Review: Barenboim's Complete Wagner Operas--Superlative Conducting At A Rock-Bottom Price

Wagner: The Flying Dutchman, Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, The Ring, Tristan and Isolde, Die Meistersinger, Parsifal. Various Soloists and Orchestras, Daniel Barenboim (cond.) Warner

[@willcwhite]

Nobody ever got more value out of a photo shoot than Barenboim got out of that fedora/scarf session

[@Warp75]

Hahahaha indeed.

[@samuelheddle]

He looks like Christopher Walken on that box cover lmao

[@ftumschk]

@@samuelheddle Aristide Bruant (et son Cabaret) perhaps?

[@franciscocanas5686]

Barenboim nearly outdoes Karajan in terms of self obsession.

[@goonbelly5841]

Dapper Dan.

[@eddihaskell]

Dave, I have not purchased new CD recordings this millennium- I think the last time was the 1990's. Since I started reading your reviews this year, I have spent over $300. You single-handedly must have the revival of an industry.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I'm honored! And believe me, I don't expect any thanks.

[@wzdavi]

Same here Dave. Me, the mid 2000's. Mainly, because of space. My Vinyl and CD collection is immense. So, I started listening to streaming. But like you, I will go out of my way to purchase worthy CD's

[@DavidSmith-xd6wi]

The recording and performance of Parsifal is one of the 'must hear' amongst recordings of this wonderful and moving operas.

[@bbailey7818]

I feel the same way about Parsifal. There are two operas that get played around here every year without fail: Parsifal on Good Friday and Meistersinger on Midsummer Day.

[@paulhwilliams]

I just bought this and delighted with your review!

[@graydomn]

I love Anne Evans. I heard her sing the role live at Covent Garden. She hasn't the voice of Flagstad but she was very focused, beautiful, and transcendent. I wonder if her voice isn't a better fit for the Brunnhilde role than some of the larger voices. Just wonderful.

[@cartologist]

Ordered, just in case I suddenly acquire the ability to listen to more than 20 minutes of Wagner.

[@alexanderrostel2167]

Thank you so much for this promising start to what I hope becomes a bit of a Barenboim journey. I was fortunate enough to grow up with his regular performances of Wagner’s operas in Berlin and completely second your observations, even for some of the singers that were still on the cast lists when I started out in 2007: Peter Seiffert is another example of a singer who, until quite recently, on a good day, could still outclass his colleagues. I have to admit, though, that I’m very fond of Waltraud Meier, especially because (rather than in spite of) her Isoldes, which I witnessed more than a dozen times. Her voice may not record very well, but she was second to none once live, blessed with an extraordinary diction and an unbelievable presence on stage, helped by her matchless acting skills. Her timbre is not everyone’s favourite, especially with such distinguished competition, but there can be no doubt that she was Isolde when she performed it. She is now singing her final Klytemnästras and I must say that I am deeply moved by her farewell, as I owe so many unforgettable moments to her. Kundry was her signature role and I also appreciated her as Ortrud. Her Venus was not very memorable for the reasons you mentioned. As for Barenboim, it has often been said that he took inspiration from Furtwängler and it would be interesting to hear how these conductors compare for you with Wagnerian repertoire. What I’ve always felt is that Barenboim instinctively knew where to put emphasis. He is always at his best at the beginning and at the end of an act, something that I also perceived with Furtwängler’s recordings. They even preferred singers with similar timbres: for example, René Pape can sound eerily similar to Ferdinand Frantz. There’s much more to write, but may I end by saying that Barenboim is tarnishing his legacy by refusing to step away from the podium. His recent Parsifal Act II in Salzburg was an embarrassment - one more reason, then, to treasure this Wagner box. Thank you again for shedding light on it. 🙏

[@ozoz9582]

Got this for $39.98 and I absolutely love it! one of the best Tannhauser’s I’ve ever heard…

[@eddihaskell]

Yes, if you think Tannhauser is "boring" listen to this recording. It will make you want to go on a pilgrimage to Rome and come back with a dead rose branch even if you are not Catholic.

[@johkkarkalis8860]

Thank you, Dave, for giving me a morning giggle with my morning coffee. The image of the maestro on the box alone is worth the price of purchase. My guess? He is Alberich in mufti? I agree. Barenboim is an excellent Wagnerian dealing with voices often not up to Wagner's demands. What he could have us if he had Melchior and Flagstad, Nilsson and Vickers to work with. I am holding his 1992 Bayreuth Festival recording of "Siegfried" in my hand. The orchestral work is very good indeed. Is there anyone out there who has heard "Die Feen", or "Das Liebesverbot"? Even Wagner had to start somewhere.

