 | Wagner - Die Feen (The Fairies) / Ether Gray, J. Alexander, J. Anderson, Studer, Hermann, Rootering, Orth, Lövaas, Laki, Moll, Helm; Sawallisch by Richard Wagner
Buy new: $71.98 / Used from: $50.00 Wagner's first opera, given a delightful reading by regulars of the Bavarian State Opera.
|
 | Wagner - Das Liebesverbot / Hass, Coburn, Schunk, Prey, Engen, Bayerische Staatsoper, Sawallisch by Richard Wagner
Buy new: $59.98 / Used from: $38.09 Wagner's second, based on Shakespeare's Measure for Measure. Again, the Bavarian forces bring this museum piece to vibrant life.
|
 | Wagner: Rienzi
Buy new: $32.98 / Used from: $18.80 The only studio recording of this opera attempted in the stereo era. Rienzi would become a signature role for Kollo.
|
 | Wagner: Der fliegende Holländer
Buy new: $15.98 / Used from: $6.64 Bayreuth live recording from 1971 featuring the incomparable talents of Thomas Stewart and Gwyneth Jones. If passages of the role of Senta were tricky for Jones's voice, the overall passion and fervor of the character are something she brings out like no other singer. Karl Bohm provides drive and excitement.
|
 | Wagner: Der fliegende Holländer
Buy used from: $9.20 Norman Bailey is one of the finest recorded Dutchmen. I'm not so wild about Janis Martin's Senta, but she is decent enough not to make this recording a one-man show.
|
 | Tannhauser
Buy new: $25.97 Wonderful recording from 1978 Bayreuth (the first commercial video ever produced there), with Gwyneth Jones triumphant as both Venus and Elisabeth. Spas Wenkoff is one of the few tenors who actually could sing this awkward and difficult role credibly. With Weikl on the support team and Davis on the pulpit, this is one Tannhauser to cherish.
|
 | Wagner: Tannhäuser
Buy used from: $7.54 My favorite studio recording of this opera with Popp, Randova and Haitink. You'd be hard-pressed to find a better rendition of the overture.
|
 | Wagner: Lohengrin by Richard Wagner
Buy used from: $11.98 This recording is amazing for the way Norman slims down her voice to create a believable Elsa. Domingo is not so idiomatic, but he sings well. Solti emphasizes the beauty of the score.
|
 | Richard Wagner: Lohengrin
Buy new: $44.98 / Used from: $30.00 Janowitz was born to sing Elsa, Stewart is a ringing Telramund, Jones is a frightening Ortrud, and King a focused, heroic Lohengrin. Wonderfully conducted by Kubelik.
|
 | Wagner: The Ring of the Nibelung ( Das Rheingold / Die Walküre / Siegfried / Götterdämmerung) (Boulez/Chereau Ring Cycle)
Buy used from: $96.99 A watershed event at Bayreuth. The French team of Chereau and Boulez expanded the intellectual and emotional content of this great work, increasing its validity. Jones re-defined Brunnhilde.
|
 | Wagner - Der Ring des Nibelungen (Ring Cycle) / Sir Georg Solti by Sir Georg Solti
Buy new: $147.99 / Used from: $99.99 The first stereo studio recording of this monumental work using the finest singers of the day (and fine they were). Essential.
|
![Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen [Box Set]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51tpPZ7DZYL._SL75_.jpg) | Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen [Box Set]
Buy new: $88.99 / Used from: $64.95 I find this recording preferable to the Solti Ring because it is live and has that extra spark. Nilsson was always better in front of an audience and she proves it well here. Incomparable.
|
![Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen [Box Set]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51fPshjdZJL._SL75_.jpg) | Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen [Box Set]
Buy new: $81.98 / Used from: $56.99 One of the most ambitious and satisfying studio Rings after the Solti. Altmeyer is not ideal as Brunnhilde, but honors her mentor Gwyneth Jones with a personal, moving performance. Bravo, Janowski!
