Dvd
Wagner: Die Walküre (Bayreuth Festival)
Linda Watson (Brünnhilde); Albert Dohmen (Wotan); Edith Haller (Sieglinde); Johan Botha (Siegmund);
"Thielemann and the Bayreuth Orchestra create a ravishing wall of sound and not a moment is less that aurally stunning: one listens, agape." (International Record Review)
Wagner: Die Walküre (De Nederlandse Opera)
Endrik Wottrich (Siegmund); Eva-Maria Westbroek (Sieglinde); Linda Watson (Brünnhilde); Kwangchul Youn (Hunding); Michelle Breedt (Fricka);
"Hartmut Haenchen builds on the New Wagner Edition and the Residentie Orchestra in outstanding form: a leaner, more elegant and never thundering Wagner sound makes this production a rich experience." (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung)
Wagner: Die Walküre (The Royal Opera)
Stuart Skelton (Siegmund); Emily Magee (Sieglinde); John Lundgren (Wotan); Nina Stemme (Brünhilde); Sarah Connolly (Fricka); Ain Anger (Hunding); Alwyn Mellor (Gerhilde); Lise Davidsen (Ortlinde); Kai Ruutel (Waltraute); Claudia Huckle (Schwertleite); Maida Hundeling (Helmwige); Catherine Carby (Siegrune);
"With Die Walküre, in Keith Warner’s enthralling Covent Garden production of Wagner’s Ring, you can really sense the tectonic plates beginning to shift. Sarah Connolly’s Fricka has become one of the production’s highpoints: she conveys the bitter anger of marital betrayal in every phrase and every stiffened joint. Nina Stemme’s Brünnhilde is also tremendously accomplished, reflecting the gamut of emotions in facial expression and vocal line alike. John Lundgren deploys his lean, virile tone intelligently as Wotan. Antonio Pappano continues to complement this outstanding staging with his wonderfully fluid conducting. The Ride of the Valkyries, here a boisterous brood, was for once visceral and thrilling." (The Evening Standard ★★★★)
Wagner: Götterdämmerung
Heinz Kruse (Siegfried); Wolfgang Schöne (Gunther); Henk Smit (Alberich); Kurt Rydl (Hagen); Jeannine Altmeyer (Brünnhilde);
"Pierre Audis Ring really shines!" (Wagner Society)
Wagner: Lohengrin (Baden-Baden Festspielhaus)
Klaus Florian Vogt (Lohengrin); Solveig Kringelborn (Elsa); Hans-Peter König (Vogler); Waltraud Meier (Ortrud); Tom Fox (Telramund); Roman Trekel (King's Herald);
"Whoever believes to already know all nuances ofLohengrin should go to Baden-Baden: soloists, chorus and orchestra are brilliant - and the production leaves barbed afterthoughts in your mind...There has not been aLohengrin like Klaus Florian Vogt, the young tenor fromHamburg, for many years...his voice is pure, clean,whiter than snow. Not of this world. Ideal for this role." (Frankfurter Algemeine)
Wagner: Lohengrin (Bayreuth Festival)
Georg Zeppenfeld (König Heinrich); Klaus Florian Vogt (Lohengrin); Annette Dasch (Elsa ); Jukka Rasilainen (Telramund); Petra Lang (Ortrud); Samuel Youn (Der Heerrufer des Königs);
"KFV has been singing the role of Lohengrin for 10 years, but he never before sang it so painfully truthful, so beautiful and pleadingly, powerfully and inspired. Vogt is the miracle of this production." (www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de)