Post by Matthew B. TepperFine though that one is, if you're only having one Flagstad-Melchior
performance, the one to have is from the following year, with Beecham.
(Actually two performances of the same run, conflated.) I've got it on
Archipel's "Desert Island Collection."
Between the Reiner and the Beecham, I've always preferred the Reiner for
reasons I can't quite explain, other than that the conducting of Reiner
seems more in touch, more of a mind with the interpretations of Flagstad
and Melchior.
Even on the Marston transfer for Naxos, however -- by all accounts the
best sonic choice for the Reiner -- one will often have to listen very
carefully to hear Melchior in Act I: he's almost constantly off-mike.
The rest of the show is engrossing enough that I can deal with the
sound; I've certainly heard plenty worse from La Scala in the '50s.
As for the *best* Flagstad-Melchior Tristan, I've got a new favorite:
the March 9, 1935 Met broadcast -- an incredible performance. Even with
all the time freed up by the healthy cuts, Bodanzky must've been rushing
to catch the 11:30 to New Haven; that said, he actually makes the quick
tempi work -- it's conducting of great fire and intensity, almost what
I'd imagine a Toscanini Tristan would sound like, yet Bodanzky seems
more flexible, more of a "singers' conductor." His sudden death must've
been a tremendous blow to the Metropolitan, especially given the fact
that his successor was the prosaic Leinsdorf.
Both Flagstad and Melchior are sensational, as great as I've ever heard
them. Flagstad is even fresher-voiced than at Covent Garden, and
Melchior simply outdoes himself with gorgeous lingering mezza voce
effects in the lyrical passages and shattering power in the climaxes.
The performance has a certain spark of excitement that the Covent Garden
recordings lack. Perhaps it was the enthusiasm following Flagstad's
spectacular debut just a few weeks before. I'd guess that nobody of our
age or younger can possibly imagine the sensation she created. This is a
souvenir of those exciting days.
The sound is what it is. One has to take a lot of both the singing and
orchestral work on faith. The former is again affected by the singers
wandering on and off mike, and the boxiness of orchestral sound makes
for loss of color and nuance.
Still, I find it more listenable than the Reiner: the singers are in
general more closely-miked and can be heard more of the time; as for the
orchestral sound, both recordings are fairly wretched. If you're
familiar with the sound of other 1935 Met broadcasts -- the Ponselle
Traviata or the Tibbett Rigoletto, for example -- the Met recording is
about on par with those: excruciatingly bad sound by normal standards,
but experienced listeners should be able to hear through the muck.
Flagstad and Melchior are of course the draw here. We can go another
century or two and still not hear Wagnerian singing like this again. I'm
very happy to have it all on CD in any form.
The set is the product of an outfit called the West Hill Radio Archives,
the proprietor of which is one Don Hill. It has been intermittently
available on eBay. The artwork and annotation are very professionally
done. Considerable time, effort, and affection was clearly lavished on
this project. Here's the label and catalog number:
West Hill Radio Archives WHRA 6001 3 2003
Assuming the prospective listener is acquainted with the sound of murky
antediluvian broadcasts, this is very highly-recommended.
Of course, to get back to the original question, should this be one's
first or only Tristan? Certainly not. I can't imagine a recording with
so much of the score missing and with such poor sound serving as one's
reference or introduction to the work.
For me, the near-ideal would be the Böhm on DG, which in additon to its
other merits should satisfy Mr. Koren in the soprano department (Birgit
Nilsson). After that, perhaps the Furtwängler/Flagstad, for the great
conducting (albeit less intense than his live work) and the soprano in
excellent late form (those famous non-high C's aside), all in good mono
studio sound.
Of course, it's a faint echo of the Flagstad of 1935 vintage. So I do
think Mr. Koren would want to get at least one of the Flagstad -
Melchior recordings later, if only to hear how the music can be sung by
two superhuman voices born to sing it, both at their absolute peaks.
MK