Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Act 1. Vorspiel
2. Act 1. Scene 1. Wes Herd dies auch sei
3. Act 1. Scene 1. Einen Unseligen labtest du
4. Act 1. Scene 2. Müd am Herd fand ich den Mann
5. Act 1. Scene 2. Friedmund darf ich nicht heißen
6. Act 1. Scene 2. Die so leidig Los dir beschied
7. Act 1. Scene 2. Ich weiß ein wildes Geschlecht
8. Act 1. Scene 3. Ein Schwert verhieß mir der Vater
9. Act 1. Scene 3. Schläfst du, Gast?
10. Act 1. Scene 3. Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond
11. Act 1. Scene 3. Du bist der Lenz
12. Act 1. Scene 3. O süßeste Wonne!
13. Act 1. Scene 3. War Wälse dein Vater, und bist du ein Wälsung?
14. Act 1. Scene 3. Siegmund den Wälsung siehst du, Weib!

Disc 2:

1. Act 2. Vorspiel / Scene 1. Nun zäume dein Roß
2. Act 2. Scene 1. Hojotoho! Hojotoho!
3. Act 2. Scene 1. Der alte Stürm, die alte Müh'!
4. Act 2. Scene 1. So ist es denn aus mit den ewigen Göttern
5. Act 2. Scene 1. Was verlangst du?
6. Act 2. Scene 1. Deiner ew' gen Gattin heilige Ehre
7. Act 2. Scene 2. Schlimm, fürcht' ich, schloß der Streit
8. Act 2. Scene 2. Ein andres ist's
9. Act 2. Scene 2. So nimmst du von Siegmund den Sieg?
10. Act 2. Scene 2. So nimm meinen Segen, Niblungen Sohn!
11. Act 2. Scene 2. So sah ich Siegvater nie
12. Act 2. Scene 3. Raste nun hier, gönne dir Ruh!
13. Act 2. Scene 4. Seigmund! Sieh auf mich
14. Act 2. Scene 4. Du sahst der Walküre schrenden Blick
15. Act 2. Scene 4. So jung und schön erschimmerst du mir

Disc 3:

1. Act 2. Scene 5. Zauberfest bezähmt ein Schlaf
2. Act 2. Scene 5. Der dort mich ruft
3. Act 2. Scene 5. Zu Roß, daß ich dich rette!
4. Act 3. Scene 1. Walkürenritt: Hojotoho! Hojotoho!
5. Act 3. Scene 1. Schützt mich und helft in höchster Not!
6. Act 3. Scene 1. Nicht sehre dich Sorge um mich
7. Act 3. Scene 2. Wo ist Brünnhild', wo die Verbrecherin?
8. Act 3. Scene 2. Hier bin ich, Vater
9. Act 3. Scene 3. Introduction
10. Act 3. Scene 3. So tatest du, was so gern zu tun ich begehrt
11. Act 3. Scene 3. Nicht streb, o Maid, den Mut mir zu stören
12. Act 3. Scene 3. Leb wohl, du kühnes, herrliches Kind!
13. Act 3. Scene 3. Der Augen leuchtendes Paar
14. Act 3. Scene 3. Loge, hör! Lausche hieher!
15. Act 3. Scene 3. Wer meines Speeres Spitze fürchtet

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #172881 in Music
• Released on: 2006-09-26
• Number of discs: 3

Customer Reviews

Passionate Walkure by Zagrosek, don't dismiss it!
We all know that this performance is part of the famous, or infamous, Stuttgart Ring where four different directors undertook the task to "deconstruct' Wagner, bringing it to the modern era with rather controversial results.
In spite of the above, the music comes out unscathed as it is proven by this extraordinary, vivid live performance. Lothar Zagrosek is mostly responsible for its success. He conducts with swift speeds, with a grand vision of the work and paces it so well that there is not only a great deal of excitement but also much beautiful lyricism and expansion when required.
I've rarely felt so much frission and newfelt joy from this well known work.
The singers' emphasis on clarity, elocution, delivery and empathy to Wagner's text also have to be emphasized. Perhaps the strongest member of the cast is Robert Gambill, as Siegmund, a strong Heldentenor but with an unusual and appealing vulnerability in his voice that sets him apart from other Wagner tenors. With Angela Denoke, a passionate and beautifully sung Sieglinde, they make a wonderful pair of Walsung twins.Unfortunately some vibrato is manifest in Denoke's delivery. I've always been a great fan of hers, but she is not getting any younger.
Jan-Hendrik Rootering makes a remarkably strong voiced, tireless and frightening Wotan and Renate Behle a sympathetic Brunnhilde though with less even vocal power. Attila Jun is a stentorian basso, very strong in the deep registers and Tichina Vaughn a Fricka beyond compare.
Excellent stereo with good separation and with bargain basement price how can you go wrong? Very much recommended.

Better Than the Matching DVD of the Same Production
I was repulsed by the Eurotrashing of the entire Ring cycle, as seen on DVD, by the Stuttgart State Opera. Its 'Die Walküre' featured such things as Siegmund traipsing around the stage in boxer shorts and tank top (and with no athlete's body to make it at least somewhat palatable) and Sieglinde cooking steaks for Siegmund and Hunding on an electric hotplate. Why such updatings of Wagner's operas are needed is beyond me to understand, or tolerate.

This set of CDs derives from that same production and I'm happy to report that without the distraction - nay, odium - of the visual production, this is not a half-bad recording. Robert Gambill is a fairly good Siegmund, Angela Denoke an excellent Sieglinde and Attila Jun and Renate Behle fine as Hunding and Brünnhilde. Outstanding, vocally, is Tichina Vaughan as Fricka. The Wotan, unfortunately, is more than a little wobbly as sung by veteran Jan-Hendrik Rootering. Orchestral accompaniment, under the seasoned Wagnerian Lothar Zagrosek, is just fine.

But the catch is that there are audio recordings of this opera that feature much better performances, and some of them, although not in absolutely modern sound, don't cost any more than this budget release because they are historical reissues. For instance, there is a London Decca reissue featuring Jon Vickers, George London and Rita Gorr and at Amazon it costs about the same as this present set. Add to that the lack of a libretto in this Naxos issue (although a German-only libretto is available online from Naxos) and this one loses some of its luster.

For hardcore Walkure completists only, I'm afraid. And be glad you don't have to watch the DVD of the production from which is was taken.

Scott Morrison