[@psono429]

I have Tristan and Gotterd Barenboim on video! I love Barenboim's Wagner always have! Flagstad to me is the greatest Kundry!

[@stillstanding6031]

Thank you, Dave, for saying what I could never say among the faithful: "Waltrud Meir...Meh!" I never got her, but she has a really ardent following. In fact, she sang a number times with Barenboim's East Western Divan Orchestra. Also love Anne Evans!!! A new find for me; she's spectacular!

[@walterbenjamin1386]

I love that Tannhäuser! Peter Seiffert is unforgettable in the Rome narration. I don't know if you have ever reviewed Barenboim's Mozart Da Ponte operas, but I think they are also absolutely magnificent, particularly the Cosi and Figaro.

[@xavierotazu5805]

I completely agree about Barenboim beeing the best overall Wagner conductor. Other much glorified names like Solti, Kna, Levine, etc are not as good as him. And completely agree about his Siegfried is on of the VERY few which do not sound boring.

[@nicolasbertrand1779]

One thing you said made me thing of another game we could play, similar to the If I could choose only one work by composer X : it would be selecting one recording by one artist that would be allowed to survive.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Yes, I was thinking of that.

[@thebiblepriest4950]

I have half of Barenboim's Wagner on video, and the rest on audio. On video my desert island Tristan und Isolde is Barenboim's, directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. On audio my highest esteem goes to the Lohengrin, which is one of only three sets which have the uncut text. At the last minute Wagner had an uncommon moment of doubt and cut the final Grahlerzählung in half. When you have a three-hour opera, why chop out four minutes? Leinsdorf recorded the whole thing before Barenboim, and Bychkov did so afterwards. Of the three, Barenboim is the one who did it best. Leinsdorf and Bychkov have two climaxes, one in the first half (the one everybody has) and another in the second (as an afterthought). Barenboim has just one climax, in the second half.

[@johngreen1176]

Thank you so much for this. The Ring in this set was what got me into opera and seriously into classical music. By the way, have you thought of doing a "How I discovered ..." video on Wagner?

[@timyork6150]

Thanks for that, Dave. My shelves are full of Wagner but none with Barenboim. I'm seriously tempted by your review which shows that this is quite a bad omission. There is an added bonus in that it is probably better recorded sonically than any of the others in my collection. The Amazon prices this side of the Atlantic are not so keen - € 56 here in France, double that in Italy, £ 42 in the UK but thanks to Brexit not available for shipment to my location! I fully agree that, however good the orchestra and conducting, a Wagner opera can be ruined by a poor key singer; witness Eva Marton's wobbly Brunnhilde for Haitink. I think better of Waltraud Meier than you, perhaps because she looks the heroine part far better than any other Wagner leading lady of my lifetime. On record, of course, that bonus is lost.

[@Digrient]

Waltraud Meier (now largely retired, with a few scheduled performances of Klytämnestra remaining this fall) is a simply marvelous performer, lived and breathed the roles in every second. I only began to “get” Wagner through her dramatic abilities, feel the real characters, so all the “big” music finds the right proportion in the emotions. Mr. Barenboim loves her abilities too; they worked a /lot/ together. Her Isolde in this box was even recorded a little too early, as she continued to explore and refine the role.

[@philippborghesi1060]

It is a funny coinsidence that you like Waltraut Meier as Waltraute, because I saw her this February in Dresden with the Staatskapelle Dresden in the Ring. She sang Waltraute in order of her „goodbye performance“ of the Wagner-Fach. She was very good indeed.

[@wzdavi]

I love the Barenboim Tristan and Parsifal. I have those recordings. I love Daniel Barenboim as well, and that boxed set, at that price is a bargain. I just worry that all those amazing Wagner operas under one conductor, and one conductor's vision might be a bit too much. Even though Barenboim's Wagner and Bruckner interpretations are of legend. I do have Barenboim's amazing 2nd Bruckner cycle. But again, at that highway robbery price, it's worth a consider. 😊

[@eddihaskell]

I never liked Tristan but the recording I have is Covent Garden / Pappano with Placido Domingo that I purchased for some reason way back. It is boring. Perhaps another version will not put me to sleep.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Wagner is always a bit much, no matter who does it!

