# Ernst Kozub Siegmund 1965



## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

This popped up on my queue today. Georg Solti's Siegfried-_manqué_ sings Siegmund in a complete performance of *Die Walküre* from Covent Garden 1965, with a very good cast!
Ernst Kozub sounds like a to the manner born heldentenor.

I enjoyed listening to this, I hope you will, too.






I liked it so well that I ordered a CD set from opera passion.com


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I've just finished Act 1 of this, and I must say that these performers have brought the magic of Wagner fully to life for me as I haven't experienced it in some time. It's just such a privilege to hear voices that really do justice to his music and drama. Kozub may be the "star" here, and he's impressive enough to make me regret that we didn't get more from him, but I'm equally impressed by the young Gwyneth Jones. Her full-bodied, warm, womanly voice, here beautifully firm and wobble-free, seems made for Sieglinde - more so, I think, than for Brunnhilde. Add Michael Langdon's dark and brutal Hunding to these, and we have a powerful performance. I'm looking forward to Act 2.

BTW, there's a lot of incredible music in this act, isn't there? I love the orchestral passages early on - the way the lines weave around each other, sometimes in canon, fascinating in the abstract even as they tell us what Siegmund and Siegmund are feeling and evoking the tragedy that swallows up their desperate lives.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> I've just finished Act 1 of this, and I must say that these performers have brought the magic of Wagner fully to life for me as I haven't experienced it in some time. It's just such a privilege to hear voices that really do justice to his music and drama. Kozub may be the "star" here, and he's impressive enough to make me regret that we didn't get more from him, but I'm equally impressed by the young Gwyneth Jones. Her full-bodied, warm, womanly voice, here beautifully firm and wobble-free, seems made for Sieglinde - more so, I think, than for Brunnhilde. Add Michael Langdon's dark and brutal Hunding to these, and we have a powerful performance. I'm looking forward to Act 2.
> 
> BTW, there's a lot of incredible music in this act, isn't there? I love the orchestral passages early on - the way the lines weave around each other, sometimes in canon, fascinating in the abstract even as they tell us what Siegmund and Siegmund are feeling and evoking the tragedy that swallows up their desperate lives.


Nicely said, and I completely agree with your assessment. Though Kozub was my emphasis, I did not mean to ignore or pass over any of the other excellent singers.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

I think this is available from Opera Depot.

https://operadepot.com/products/wag...sey-langdon-solti?_pos=2&_sid=de5c2c4b4&_ss=r


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

MAS said:


> Ernst Kozub sounds like a to the manner born heldentenor.


John Culshaw thought so, too. Until he didn't.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

Woodduck said:


> Kozub may be the "star" here, and he's impressive enough to make me regret that we didn't get more from him, but I'm equally impressed by the young Gwyneth Jones. Her full-bodied, warm, womanly voice, here beautifully firm and wobble-free, seems made for Sieglinde - more so, I think, than for Brunnhilde.


Add to that her sensitive, vulnerable, always deeply committed acting, and I imagine her Sieglinde would have been well worth preserving on video.

As for Kozub, he's impressive, though I think more for vocal quality than for interpretive depth (in the James King mold). I can get just an inkling of why Culshaw might have been initially enamored but ultimately frustrated with him.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

amfortas said:


> Add to that her sensitive, vulnerable, always deeply committed acting, and I imagine her Sieglinde would have been well worth preserving on video.
> 
> As for Kozub, he's impressive, though I think more for vocal quality than for interpretive depth (in the James King mold). I can get just an inkling of why Culshaw might have been initially enamored but ultimately frustrated with him.


I think the James King comparison is a good one, except that King did grow as an artist, as his two recordings of Parsifal clearly show. I don't know the course of Kozub's career, but with a voice of such impressive metal he should have gone much farther than he did. With heldentenors so scarce, it's sad.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

Dammit! After reading the comments, and listening to samples, I've gone and ordered the CD from Opera Depot.

I hope you're all pleased with yourselves.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> I think the James King comparison is a good one, except that King did grow as an artist, as his two recordings of Parsifal clearly show. I don't know the course of Kozub's career, but with a voice of such impressive metal he should have gone much farther than he did. With heldentenors so scarce, it's sad.


He died in 1971 at the age of 47. Not much known about the circumstances. It's been attributed to either chronic heart failure or leukaemia. Very hard to find any further information short of seeing his death certificate. Apparently ill health prevented him from learning Siegfried for Culshaw but that has been disputed.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

Barbebleu said:


> He died in 1971 at the age of 47. Not much known about the circumstances. It's been attributed to either chronic heart failure or leukaemia. Very hard to find any further information short of seeing his death certificate. Apparently ill health prevented him from learning Siegfried for Culshaw but that has been disputed.


Culshaw himself didn't mention ill health as an extenuating circumstance, but he may not have been fully aware of Kozub's situation. Besides that, the reliability of his recollections in general has been challenged over the years.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Methinks Culshaw remembered what suited him! A case of ‘who was the world’s greatest record producer and why was I?’ :lol:


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Barbebleu said:


> I think this is available from Opera Depot.
> 
> https://operadepot.com/products/wag...sey-langdon-solti?_pos=2&_sid=de5c2c4b4&_ss=r


Thanks. You'll note that I ordered it already from House of Opera (operaoassion.com).


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

MAS said:


> Thanks. You'll note that I ordered it already from House of Opera (operaoassion.com).


Yes, I've used them myself. Useful for rarities. :tiphat:


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