# Favorite Wagner Prelude/Overture?



## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Favorite Wagner Prelude/Overture?


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Are you counting all or just from 'the big ten', Couchie?


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

elgars ghost said:


> Are you counting all or just from 'the big ten', Couchie?


See the poll. Quick on the jump, aren't you?


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Are you sure you've never created a thread like this previously throughout your 11-year stay on this site?


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

hammeredklavier said:


> Are you sure you've never created a thread like this previously throughout your 11-year stay on this site?


Not that I can remember! But feel free to peruse the ancient Couchie archives! :lol:


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I'll keep on your good side and say all of them. Hope you are well and all my best wishes to Canada.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Overture to Das Liebesverbot which is enjoyably dreadful.


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

Wasn't sure between DW, G or DFH. Went for the latter as it's an old time nostalgic piece of music for me (despite not caring much for the opera itself).


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

It's difficult for me to pick between _Tannhäuser_, _Tristan_ and _Meistersinger_. In the end, I went safe and selected the first, my true entryway to classical music.

I think that the ouverture to _Das Liebesverbot_ is superb and could be present in the poll.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Tannhäuser Overture by miles .


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

MarkW said:


> Overture to Das Liebesverbot which is enjoyably dreadful.


You beat me to it!! awful to play, just horrible - non-stop fast tonguing for the entire time....."musicians speak with forked tongue" - right, because their tongues are ripped in half from the unending trauma!! :lol::lol:


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

Rogerx said:


> Tannhäuser Overture by miles .


First or second quintet?


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## Eva Yojimbo (Jan 30, 2016)

As a standalone piece of music, probably Tannhauser, but I voted for T&I merely because it sets the mood so well and introduces the themes that are going to haunt your soul for the next 4+ hours.


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## Agamenon (Apr 22, 2019)

Tristan und Isolde changed music forever.


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## Ned Low (Jul 29, 2020)

The sublime prelude of Lohengrin.


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## Doublestring (Sep 3, 2014)

_T&I_ and _Parsifal_ are the two that stand out, because this is where Wagner explored chromatic harmony.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

I voted Meistersinger as this is my favorite as a standalone piece. Next would be T&I, Dutchman, Parsifal. Tannhäuser and Lohengrin might be the most popular but I am a bit tired of them.


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## allaroundmusicenthusiast (Jun 3, 2020)

How could it be anything other than Tristan und Isolde?


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## Eva Yojimbo (Jan 30, 2016)

allaroundmusicenthusiast said:


> How could it be anything other than Tristan und Isolde?


While I voted for T&I I do feel it works better as a kind of introduction than as a standalone piece of music. I can't imagine listening to the T&I overture in isolation like I could Tannhauser, or even Meistersinger.


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## Trollcannon (11 mo ago)

Eva Yojimbo said:


> While I voted for T&I I do feel it works better as a kind of introduction than as a standalone piece of music. I can't imagine listening to the T&I overture in isolation like I could Tannhauser, or even Meistersinger.


I completely agree. In music context is everything - a musical phrase (like the _Tristan chord_) may only truly be appreciated in retrospect.

I think the question ought to be more specific because my answer would certainly vary depending on the context.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Tristan's prelude is quite lovely, but I have never cried over it. Same goes for Meistersinger.

Parsifal and Lohengrin have both reduced me to tears due to their sheer beauty, so it must be between them. Of the two, I think Lohengrin is the most cohesive and best work.






The moment when the lower strings enter with the main theme (4:23) gets me every time. It is so stately and proud, yet shy and tender. I don't know how Wagner accomplishes such mixtures of emotion.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Couchie said:


> Tristan's prelude is quite lovely, but I have never cried over it.


*Deutsche akzent* _We haff vays of making bodily fluid leak from your ocular regions vhile you listen to der musik...
_









(a reference to)


Couchie said:


> MAS said:
> 
> 
> > Don't expect me to have a Pauline conversion to suddenly like *Tristan* because you do!
> ...


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## Brahmsian Colors (Sep 16, 2016)

Favorite has always been the Tannhauser Overture.


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

A close call between Tannhäuser and Meistersinger. The former has the best tune(s) and has some very exciting moments, but I think the latter is better structured. I love the orchestration, the glorious contrapuntal writing and the brilliant interweaving of themes, all of which repay repeated listening more than Tannhäuser's overture does. They're both splendid pieces of music, but Meistersinger goes that extra mile, and gets my vote.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Lohengrin for me.


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

For me it would be an incredible dishonor to choose an overture or prelude by itself.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Tristan is sublime! I love them all and listen to the compilations by Klemperer, and Karajan.


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## TwoFlutesOneTrumpet (Aug 31, 2011)

Tannhauser easily for me. In fact, it is one of my favourite pieces of music from any composer.


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## TwoFlutesOneTrumpet (Aug 31, 2011)

Ethereality said:


> For me it would be an incredible dishonor to choose an overture or prelude by itself.


Well, call me dishonourable but I often listen to Wagner's overtures or preludes on their own.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

They have been played and recorded separately for ages. 
Obviously some are not so well suited to it, but many are, despite the concert ending sometimes being not as good as the transition in the actual opera. 
E.g. I think Meistersinger Prelude works well as a separate piece but leading immediately into the chorus in the opera is very special and on another level as a whole.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

TwoFlutesOneTrumpet said:


> Well, call me dishonourable but I often listen to Wagner's overtures or preludes on their own.


Wagner himself conducted the preludes and excerpts from his operas on tour as standalone pieces.


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## Bruckner Anton (Mar 10, 2016)

For me, the mighty Meistersinger.


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## JB Henson (Mar 29, 2019)

Parsifal, no question.


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## methuselah (10 mo ago)

Tristan und Isolde changed my life. It also made me realize my thoughts on classical music were way off.


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