[@wzdavi]

@@DavesClassicalGuide 😂❤

[@heatherharrison264]

No Die Feen, Das Liebesverbot, or Rienzi? (I just had to say it. I suppose those substandard early operas are optional in a "complete" set.) Wagner's operas are very, very long. There is great music in them, but settling in and listening to or watching one of them is quite the time commitment, so I don't get into them very often. I find that they don't really work as background music either because they tend to be rather attention-grabbing at times. I have recordings of all of them (including the three I mentioned above) and video of some of them, but not these performances. I'm always tempted to get additional performances of good music, but maybe I don't need to prioritize this box. It isn't available from Presto in my preferred format (digital download) anyway. However, I might get two or three of the best ones if they are available individually.

[@johkkarkalis8860]

Heather Harrison, I read your comments after I made an unintentional flip remark about "Die Feen" and "Das Liebesverbot". Perhaps imaginative thinking on my part, but I do hear intimations of the later master in the prelude (overture?) to his first complete opera. Oh absolutely! Wagner is not casual background music, anymore than the anguished symphonies of Allan Pettersson are for relaxing in the bathtub after a long day. So far as an often noted dearth of Wagnerian voices today, it could be little more than an impatience on the part of young singers to earn their "Master Sergeant's" stripes as quickly as possible. We are very fortunate when our opera attending days coincide with the careers of Flagstad, Melchior, Nilsson, or Callas, Tebaldi, Bjoerling in the non Wagnerian repertoire. It's often a matter of timing and very good luck!

[@mr-wx3lv]

I always put the recordings of Wagner operas on par with the complete recordings of Haydn symphonies in terms of marathon projects. I'm not sure which would contain the more CDs?. I'm surprised that each Wagner opera doesn't encompass 34 CDs to be fair 😮

[@cappycapuzi1716]

As far as I'm concerned you hit the nail on the head with Waltraud Meier: Good for mezzo-ish roles, but she's no Isolde. Some folks really like her Isolde though.

[@garthhudson]

Guessing this set doesn't have original jackets? (Yes, I'm one of those people)

[@mangstadt1]

I have yet to cross to the other side and order music and/or books from Amazon. I guess I'll do it some day, buying by bulk, and this would certainly be something to go after. I already have his Tristan (I saw it live with Siegfried Jerusalem and Waltraud Meier, of course Barenboim too, in Madrid back in 2000) and his Meistersingers (arguably the most boring opera ever written; oops, Verdi could be much worse)), but it would still be a good buy.

[@flexusmaximus4701]

Well seems its sold out everywhere! Price up to over a hundred bucks now! the record labels owe you Dave!

[@stevenmsinger]

What about his recordings of orchestral excerpts from Wagner operas? Chicago? Paris? Any good?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Mostly pretty dull, as I said in the video.

[@stevenmsinger]

@@DavesClassicalGuide Sorry. I must have missed it.

[@goonbelly5841]

My all-time favorite Wagner performance is by Elmer Fudd as Siegfried in "What's Opera, Doc?". Of course, as one would expect, Bugs Bunny (in drag) as Brunnhilde is pretty good too. And what makes this Wagner performance extra special is that the whole thing clocks in at just under 7 minutes. Kill the wabbit! Kill the wabbit! Kill the wabbit!!!

[@heatherharrison264]

That is one of my favorites too - it is a masterpiece. It shows how much more prominent classical music was in pop culture many decades ago.

[@GeorgeFrideric71]

'What's Opera, Doc?' came out the year before they started the Solti Ring, and Fudd was Culshaw's first choice for Siegfried; alas they couldn't make it happen.

[@bbailey7818]

Oy! I, like many. bought over half of these at full price when even the shortest of the operas (Rheingold and Dutchman) cost more than $40 mich less $20 and change. I agree with you about Magee, Meier and Eaglen when these were made, very much a meh proposition. Senta is tough (I saw Eaglen in it twice), Nilsson avoided it and Flagstad didnt have a success with it. Thanks for the alert, I'll happily complete the Barenboim Wagners at this price.

[@ronrendleman558]

Rysanek on the other hand was a great Senta!

[@djquinn4212]

A few words: Dutchman doesn't hold up not only because of Eaglen, but Struckman is a poor lead. Many have done it better. In Tannhauser, Hampson is the best Wolfram to my ear since Fischer-Dieskau. Siegfried Jerusalem splats the high C in act 3 of Gotterdammerung...which might matter to some. This is absolutely a fantastic top notch Parsifal, Holle is not the best Gurnemanz, but I think the Berlin Phil sounds better on this recording than on the Karajan recording from earlier.

