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Wagner: Lohengrin

Martti Talvela (King Henry), Jess Thomas (Lohengrin), Claire Watson (Elsa), Walter Berry (Telramund), Christa Ludwig (Ortrud), Eberhard Waechter (Herald), Kurt Equiluz, Fritz Sperlbauer, Herbert Lackner & Ljubomir Pantscheff

Chorus & Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera, Karl Böhm

Claire Watson excels her studio performances, singing Elsa with floods of pure tone that rarely falters...[Ludwig's] 'Entweihte Götter!' literally stops the show...Waechter makes a keen Herald,... — BBC Music Magazine, June 2013, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 29th Apr 2013
Catalogue No: C862133
Label: Orfeo
Series: Wiener Staatsoper Live
Length: 3 hours 14 minutes

Gramophone Magazine

September 2013

Re-issue of the Month
Presto Favourites

Christa Ludwig - Our Top 10 Recordings

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Wagner: Lohengrin

Work length3:14:12

$49.00

$63.65

Martti Talvela (bass), Eberhard Wächter (baritone), Kurt Equiluz (tenor), Fritz Sperlbauer (tenor), Herbert Lackner (bass), Ljubomir Pantscheff (bass), Walter Berry (bass-baritone), Claire Watson (soprano), Jess Thomas (tenor), Christa Ludwig (mezzo-soprano)
Wiener Staatsoper
Karl Böhm

Act I: Prelude

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Act I: Hort! Grafen, Edle, Freie von Brabant!

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Act I: Dank, König, dir, dass du zu richten kamst!

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Act I: Seht ihn! Sie naht, die hart Beklagte!

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Act I: Einsam in truben Tagen hab' ich zu Gott gefleht

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Act I: Gott allein soll jezt in dieser Sache noch entscheiden!

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Act I: Des Ritters will ich wahren

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Act I: Wer hier in Gotteskampfe zu streiten kam

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Act I: Nun sei bedankt, mein lieber Schwan!

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Act I: Heil, Konig Heinrich!

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Act I: Nun hort! Euch, Volk und Edlen, mach' ich kund

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Act I: Mein Herr und Gott, nun ruf ich dich

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Act I: Durch Gottes Sieg ist jetzt dein Leben mein

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Act II: Prelude

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Act II: Erhebe dich, Genossin meiner Schmach!

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Act II: Du wilde Seherin! Wie willst du doch

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Act II: Euch Luften, die mein Klagen

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Act II: Elsa! ... Wer ruft?

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Act II: Entweihte Gotter, helft jetzt meiner Rache!

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Act II: Hier, zu deinen Fussen

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Interlude

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Act II: In Fruh'n vesammelt unds der Ruf

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Act II: Des Konigs Wort und Will' tu' ich euch kund

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Act II: Nun hort, was er durch mich euch sagen lasst

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Act II: Gesegnet soll sie schreiten

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Act II: Zuruck, Elsa! Nicht langer will ich dulden

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Act II: Heil! Heil dem Konig!

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Act II: O Konig! Trugbetorte Fursten! Haltet ein!

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Act II: Nicht dir, der so vergass der Ehren

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Act II: Mein Held, entgegne kuhn dem Ungetreuen

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Act II: Elsa, erhebe dich!

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Act III: Prelude

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Act III: Treulich gefuhrt, ziehet dahin (Wedding March)

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Act III: Das susse Lied verhallt; wir sind allein

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Act III: Atmest du nicht mit mir die sussen Dufte?

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Act III: Hochstes Vertrau'n hast du mir schon zu danken

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Act III: Hilf Gott, was muss ich horen!

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Act III: Weh, nun ist all undser gluck dahin!

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Act III: Verwandlung

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Act III: Habt Dank, ihr Lieben von Brabant!

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Act III: Mein Herr und Konig

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Act III: In fernem Land, unnahbar eu'ren Schritten

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Act III: Mein lieber Schwan!

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Act III: Fahr' heim! Du stolzer Helde!

