's not my favorite tenor for this part, but he does a great job and is worth watching. There are moments when he goes into his deepest register that the voice takes on a wonderful quality. And Greindl is wonderfully menacing and nasty as Hunding.

For those of you who need "acting" don't watch this. It's not what you want if you're going to want a well acted Walkure. It's a concert performance, so the acting is very minimal allowing the singers to concentrate on vocal production. It's more for those of us who have seen the Ring many times, know the music well, and simply want to see a great conductor work his magic with a great orchestra."