Wagner: Twilight of the Gods

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Valkyrie: There's something inevitable, even eternal about Goodall's long-breathed, fulltoned, often ideally articulated reading. The ENO management's faith in him was handsomely repaid in his... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 More…

Catalogue No: CHAN3060(5)
Label: Chandos
Series: Opera in English
Length: 5 hours 10 minutes

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Wagner: Gotterdammerung (Twilight of the Gods) (sung in English)

Work length5:10:53

$97.25

$120.25

$148.00

Aage Haugland (bass), Valerie Masterson (soprano), Rita Hunter (soprano), Anne Collins (contralto), Helen Attfield (contralto), Shelagh Squires (mezzo-soprano), Alberto Remedios (tenor), Norman Welsby (baritone), Gillian Knight (mezzo-soprano), Margaret Curphey (soprano), Anne Evans (soprano), Derek Hammond-Stroud (baritone), Katherine Pring (mezzo-soprano)
English National Opera Chorus, English National Opera
Sir Reginald Goodall

Prelude: What light shines down there? (3 Norns)

Track length8:08

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Prelude: Wotan made holy laws and treaties (Second Norn)

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Prelude: That mighty hall the giants have raised (3 Norns)

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Prelude: Now the gods will seize the spear that was shattered (3 Norns)

Track length4:35

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Prelude: Dawn Music (Orchestra) - To deeds of glory (Brunnhilde, Siegfried)

Track length7:32

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Prelude: Ah, but to prove you love me (Brunnhilde, Siegfried)

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Prelude: Love, I leave you alone (Siegfried, Brunnhilde)

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Prelude: So by your daring I am fired (Siegfried, Brunnhilde)

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Prelude: O heavenly rulers! (Brunnhilde, Siegfried)

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Prelude: Siegfried's Rhine Journey (Orchestra)

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Act I Scene 1: Now hear, Hagen (Gunther, Hagen)

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Act I Scene 1: What woman should I wed … ? (Gunther, Hagen, Gutrune)

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Act I Scene 1: At Neidhohle the Nibelung gold was guarded (Hagen, Gunther)

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Act I Scene 1: You mock me, wicked Hagen! (Gutrune, Hagen, Gunther)

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Act I Scene 1: Merrily seeking adventures and fame (Hagen, Gunther, Siegfried)

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Act I Scene 2: Which is Gibich's son? (Siegfried, Gunther, Hagen)

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Act I Scene 2: I welcome you, my friend (Gunther, Siegfried, Hagen)

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Act I Scene 2: That treasure I quite forgot (Siegfried, Hagen, Gunther)

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Act I Scene 2: Welcome, O guest, to Gibich's house! (Gutrune, Siegfried, Gunther)

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Act I Scene 2: With your brother I promised to serve (Siegfried, Gunther)

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Act I Scene 2: I fear not the flames (Siegfried, Gunther)

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Act I Scene 2: Flourishing life's refreshing blood (Siegfried, Gunther, Hagen)

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Act I Scene 2: Now on our way! (Siegfried, Gunther, Gutrune, Hagen)

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Act I Scene 2: I sit here and wait (Hagen), "Hagen's Watch"

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Act I Scene 3: Sounds I once knew so well (Brunnhilde, Waltraute)

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Act I Scene 3: You've come to me? (Brunnhilde, Waltraute)

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Act I Scene 3: Fear and dread I read in your features! (Brunnhilde, Waltraute)

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Act I Scene 3: Hear me with care, and I will tell you! (Waltraute)

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Act I Scene 3: He sits there, speaks no word (Waltraute)

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Act I Scene 3: These tales of evil fancies (Brunnhilde)

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Act I Scene 3: Upon your hand, the ring (Waltraute, Brünnhilde)

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Act I Scene 3: Go home to the sacred clan of the gods! (Brunnhilde, Waltraute)

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Act I Scene 3: Borne on the wind (Brunnhilde)

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Act I Scene 3: Brunnhild! Your husband comes (Siegfried, Brunnhilde)

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Act I Scene 3: The night draws on (Siegfried, Brunnhilde)

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Act I Scene 3: Now nothing can save me (Brunnhilde, Siegfried)

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Act II Scene 1: Prelude (Orchestra)

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Act II Scene 1: Sleep you, Hagen, my son? (Alberich, Hagen)

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Act II Scene 1: The might of the gods (Hagen, Alberich)

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Act II Scene 1: That ring shall be Hagen's (Hagen, Alberich)

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Act II Scene 2: Hoiho! Hagen! Fast asleep? (Siegfried, Hagen, Gutrune)

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Act II Scene 2: Yet my Siegfried was with Brunnhild? (Gutrune, Siegfried)

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Act II Scene 2: I can see a sail in the distance (Hagen, Siegfried, Gutrune)

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Act II Scene 3: Hoiho! Hoihohoho! (Hagen, Vassals), "Hagen summons the vassals"

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Act II Scene 3: Come to my call, and arm yourselves! (Hagen, Vassals)

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Act II Scene 3: Glad times have come (Vassals, Hagen)