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Favourites, Christa Ludwig at 90

16th March 2018

Katherine celebrates the great German mezzo's ninetieth birthday by picking out ten favourite recordings from her long and varied career.

For a performance of 'Lohengrin' to be completely successful, it depends largely on the evil couple who stand opposed to the Swan Knight and the girl he protects, Elsa. The 1965 production at the Vienna State Opera was acclaimed for its musical aspects, and on its opening night Christa Ludwig as Ortrud made evident why Wagner himself described this character as “terribly magnificent”. Christa Ludwig celebrates her 85th birthday on 16 March 2013, and with her interpretation of roles such as this she secured for herself a place in the annals of the Vienna State Opera. Her curse ('Entweihte Götter!') was accorded spontaneous ovations by the audience and the subtlety that she brings to this role, straddling as it does the range of a dramatic soprano and a dramatic mezzo, makes this sorceress the undisputed manipulator of the action. All this can be heard clearly, on this live recording. With the dramatic baritone Walter Berry as Telramund, she had a partner on that evening whose vocal power was hitherto largely unsuspected, yet who offered no less vocal sophistication. Overall, the performance on that evening was stormier and more agitated than many a more 'ethereal', enraptured version such as one often hears. It was driven by Karl Böhm at the helm of the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera, and with a State Opera Chorus that had been excellently prepared by Wilhelm Pitz. Eberhard Waechter as the Herold and Martti Talvela as King Heinrich were powerfully resplendent, while Claire Watson as Elsa and Jess Thomas as the title hero formed the 'good' couple, rounding off this superb cast with their bright tone colours. Her voice, schooled in Mozart, was slender and clear in focus, while his virile tenor, clear in accentuation and in diction, offered a model of the Wagner style of the 1960s that also dominated in Bayreuth: as was preferred by the director, Wieland Wagner. This 'Lohengrin' offered a modern reading in the best sense of the word, allowing the characters their mythical grandeur while at the same time letting them approach the contemporary audience as men and women of flesh and blood.

Reviews

June 2013

Claire Watson excels her studio performances, singing Elsa with floods of pure tone that rarely falters...[Ludwig's] 'Entweihte Götter!' literally stops the show...Waechter makes a keen Herald, and the chorus is on good form...manna for Böhm admirers.

September 2013

It must be said straight away that there are cuts aplenty..., that the radio sound is not great to begin with and that interventionist remastering has not helped. If you are allergic to all that and to generous portions of stage noise...look elsewhere. If you aren't this might be the most thrilling performance of the opera yet put on disc.

December 2013

Ludwig and Berry are a formidable team and they do much to convince me that this is unmissable… The whole of this Vienna performance has a unity of purpose and concentration that makes it special- no surprise given Bohm’s gifts as a Wagner conductor. His direction is intensely dramatic and never lingers, but nor does he hustle the music which is very well played. The whole experience is spellbinding.

9th July 2013

The most interesting contrast, and the factor which impels this release, is the conducting of Karl Böhm...he prefers fast tempi, and this drives the drama along at an exciting pace...Thomas is on top notch form here and he sounds sensational in his farewell to the swan in the first act...Watson is also on her very finest form as Elsa..The dramatic temperature of the whole set rises when [Ludwig] enters

16th March 2018

Recorded live in Vienna in 1965, this is probably my desert-island Ludwig recording. She drips contemptuous sarcasm at Telramund (sung by her real-life husband Walter Berry), is frighteningly plausible in her solicitous dealings with Claire Watson's Elsa, and literally stops the show with a blood-curdling 'Entweihte Götter' - the thunderous applause lasts almost as long the Curse itself.

8th August 2013

This is real edge-of-your-seat stuff...The vocal honours go to Walter Berry and Christa Ludwig, formidable, genuinely sinister – and in Ludwig's case literally show-stopping – as Telramund and Ortrud. Jess Thomas is the glamorous-sounding hero...The mono sound is clean and clear.

Wagner: Lohengrin

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Favourites, Christa Ludwig at 90

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