Richard Wagner - Tristan und Isolde - Meier, Jerusalem - Barenboim4CDs - DDD - 236min.
Teldec 1995
Performer: Tristan - Siegfried Jerusalem, König Marke - Matti Salminen, Isolde - Waltraud Meier, Kurwenal - Falk Struckmann, Melot - Johan Botha, Brangäne - Marjana Lipovsek, Ein Hirte - Peter Maus, Ein Steuermann - Roman Trekel, Ein junger Seemann - Uwe Heilmann
Conductor: Daniel Barenboim
Orchestra/Ensemble: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin State Opera Chorus
Recording location (Studio): Philharmonie, Berlin October/November 1994
We are blessed with so many recordings of this opera (nearly two dozen, counting out-of-print? I've lost count). There will never be a consensus which is the best. Ultimately it will come down to your personal taste, and preference for the tenor, or the soprano, or the sound. Why choose by conductor? He doesn't sing a note. I have attended many opera performances that were ruined by a mediocre or painfully bad tenor or soprano, but never by a conductor. The studio engineers are responsible for orchestral balance on a recording.
I'm listening to this Barenboim version as I write. My skin tingles as I hear Siegfried Jerusalem's ringing, stentorian passages, and my eyes and face are soaked during his lyrical phrases. While he sings, I wonder how anybody could prefer another tenor. He was just as good on stage - I heard him in his prime at the Bavarian State Opera n the late 70s. Nobody wanted to leave the house after the final curtain.
Waltraud Meier as Isolde is almost in the same league, though flawed in a few spots with pinched top notes. But many passages are heartrendingly beautiful. Her Liebestod is a triumph. Amazon customer
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