Word: windgassen
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Since the death of Wolfgang Windgassen in 1974, Wagnerites have bewailed the dearth of stalwart voices to tackle parts like Lohengrin, Tristan and Siegfried. Although he has said that he would some day like to sing Parsifal and perhaps Tristan, Domingo's natural territory is the lyric roles of Italian and French opera. It is too much to expect him to become a true Heldentenor: he lacks the sheer force to surge over Wagner's complex orchestral writing, his German diction is heavily Latinized, and his phrasing belongs to the Mediterranean, not the Teutonic, school...
...singers and frees them to pour their strength into vocal characterization. In the seven years since her first recording of the role, Birgit Nilsson has deepened her Isolde; her vocal performance, from the brilliant high C's to the oboelike low A's, is matchless. Wolfgang Windgassen excels as Tristan, particularly in the third act when his ravings take on a pathetic humanity. For those who care only about Isolde, Kirsten Flagstad's burnished, womanly performance (London) is still best; for Wagner's total creation, Bohm and Bayreuth are supreme...
...Grandpa's gods and goddesses journey toward their Gotterdümmerung through abstract-mobile backgrounds created by light projections with only the minimum of necessary realism: an oppressive Mycenaean Valhalla and a Gibichungen hall studded with hundreds of bleached animal skulls. A cast headed by Birgit Nilsson, Wolfgang Windgassen, Theo Adam, James King, Anja Silja, Lili Chookasian and Leonie Rysanek responded to Wieland's direction with magnificent singing. Under the baton of Conductor Karl Boehm, the orchestra became accompaniment and comment, echo and counterpoint of each gesture onstage...
Wagner: Siegfried (London). Georg Solti conducts the Vienna Philharmonic and a near-perfect cast (Birgit Nilsson, Wolfgang Windgassen and Joan Sutherland) in the first complete and uncut version of Wagner's magical vision of Teutonic lore...
Wagnerians received their first big jolt at the end of Act I, when Isolde (Soprano Birgit Nilsson) and Tristan (Tenor Wolfgang Windgassen) embraced in full view of King Marke, who usually does not appear -or suspect the illicit love-until the end of Act II. The second act, like all the others, was provided with looming, symbolical sets, dominated by a huge shaft ("Of course, I meant it as a phallic symbol," snapped Wieland. "This is what the entire opera is all about, isn't it?"). The enthusiastic opening night crowd gave the reconstructed Tristan an unprecedented 30 curtain...