Wagnerian Visions : Two new recordings offer variable vocalism

Wagner: “Die Walkure” Eva Marton, Cheryl Studer, Waltraud Meier, Reiner Goldberg, James Morris, Matti Salminen, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Bernard Haitink, conductor. EMI DCDC49534 (CD); the same, with Hildegard Behrens, Jessye Norman, Christa Ludwig, Gary Lakes, James Morris, Kurt Moll, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, James Levine, conductor. Deutsche Gramophon 423389-2 (CD).

With these first installments of two projected “Ring” cycles, one might think we are in an age of great Wagnerian singing. Such is not the case. What we have here are two sonically stunning recordings, both of which are seriously flawed in various aspects of casting.

Behrens brings her riveting theatricality and vocal expressivity to the title role, but she is a lightweight Brunnhilde, one whose weakness in the middle voice cannot be disguised. Marton is much more the Valkyrie type. Her voice is big, rich throughout the range, but she sings mostly full-out and without much refinement of expression. Still, it is the real thing, without the wobble that sometimes afflicts her work.

The scarcity of Wotans on the world market necessitated both companies giving up the usual exclusivity so that James Morris sings the part on both labels. His basso is attractive enough and he does not bark, but nature has denied him the vocal weight and color once thought ideal. There is decided strain at the top, particularly in the monologue and the Farewell on the EMI version.

The one vocal glory of the sets is EMI’s Cheryl Studer as Sieglinde. Exceptionally youthful, feminine in sound, she musters an especially searing “O hehrstes Wunder!” The most famous name among the singers is Jessye Norman, something of a cult figure by this time. She is a bulldozer of a Sieglinde, suggesting a lady quite able to take care of herself against Wotan, Hunding, and, were she to live long enough, even Fafner. Her work, with the familiar, manufactured top, is impressive enough, but she blows everyone else away and throws the drama seriously out of kilter. For the thankfully low-lying music of Siegmund, neither Lakes nor Goldberg enjoys a clear advantage. Both are adequate, although ideally Lakes’ fresher timbre would have been better matched with Studer’s.

Christa Ludwig’s Fricka is the only hold-over from the Solti “Ring” of the late ‘50s. Though her mezzo-soprano is smaller in size and less voluptuous than it once was, it is still dramatically telling and seemingly incapable of an ugly sound. High hopes and expectations have been raised for Meier. The voice is lovely, but her Fricka here is flawed by a tremolo that has not been evident in the performances. Of the two imposing Hundings, Salminen has a slight edge because of darker color of his bass. EMI’S Valkyrie maidens make the more pleasing sounds.

In the battle of the conductors, we have a face off of the music directors of the Metropolitan Opera and the Royal Opera, Covent Garden: James Levine and Bernard Haitink, respectively.

Although he began the mounting of a new “Ring” in London last season, Haitink is a relative newcomer to Wagner, having conducted only “Rheingold” and “Parsifal” before in the theater. Eclectic in his repertory choices, he is particularly admired in Mozart, where his ability to mold a seamless lyric line has resulted in some excellent recordings. The transitions from dramatic propulsion to lyricism to roaring climaxes are well handled here, although such passages as the Farewell and Magic Fire Music are lacking in ultimate grandeur.

Levine has the advantage of having conducted stage performances with the troops used here. Over the years he has built the Met orchestra into a virtuoso ensemble on a par with the best anywhere. The brass, in particular, are amazing in their power and accuracy. The Bavarians, for all Haitink’s skill, are no match.

Thus the choice for the buyer will hinge on preferences for individual singers, in which case EMI wins out; or those who consider the conductor and orchestra the true stars of any Wagner undertaking. For them it is DGG. Both program booklets are well done for all those whose eyesight is a perfect 20/20.