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Act II Scene 4: Welcome, Gunther! (Vassals, Gunther)

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Act II Scene 4: I greet you, noble friend (Gunther, Vassals, Siegfried, Brunnhilde, Hagen)

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Act II Scene 4: A ring I saw upon your hand (Brunnhilde, Siegfried, Gunther)

Track length1:40

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Act II Scene 4: Ha! - Siegfried stole it (Brunnhilde, Siegfried, Hagen, Gutrune, Vassals, Women)

Track length2:22

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Act II Scene 4: Here in Walhall, mighty immortals! (Brunnhilde, Gunther, Women, Vassals)

Track length3:26

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Act II Scene 4: Would you defile your name so lightly? (Siegfried, Brunnhilde, Vassals, Women, Gunther, Gutrune, Hagen)

Track length4:08

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Act II Scene 4: Shining steel! Holiest weapon! (Siegfried, Brunnhilde, Vassals)

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Act II Scene 4: Gunther, look to your wife there (Siegfried)

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Act II Scene 5: Dark, unholy powers lie here around me! (Brunnhilde)

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Act II Scene 5: Have trust in me, offended wife! (Hagen, Brunnhilde)

Track length2:55

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Act II Scene 5: Can no weapon's point then pierce him? (Hagen, Brunnhilde, Gunther)

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Act II Scene 5: Deceived am I - and deceiver! (Gunther, Hagen)

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Act II Scene 5: He betrayed you (Brunnhilde, Hagen, Gunther)

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Act II Scene 5: Since this blow must be dealt her (Hagen, Gunther, Brunnhilde)

Track length3:39

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Act III: Prelude (Orchestra)

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Act III Scene 1: Fair sunlight, shine on us in splendour (Woglinde, Wellgunde, Flosshilde)

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Act III Scene 1: Fair sunlight, send to us the hero (Woglinde, Wellgunde, Flosshilde)

Track length2:07

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Act III Scene 1: A goblin led me astray (Siegfried, Woglinde, Wellgunde, Flosshilde)

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Act III Scene 1: Siegfried, if we find your bear (Woglinde, Siegfried, Wellgunde, Flosshilde)

Track length2:52

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Act III Scene 1: Why should I let them laugh and jeer? (Siegfried, Flosshilde, Woglinde, Wellgunde)

Track length1:46

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Act III Scene 1: Siegfried! … Evil lies in that ring (Woglinde, Wellgunde, Flosshilde, Siegfried)

Track length2:32

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Act III Scene 1: Siegfried! … Give heed to our words (Woglinde, Wellgunde, Flosshilde, Siegfried)

Track length2:49

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Act III Scene 1: Come, sisters! Flee from this madman! (Woglinde, Wellgunde, Flosshilde, Siegfried)

Track length4:20

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Act III Scene 2: Hoiho! (Hagen, Vassals, Siegfried)

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Act III Scene 2: You drove the game away from us (Hagen, Siegfried)

Track length2:56

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Act III Scene 2: Drink, Gunther, drink (Siegfried, Gunther, Hagen)

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Act III Scene 2: Mime was a hideous dwarf (Siegfried), "Siegfried's Narration"

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Act III Scene 2: Now you must hear what happened next (Siegfried, Hagen, Vassals)

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Act III Scene 2: Ring and Tarnhelm - both I had found (Siegfried, Hagen, Vassals)

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Act III Scene 2: In grief I watched the branches above (Siegfried, Hagen, Gunther, Vassals)

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Act III Scene 2: Brunnhilde! Holiest bride! (Siegfried)

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Act III Scene 2: Siegfried's Funeral March (Orchestra)

Track length8:01

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Act III Scene 3: Was that his horn? (Gutrune)

Track length3:45

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Act III Scene 3: Ah, if Siegfried were back! (Gutrune, Hagen, Gunther)

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Act III Scene 3: Cast not the blame on me (Gunther, Hagen)

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Act III Scene 3: Peace with your cries of useless lament! (Brunnhilde, Gutrune)

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Act III Scene 3: Poor creature, peace! (Brunnhilde, Gutrune)

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Act III Scene 3: Sturdy branches, building his pyre (Brunnhilde), "Brunnhilde's Immolation"

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Act III Scene 3: The sun in radiance shines from his eyes (Brunnhilde)

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Act III Scene 3: O you, you guardians (Brunnhilde)

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Act III Scene 3: My heritage I claim from the hero (Brunnhilde)

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Act III Scene 3: Fly home, you ravens! (Brunnhilde)

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Act III Scene 3: Grane, my horse! (Brunnhilde)

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Act III Scene 3: Give back the ring! (Hagen)

Track length5:26

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Reviews
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Reviews

