Paul Wagner

Wagner at The Met is the first authorized release of Richard Wagner's operatic masterpieces, including the complete Ring Cycle, captured live in historic broadcasts from The Metropolitan Opera.

James Levine's is a more recent entry in the realm of Dutchman recordings, and sonically the recording is absolutely stunning, with great attention having been paid to the recording process. The casting for this Metropolitan Opera effort is also uniformly first rate, even in the less grateful roles of the hapless Erik, sung by the impressive Ben Heppner, and the scolding nurse, Mary, sung by Birgitta Svendén. Morris's brooding Dutchman is hard to match on any other available recording, and Deborah Voigt is a ravishing Senta. The chorus work is quite good, though not quite as rich as that heard in the Solti/Chicago recording. Overall, Levine does a workmanlike job of conducting these impressive forces, though there are passages in which his tempi seem to drag. This recording is a must for anyone who needs a completely up to date version of Wagner's first major opera.

Cheryl Studer also sings the role of Elsa in this 1990 Bayreuth production, staged by none other than noted film director Werner Herzog. The somewhat psychedelic first appearance of Paul Frey as Lohengrin aside (with pulsating green lighting effects), it's a fairly traditional production, well-conducted by Peter Schneider and with much fine singing on display, not least from the chorus in Act Three (Heil König Heinrich!).