Die Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods), opera, WWV 86d
Imagine poor Astrid Varnay's confusion. As Brünnhilde in the 1952 Bayreuth Ring cycle from which this performance is taken, she ended the opera Siegfried in bed with Bernd Aldenhoff and woke up at the start of Götterdämmerung with Max Lorenz. But imagine also her relief; the former was a blustering blowhard of a Siegfried, the latter a heroic he-man, who immensely enhances the success of this performance. Lorenz's strong, confident voice and palpable stage presence so energizes Varnay in the Act I love duet that the ...
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Imagine poor Astrid Varnay's confusion. As Brünnhilde in the 1952 Bayreuth Ring cycle from which this performance is taken, she ended the opera Siegfried in bed with Bernd Aldenhoff and woke up at the start of Götterdämmerung with Max Lorenz. But imagine also her relief; the former was a blustering blowhard of a Siegfried, the latter a heroic he-man, who immensely enhances the success of this performance. Lorenz's strong, confident voice and palpable stage presence so energizes Varnay in the Act I love duet that the listener is likely to be completely swept away by their passion. All but one of the singers here are excellent. Josef Greindl is frighteningly effective as Hagan, and Gustav Neidlinger as Alberich sounds like the aural embodiment of evil. Martha Mödl is wonderfully sympathetic as Gutrune, and Hermann Uhde, while not as impressive as the rest of the cast, is still quite good as her weak-willed brother, Gunther. If all one needed for a great Götterdämmerung was a great cast, this would be a...
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