[@waynesmith3767]

“ she’s not Christa Ludwig”… alas! There’s only been one. O for another!

[@benoit9988]

One of the best wagnerians, beethovenians, brucknerians, schumannians, incredible versions of the 5th, 7th and 9th of Mahler. The inverse of Karajan who was better in the non-germanic repertoire. Very strange that Barenboim was not in the 2x10 best conductors alive on this channel!

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Because he's very inconsistent and does way too much.

[@benoit9988]

@@DavesClassicalGuide It would be very interesting if your friend Dister were making a selection of all his best versions for each of the 32 sonatas of Beethoven to compose a box!

[@Baritocity]

Are there other Barenboim/Wagner performances that are better sung than these recordings, or are the weak links not so deadly in them? I know this review is in context to all of the best recordings in existence, but I'm not there in comparing singers. I know when I'm maybe not blown away but entertained, and when I'm bored. My first full Ring was Opera North on KZbin. I recognized not all the cast were A+, but I was entertained.

[@NN-df7hl]

So no librettos? That's a dealbreaker for me. :( I don't buy CDs, so I can follow along using a computer (defeats the whole purpose (and is distracting)). That said -- Barenboim is genius.

[@davidaiken1061]

A very tempting set, and I can never resist a bargain. I'm also totally unfamiliar with Barenboim's Wagner. However, I already have the comparable Solti set plus the old Phillips/Decca "Live at Bayreuth"compilation. That may already be way too much Wagner for a collector who is ambivalent toward the composer. My father was Jewish (non-observant) and I think it's in my genes as well as my upbringing to react strongly against all forms of antisemitism in the arts, particularly since that form of hate is unfortunately on the rise. But Wagner's music is still endlessly fascinating. So I'll let this formidable bargain go.

[@djquinn4212]

The British actor Stephen Fry does a deep dive on the subject of liking Wagner and being Jewish in his film Wagner and Me. It’s done in such a way that musicians who really know their stuff can still be entertained by his style or presentation…it has a great scene where he sits down at Wagner’s piano and plays the Tristan chord and says that he has to pinch himself. A couple moments that didn’t age so well like when he goes to the Kirov and interviews a certain Putin-loving conductor who talks about all the hardships that the Nazis did to the Russian people but they still manage to like Wagner as well, but I digress. Wagner and Me. Stephen Fry. Definitely worth watching for Jewish Wagnerites of all degrees.

[@davidaiken1061]

@@djquinn4212 Thank you so much for this recommendation! As a listener whe collects recordings by Karajan and Böhm, I shouldn't necessarily be shy about "loving Wagner." My Jewish father (my mother was an ex-Baptist, so I don't count technically as a Jew) excoriated Wagner--but loved Richard Strauss (go figure). In any case, the relation between aesthetics, ethics and politics is complicated and fraught.

[@djquinn4212]

@@davidaiken1061 1. Nearly every branch of Judaism has come around on patrilineal descent so don’t worry about that. Also remember that the two conductors who recorded all the Wagner operas in the studio were Solti and Barenboim…both Jews. One day when I have all the time in the world, I’ll write my book on Parsifal and Kabbalah (not the shitty Hollywood generic stuff) and how returning the Speer and curing amfortas’s wound is really about tikkun olam and repairing the broken vessels and setting the world back in order

[@davidaiken1061]

@@djquinn4212 Thanks for this response. Being somewhat out of touch with the Jewish side of my heritage, I hadn't realized that "being a Jew" is now no longer exclusively matrilineal. I'm happy to be considered a Jew due to my father's heritage. You're right about two great Jewish conductors being devout Wagnerians; and, yes, I can see the healing of Amfortas as a symbol of "Shalom," or the healing of creation. I suspect Wagner had something mor Buddhistic in mind, and none the worse for that. Let us all, during our fragile existence on earth, work compassionately for the healing of nature and of the nations.

[@Digrient]

Without my nagging husband and the repeated(!) experience of Waltraud Meier on stage, I would have never found a way to Wagner. Here, I found it's not either about the singing or the conducting, it’s about the drama that is put onto the stage where everything (music, singing, acting, production, light, …) supports. That of course doesn’t try in any way to contradict Dave’s view, it just describes my access to Wagner.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Listen, lots of people admire Meier, or she wouldn't have a career.