Pristine Classical Recorded Music

For a full biography of Wagner, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wagner
For programme notes on The Ring Cycle, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Ring_des_Nibelungen
For notes on Bayreuth Festival, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayreuth_Festival

See also our other Ring Cycle operas at Pristine for more performer notes.

 

 

Wolfgang Windgassen

notes from Wikipedia

Wolfgang Windgassen (June 26, 1914 – September 8, 1974) was a tenor internationally known for his performances in Wagner operas.

Born in Annemasse, France, he was the son (and pupil) of a well known Heldentenor, Fritz Windgassen (who was also the teacher of Gottlob Frick). His mother was the coloratura soprano Vali von der Osten, sister of the much more famous soprano Eva von der Osten, who created the part of Octavian in Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier. Both Windgassen's parents were longtime mainstays of the Staatsoper Stuttgart.

Wolfgang made his début at Pforzheim as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly. After army service he became a member of the Stuttgart opera company, and succeeded his father as principal tenor. Stuttgart opera remained his home base throughout his career, and for the last two years of his life he was its artistic director.

Windgassen sang at all the important opera houses all over the world. He was invited to perform at the reopening of the Bayreuth Festival in 1951 and continued to appear there till 1970, singing all the great Wagner tenor roles: Erik, Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, Tristan, Walter, Loge, Siegmund, both Siegfrieds and Parsifal, his debut role in 1951.

His voice was not as heroic as pre-war Heldentenors such as Lauritz Melchior or his immediate predecessor Max Lorenz, but he used it with such skill and musicianship that he is generally regarded as the most accomplished Wagner tenor of the past half century.

He died from a heart attack in Stuttgart, Germany at the age of 60.

 

Recordings

He is well represented on record, both in studio recordings and live tapings. Pre-eminent among the former is the famous Decca Ring, conducted by Georg Solti and produced by John Culshaw. He was not Culshaw’s first choice for Siegfried, the more powerful and beautiful voice of Ernst Kozub being preferred. But Kozub's musical limitations (largely due to his ailing health) led to his removal from the cast; Windgassen magnanimously stood in for him at the last minute. His live Bayreuth recording of Tristan und Isolde with Birgit Nilsson as Isolde, conducted by Karl Böhm, is still highly regarded by many critics.

Windgassen was the Siegfried in several complete, live Rings from Bayreuth that have been issued commercially on CD, conducted by such now-legendary figures as Hans Knappertsbusch, Clemens Krauss, Joseph Keilberth and Karl Böhm. He was also the Loge and Siegmund in Wilhelm Furtwängler's Ring broadcast by the Italian Radio (RAI) in 1953, and subsequently issued as a best selling CD box. All these have contributed to the growing posthumous reputation of this remarkable tenor.

 

Notes from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Windgassen

 

 

 

Paul Kuen

notes from Wikipedia

 

Paul Kuen (8 April 1910, Sulzberg – 1997) was a German operatic tenor particularly known for his portrayals of character roles such as Mime in Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. He had originally wanted to be an organ-builder, but then studied singing with Heinrich Knote and Adalbert Ebner in Munich. He made his stage debut at the State Theatre in Konstanz in 1933 and went on to sing in many European opera houses, including Bayreuth where he sang from 1951-1957, Salzburg, the Vienna State Opera, the Bavarian State Opera and London's Royal Opera House. He made his debut at the New York Metropolitan Opera on 16 December 1961 as Mime in Das Rheingold. He also sang Mime in the Met's 1962 Siegfried and the multiple roles of Andrès, Cochenille, Pitichinaccio, and Frantz in the company's 1962 production of Les contes d'Hoffmann.

A Kammersänger of the Federal Republic of Germany, Paul Kuen taught singing following his retirement from the operatic stage. Amongst his pupils was the noted Lieder singer, Christian Gerhaher. In 1976 he published his autobiography, Allgäuer Lausbub erobert die Bühnen der Welt (A rascal from Allgäu conquers the stages of the world).

 

Recordings

Kuen can be heard on many recordings of Wagner's operas, including performances conducted by Herbert von Karajan, Joseph Keilberth, Clemens Krauss, Hans Knappertsbusch, and Sir Georg Solti. He also appears on recordings of several rarely performed German operas such as Goetz's Der Widerspänstigen Zähmung, Lortzing's Die Beiden Schützen, Nicolai's Die Lustigen Weiber Von Windsor, and Orff's Der Mond, Die Kluge and Antigonae.

 

 

Notes from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Kuen