Ramon Vinay, Martha Mödl - KARAJAN 1952 BAYREUTH : TRISTAN UND ISOLDE - RICHARD WAGNER

"Over the years, at first with respect and then with growing amazement, I've become more and more drawn to this surprisingly strong performance; "surprisingly,” since neither of the two leads are flawless vocalists: in fact, most of the principals, not just Vinay and Mödl, suffer acute "warmupitis" in Act I, meaning we don't settle down to some real music-making until Isolde's Narrative and Curse thirty minutes in, while, in Act III, Mödl tires somewhat; yet it's clear from the otherwise assured singing of both leads that they are still in their vocal prime; in addition, both voices are so emotionally responsive that they encompass, in their innate variety of color, all the tenderness, the heartbreak, the longing, the self-destructiveness and the sheer loneliness that make this such a unique work; arguably the high point of Karajan’s operatic output is his earliest association with the Neu Bayreuth Festival b'casts of the early 50's (for instance, his Edelmann Meistersinger, '51), and this '52 Tristan, Wieland Wagner's first at Neu Bayreuth, is as acutely and energetically led as Bernstein's (see I below) but with much more attuned protagonists; I now believe this recording is the only one that gives the famed Furtwängler studio issue from the same year (EMI) a run for its money; it may hold up better than the great Furtwängler’s in the end, primarily because of Mödl’s towering rages in Act I versus Furtwängler’s (and Flagstad's) comparative stolidity (surprisingly so) and because of Vinay’s greater vocal excitement and imagination in Act III compared with the once-great Suthaus's faded efforts under Furtwängler; make no mistake, there are still vocal compromises in this "live" set, but Wieland Wagner's aims shine through all the same and give us perhaps the most consistently unified and wide-ranging interpretation available without cuts; Mono"

Geo Riggs