2010

Valkyrie: There's something inevitable, even eternal about Goodall's long-breathed, fulltoned, often ideally articulated reading. The ENO management's faith in him was handsomely repaid in his ability to convey his lifetime vision to is regular cast and eventually to his audiences. On paper, tempos may look unacceptably slow; in practice there are very few places – perhaps Siegmund's Spring song and Sieglinde's reply – where they seem too tardy.
That's largely due to his ability to find the Hauptstimme for every paragraph of the music, indeed for a whole act and, perhaps even more, to his ability to persuade players and singers alike to sustain a long line. Listeners familiar only with the Solti cycle will hardly recognise this as the same work.
By 1976 all his singers were entirely inside their respective roles and so able to project a feeling of familiarity with their music that's evident in every bar. Like all the most satisfying sets of the Ring, it benefits enormously from being heard live in a theatre acoustic, and here no compromises have to be made, so superb are producer John Mordler's and his team's skills.
You seem to be seated in centre stalls imbibing the performance. Rita Hunter bestrides the role of Brünnhilde in a confident manner achieved in relatively modern times only by Birgit Nilsson, whose bright tone and effortless top Hunter's so much resembles. She's also a thoughtful, very human interpreter of the role, keen with her words and investing them with the right import.
By her side Bailey confirms that he's as excellent a Wotan as any since Hans Hotter. His reading of the taxing part is virtually tireless and his interpretation combines authority with fatherly concern. Remedios's Siegmund remains one of the most sweetly sung and appealing on disc. If Curphey isn't quite in his class vocally, she offers a deeply felt and sympathetic Sieglinde. Ann Howard is, rightly, a termagant of a Fricka, with a touch of asperity in her tone. Clifford Grant is a sonorous, towering Hunding. The Valkyries, comprising many of the most promising female singers of the day (among them Elizabeth Connell and Anne Evans), acquit themselves very well. All the cast benefit from Andrew Porter's carefully wrought, very singable translation.
Overall, a hearty welcome back to a great recording.
Siegfried: That Reginald Goodall idolised Klemperer and Knappertsbusch is evident in every aspect of this weighty, consistently thought-through interpretation; indeed it consoles us for the cycle Klemperer never recorded.
The performance is also a reminder of what those then in charge of the ENO – Stephen Arlen, Lord Harewood and Edmund Tracey – had the sense to realise: that here was a unique opportunity to let a seasoned Wagnerian have his head in terms of the time and trouble to prepare a cycle in his own long time-scale. The results are there for all to hear in the total involvement of every member of the orchestra, the lyrical lines of the singers, the superb enunciation of the faultless translation.
Remedios's fresh, lyrical singing is a joy from start to finish; nobody since has equalled him as Siegfried. Dempsey's Mime is at once subtle, funny yet menacing. Those who so praise Tomlinson as Wotan/Wanderer can't have heard Bailey's better sung, articulate and eloquent assumption, another reading not since surpassed.
To crown the performance we have Rita Hunter's glorious Brünnhilde, so luminously and keenly sung, just about on a par with Nilsson in the role. They are all wonderfully supported by Goodall and his players. Only in some of Siegfried's Act 1 forging and his struggle with Fafner might one ask for a shade more physical energy, but that's a small price to pay for such understanding of Wagnerian structure. Rhinegold and Twilight of the Gods : After more than 25 years, these recordings remain gripping for reasons similar to those applying to the other sections of the English Ring reissued by Chandos. In spite of speeds that in other hands would seem often unreasonably slow, or to an extent because of them, Goodall's interpretation has an unerring sense of lyrical and dramatic concentration, every paragraph, phrase and bar carefully considered and executed with loving care by singers and players alike, all so closely coached by their veteran conductor. Above all there's the refined legato observed by all the singers. And the sense of real-life occasion, the theatre's acoustic clearly felt throughout. Andrew Porter's wonderfully lucid translation is given its full due by all the soloists, who once more sound an utterly convincing team. In Rhinegold the main honours are carried off by Emile Belcourt's plausible, witty and articulate Loge, Hammond-Stroud's imposing, strongly sung Alberich, Robert Lloyd's sympathetic Fasolt and Bailey's everauthoritative Wotan. With a pleasing trio of Rhinemaidens headed by Masterson's gleaming Woglinde, Clifford Grant's gloomy, louring Fafner and Anne Collins's deep-throated Erda, the strength of the ENO roster at the time is there for all to hear. In Twilight, Hunter and Remedios excel themselves as a more heroic than tragic pair, their singing steady, keen with words and very much in character following so many performances, by 1977, of the complete cycle. The recently departed Aage Haugland offers a welcome souvenir of his career as a louring Hagen. Welsby uncovers the right touches of weak will for Gunther while Curphey is suitably alluring as sister Gutrune. Pring offers an appropriately urgent and strongly sung Waltraute.
The Norns could hardly be more strongly cast.
By and large, the playing of the ENO Orchestra is of an equally consistent nature, responding to Goodall's long-breathed conducting with playing of beauty and strength adding up to a formidable traversal of the score. The recording, masterminded by John Mordler, need not fear comparison with anything more recent.
Indeed the absence of unwanted reverberation and excessive sound effects is most welcome.
What we get is the music unvarnished and truthful, for which many thanks again to the foresight of the ENO directors of the day and to Peter Moores for providing the wherewithal to execute it. Anyone wanting the work in the vernacular, who hasn't already acquired it in its previous incarnations, need not hesitate.

Offer,Wagner: Twilight of the Gods

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