|
 | Wagner: Der Ring Des Nibelungen (New York -- January 27 and February 3, 10, and 17, 1951; Kirsten Flagstad, Astrid Varnay, Helen Traubel, Regina Resnik, Jarmila Novotna, Erna Berger, Karin Branzell, Blanche Thebom, Margaret Harshaw, Set Svanholm, Gunther Treptow, Leslie Chabay, Peter Klein, Hans Hotter, Ferdinand Frantz, Gerhard Pechner, Herbert Janssen, Lawrence Davidson, Luben Vichey, Deszo Ernster, Osie Hawkins, Brian Sullivan, Jerome Hines, Lucine Amara, Herta Glaz, Jean Madeira; Fritz Stiedry)
Buy used from: $78.00 The two finest Brunnhildes of the 40s take turns on the stage for this wonderful recording. Considering the recording dates, the sound is remarkably good.
|
 | Die Walkure (Dig) by Wagner
Buy new: $25.98 / Used from: $15.17 The most ferocious opening storm in any recording, highlighting an overall thrilling reading. Nilsson again in top form.
|
 | Tristan Und Isolde
Buy new: $34.99 / Used from: $18.95 The finest Tristan of them all. When Nilsson floats the final note of the Liebestod in a perfect pianissimo after 4 glorious hours, we know we have reached ultimate transcendence.
|
 | Richard Wagner: Tristan und Isolde by Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Buy new: $41.99 / Used from: $18.98 One somehow gets a sense of breezes billowing through sails in this performance. Helga Dernesch's voice is surprisingly well-suited to the role of Isolde.
|
 | Wagner - Tristan und Isolde / Mehta, West, Meier, National Theatre Munich
Buy used from: $28.49 Despite the modern staging, this is the most satisfying performance on DVD, mainly because of Meier's great Isolde. If you're looking for a boring hogfest, buy the Levine Met performance w/Eaglen.
|
 | Wagner: Die Meistersinger Von Nürnberg
Buy used from: $15.99 The best-conducted Meistersinger EVER. Despite certain casting flaws (eg. Fischer-Dieskau as Sachs), there is no other recording that has come close to the great sense of occasion of this reading.
|
 | Wagner - Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg / Bernd Weikl, Siegfried Jerusalem, MariAnne Haggander, Hermann Prey, Graham Clark, Matthias Holle, Horst Stein, Bayreuth Opera
Buy new: $25.97 / Used from: $25.00 The amazing humanist re-thinking from 80s Bayreuth. Weikl is the bedrock of this unforgettable performance, which is not without its weak links. Stein makes us forget these!
|
 | Wagner - Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg / Mackerras, Doese, McIntyre, Opera Australia
Buy new: $26.99 / Used from: $13.49 This Australian Meistersinger owes its place on the list to the winning performance of Donald McIntyre as Hans Sachs. He is far better than Morris or Van Dam or Brendel.
|
 | Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg / Weikl, Studer, Heppner, Moll, Lorenz, van der Walt, Kallisch; Sawallisch by Richard Wagner
Buy used from: $23.75 A fabulous cast with great recorded sound. Unfortunately, Sawallisch is a bit lethargic, which compromises enjoyment.
|
 | Wagner - Parsifal / Ventris, Hampson, Meier, Salminen, Fox, Kristinsson, Nagano, Berlin Opera
Buy new: $35.99 / Used from: $27.44 An illuminating, well-sung and moving Parsifal. Meier is one of the best recorded Kundrys, and Ventris breathes the role of Parsifal. Even Hampson, normally faulty in opera, impresses.
|
 | Wagner - Parsifal / Knappertsbusch by Richard Wagner
Buy used from: $32.00 The 20th-century gold standard set in Bayreuth in the early 50s, recorded in the early '60s. On the somber, meditative side, but in a good way.
|
 | Parsifal by Wagner
Buy new: $31.98 / Used from: $32.96 The antithesis to the Knappertsbusch recording tempo-wise, but this 1970 Bayreuth recording directed by Boulez manages to preserve the dramatic intensity and beauty of the score. As Kundry, Gwyneth Jones's screams of tortured pain are alone worth the full price of the set.
|
 | Wagner - Parsifal
Buy used from: $49.99 Heavy-laden with symbolism and Wagneriana, to include Jung and the anima/animus. Difficult but ultimately rewarding.
|
Listmania!
