Feed Christa Wells

Over a performing career spanning half a century, Christa Ludwig, born in 1928, consistently proved her greatness. “A source of as deep a satisfaction and fulfilment as the greatest of my operatic roles,” is how she described the place of song in her life, and at the heart of this collection are the emblematic composers of the Austro-German repertoire. Throughout, Christa Ludwig’s interpretative insight is as rich and compelling as her voice, exceptional for its beauty, range and flexibility. This 11-disc collection includes recordings never before released or new to CD, and all items have been remastered in 24BIT/96KHZ from original tapes. This 11CD-set marks the 90th birthday of Christa Ludwig, a German mezzo-soprano who had a major international career between 1940 and 1990. The recordings have been remastered from original tapes – except the album owned by Sony which has been remastered by them.

By the time he made these celebrated recordings with the Philharmonia Orchestra in the early 1960s, Otto Klemperer was a grand old man of conducting. Christa Ludwig, by contrast, was in the glowing early prime of her extraordinary career, which encompassed repertoire for both mezzo-soprano and soprano. “Klemperer was marvellous for the singing,” she later said, “because he did nothing against the composer.” This collection shows the fruits of their collaboration in Beethoven, Wagner, Brahms and Mahler.

The Deutsche Oper in Berlin had hardly opened on 24th September 1961 before it started preparing to celebrate its 50th anniversary. How was that possible? Had it entered into some sort of time warp? That might indeed have been possible for a theatre that in the past had devoted itself to Richard Wagner’s works. But there was a simpler explanation: the Deutsche Oper Berlin had, in fact, originally opened on 7 November 1912 under the title of Deutsches Opernhaus.

The Deutsche Oper in Berlin had hardly opened on 24th September 1961 before it started preparing to celebrate its 50th anniversary. How was that possible? Had it entered into some sort of time warp? That might indeed have been possible for a theatre that in the past had devoted itself to Richard Wagner’s works. But there was a simpler explanation: the Deutsche Oper Berlin had, in fact, originally opened on 7 November 1912 under the title of Deutsches Opernhaus. Thus it was Beethoven’s Fidelio that featured at the opening of the Deutsches Opernhaus in 1912 – and it was also chosen for the anniversary concert on 7th November 1962 that is documented in this DVD…

It takes a certain amount of forethought if Das Rheingold is to be more than a series of special effects scenes, though moments like the appearance of the giants through the mist or Alberich's transformations need to be as thrilling as they are here. As always in his Wagner, and perhaps especially in this very traditional 1990 Metropolitan Opera production of the Ring cycle, James Levine keeps to the forefront the underlying humanity of Wagner's gods and monsters. In the first scene, for example, he brings out the thoughtless, callous frivolity of the Rhine maidens as they precipitate the events of the four operas by taunting the gnome Alberich: it helps that they swirl around, green and gold, in a convincing representation of the bottom of the Rhine, but the emotions are the point. Ekkehaard Wlaschiha is a convincingly menacing Alberich partly because Levine brings out his vulnerability as well as his evil temper. James Morris is splendid as the younger less care-worn Wotan and Siegfried Jerusalem as Loge enjoys the sarcasm of his cynical commentary on Wotan's aspirations. The smaller parts have luxury casting: Matti Salminen as Fafner and Christa Ludwig as Fricka, for example.(Roz Kaveney)

Gustav Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn - Christa Ludwig (mezzo); Walter Berry (bar); New York Philharmonic; Leonard Bernstein
Classical | 1 CD | EAC Rip | 315 MB, 3% recovery | FLAC+LOG+Cue | Complete scans
Publisher: Sony Classical | Recorded: 1969 | Published: 1993

There may be more famous recordings of this work - the George Szell recording comes to mind - but none have the emotional heft and power of this essential Bernstein performance. To hear Ludwig sing “Wo Die Schonen Trompeten Blasen” is nothing less than a shattering experience. Almost uniquely among available versions on CD, when there are contrasting characters, Bernstein treats the songs as dialogues, with both Berry and Ludwig - husband and wife at the time of the recording - taking part, further adding to the richness of this performance. (from Amazon.com)