# PentaTone To Record 10 Wagner Operas For 10th Anniversary



## lou (Sep 7, 2011)

I just received this news in my e-mail this morning.

Made me think of _*Couchie*_ especially.

Wagner's Flying Dutchman starts PentaTone's 10th anniversary celebrations

"Normally when a record label reaches an anniversary they have small party or they release a specially priced series or box set celebrating some of their great recordings. When I asked Giel Bessels of PentaTone what he was planning to do to mark his label's 10th anniversary this year he looked at me, and (with a straight face) said "We are planning to record all ten major operas of Richard Wagner for the first time using the same orchestra, choir and conductor and in SACD". Wow! That is some undertaking, and he wasn't joking!"


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Yipee! The more Hi-Fi Wagner, the better.

Full press release (Dutchman is already on sale):
http://www.pentatonemusic.com/pagsalg/wagnerintro.htm

Recording schedule:
1. Der fliegende Holländer 
(November 9th-13th, 2010) 
2. Parsifal
(April 4th--8th, 2011)
3. Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg 
(May 30th - June 3rd, 2011) 
4. Lohengrin
(November 8th-12th, 2011) 
5. Tristan und Isolde
(March 23rd-27th, 2012) 
6. Tannhäuser
(May 1st-5th, 2012)
7/8. Das Rheingold and Die Walküre (November 18th-24th, 2012) 
9. Siegfried
(February 25th-March1st, 2013 
10.Götterdämmerung 
(March 10th-15th, 2013

Also was able to find some performers:

Christopher Ventris - Lohengrin and Tannhäuser
Stephen Gould -Tristan 
Nina Stemme - Isolde and Elisabeth
Günther Groissböck - Heinrich
Christian Gerhaher - Wolfram von Eschenbach

According to: http://www.rsb-online.de/content/e67/e27371/e27372/index_eng.html


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## lou (Sep 7, 2011)

I like the idea of them offering a box for the entire collection!

Are you familiar with the performers? 

Since the only Wagner I own is Der fliegende Holländer, this would be a great opportunity to have a set.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Most of my Wagner listening is CD-based with the great conductors of the mid-20th century: Solti, Bohm, Karajan, Barenboim, etc, with a heavy emphasis on the Solti (honestly, if you're looking for a set there are none better than the Solti, he may not have the absolute best performance in each case but he definitely was the most consistent to marry good conducting, singing, and sound quality), so I'm quite underexposed to contemporary singers; I'm sure our DVD-based and house-going fans can offer a much more valuable opinion than I.

That said, I have seen Matti Salminen in Gotterdammerung and Tristan, he was exceptional in both and from the iTune clips I was able to listen to of the Hollander he is still in great form despite advanced age. I have seen Nina Stemme's Tristan DVD and while she doesn't have the voice to match the historical Isoldes she's arguably the best living pick for the role. I haven't seen any of Christopher Ventris' Wagner DVDs, but he was awesome in Shostakovich's Macbeth.


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

Couchie said:


> Most of my Wagner listening is CD-based with the great conductors of the mid-20th century: Solti, Bohm, Karajan, Barenboim, etc, with a heavy emphasis on the Solti (honestly, if you're looking for a set there are none better than the Solti, he may not have the absolute best performance in each case but he definitely was the most consistent to marry good conducting, singing, and sound quality), so I'm quite underexposed to contemporary singers; I'm sure our DVD-based and house-going fans can offer a much more valuable opinion than I.
> 
> That said, I have seen Matti Salminen in Gotterdammerung and Tristan, he was exceptional in both and from the iTune clips I was able to listen to of the Hollander he is still in great form despite advanced age. I have seen Nina Stemme's Tristan DVD and while she doesn't have the voice to match the historical Isoldes she's arguably the best living pick for the role. I haven't seen any of Christopher Ventris' Wagner DVDs, but he was awesome in Shostakovich's Macbeth.


Stemme has improved as Isolde since the Glyndbourne DVD. Chris Ventris is in the Lehnhoff DVD of Parsifal.

Could be an interesting project.


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## lou (Sep 7, 2011)

Thanks for the comments _*Couchie*_, they actually were very helpful, I'm off to search for deals.

_*jflatter*_, your comment has me excited to hear these new performances even more.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Certainly sounds like a very interesting undertaking.


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

The thing that concerns me is these appear to be SACD releases only so thus won't they only work on an SACD system. There is no indication that they are a hybrid. I don't have an SACD player.

From an artistic side the other thing that intruiges me is that Christian Gerhaher is playing Wolfram in Tannhauser as my review in another thread indicates I was quite a fan.

See link below

http://www.talkclassical.com/10916-what-have-you-seen-5.html#post133010


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

jflatter said:


> The thing that concerns me is these appear to be SACD releases only so thus won't they only work on an SACD system. There is no indication that they are a hybrid. I don't have an SACD player.


As I understand it hybrid SACD discs play fine on a conventional CD player (read it somewhere on the Presto classical website), although other types require a dedicated SACD player.


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## lou (Sep 7, 2011)

jflatter said:


> The thing that concerns me is these appear to be SACD releases only so thus won't they only work on an SACD system. There is no indication that they are a hybrid. I don't have an SACD player.


This is copied from their website;

_*"PentaTone will release all its recordings on hybrid Super Audio CD (SA-CD). This is a CD with two layers. The first layer carries the traditional CD signal and the second layer the surround sound signal. Consumers who buy hybrid SA-CDs and do not yet have a player with the SA-CD-feature can play them on their traditional CD-players and can already start building a catalogue in the new format before they have purchased a SA-CD or combi-player."*_


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

Right I have ordered the Dutchman!


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## lou (Sep 7, 2011)

jflatter said:


> Right I have ordered the Dutchman!


Will look forward to your review, should you decide to post one.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Dutchman is also available for download on iTunes. If they are planning to release all of them for download, I may have to open a new savings account.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Review on Parterre here. Sounds very interesting, and I'll have to buy it soon, I think.


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