[Ulfilas]

You can always supplement Siegfried with the first Janowski recording with Kollo and Schreier, that's the best Siegfried in stereo by a long way!

 

[SixFootScowl]

You can always supplement Siegfried with the first Janowski recording with Kollo and Schreier, that's the best Siegfried in stereo by a long way!

That could be a tedious operation if one is to pull apart tracks and try to replace sections with the other singer. Franz may be just fine, and here is a review off Amazon suggesting just that:

Almost no other Siegfried, in my opinion, has had so beautiful, high pianissimos as Christian Franz. One can easily believe that he's young and naive when he sings so sensitively instead of straining - which all Siegfrieds must resort to at times.

 

[wkasimer]

Franz is obviously controversial, and tends to be inaccurate, however he has the right type of voice in my opinion, and is at least vivid and energetic (he doesn't sing in his throat like Siegfried Jerusalem with Barenboim, which I find distressing to hear!)

Jerusalem sings the part. Franz yells in the general vicinity of pitches.

 

[wkasimer]

That could be a tedious operation if one is to pull apart tracks and try to replace sections with the other singer. Franz may be just fine, and here is a review off Amazon suggesting just that:

I'll let you make up your own mind, but I find the quoted Amazon review absolutely risible.

 

[annaw]

You can always supplement Siegfried with the first Janowski recording with Kollo and Schreier, that's the best Siegfried in stereo by a long way!

Very arguable, for me Windgassen is the best Siegfried and he also sings for example in Böhm's 1967 and Solti's famous stereo recordings.

 

[howlingfantods]

Well, you may not mind him so much if you're tone deaf. It certainly sounds like Franz is.

He's comically terrible. I heard this for the first time shortly after watching Jay Hunter Morris in the 2013 Met Ring and thinking we'd hit the nadir, and then discovered these much lower depths.

 

[annaw]

I'll let you make up your own mind, but I find the quoted Amazon review absolutely risible.

I certainly don't want to be disrespectful towards any singer but I agree, the review is ... somehwat exaggerated.

 

[wkasimer]

Here's what James Miller writes in Fanfare about Franz's Siegfried:

"Enter Siegfried, and here’s where this performance’s problems start. Christian Franz simply doesn’t have the kind of heroic voice that the role calls for. To be sure, when he’s singing quietly, he can get across the character’s feelings of wonder at the beauties of the forest or his fear of the beauty lying there on the rock. But even then, he has pitch problems that increase as the opera goes on. When he simply has to turn up the volume, which is most of the time, he eventually has to resort to shouting and his voice takes on an unpleasant bleat that suggests that perhaps he actually could be Mime’s son! To give him his due, he actually does manage to execute (in the technical sense) the forging scene quite decently, but after that it’s downhill most of the way. By the time he encounters Brünnhilde he’s pooped, and the third scene of act III is a struggle."

 

[wkasimer]

Very arguable, for me Windgassen is the best Siegfried and he also sings for example in Böhm's 1967 and Solti's famous stereo recordings.

The Eurodisc Siegfried is, I think, the best thing that Kollo ever recorded. Windgassen is a singer I admire, but can't really love in Wagner.

The best Siegfried on records was Melchior - I don't think that it's even debatable - but for a Siegfried in decent sound, the best I've heard are Jean Cox (Rome 1968 with Sawallisch) and Alberto Remedios (with Goodall in English).

 

[howlingfantods]

I like Windgassen the most of Rings in good sound too. His voice isn't the best but I find him to be the most moving, especially in act 3 of Gotterdammerung.

I haven't heard the Cox, and I can't make it through the Goodall--the English is a problem for me, everything just sounds wrong, and the Goodall tempi is a real drawback for me. I think after Windgassen, my second favorite Siegfried in good sound would probably be Jerusalem.

 

[wkasimer]

I haven't heard the Cox,

I think that the Rome Ring was an Opera Depot free download a couple of weeks ago.

 

[Itullian]

^^^^^Isn't Jean Cox the tenor that was ripped in the Varviso Meistersinger?

 

[annaw]

The Eurodisc Siegfried is, I think, the best thing that Kollo ever recorded. Windgassen is a singer I admire, but can't really love in Wagner.

The best Siegfried on records was Melchior - I don't think that it's even debatable - but for a Siegfried in decent sound, the best I've heard are Jean Cox (Rome 1968 with Sawallisch) and Alberto Remedios (with Goodall in English).

I like Windgassen the most of Rings in good sound too. His voice isn't the best but I find him to be the most moving, especially in act 3 of Gotterdammerung.

I haven't heard the Cox, and I can't make it through the Goodall--the English is a problem for me, everything just sounds wrong, and the Goodall tempi is a real drawback for me. I think after Windgassen, my second favorite Siegfried in good sound would probably be Jerusalem.

I think the dramatical skill and the ability to convey emotion is something that I really appreciate about Windgassen and quite interestingly I actually like his voice, although it's not vocally the most beautiful one. I'm sure that both of you have listened to a lot more recordings, so my comment was, in a way, very biased thanks to very little experience.

When it comes to Gooddall, I have the same problem as howlingfantods. One of the things I like about Wagner is his masterful use of German.

 

[annaw]

I think that the Rome Ring was an Opera Depot free download a couple of weeks ago.

Yeah, it's the one!

 

[wkasimer]

^^^^^Isn't Jean Cox the tenor that was ripped in the Varviso Meistersinger?

Yes - it's a tough role, very different from Siegfried. Melchior refused to sing it. Cox's Siegfried is much better.

 

[Itullian]

Yes - it's a tough role, very different from Siegfried. Melchior refused to sing it. Cox's Siegfried is much better.

Wow, I never would think that Walther is harder than Siegfried. Or even Tristan.

 

[howlingfantods]

Wow, I never would think that Walther is harder than Siegfried. Or even Tristan.

Higher tessitura. The baritonal, traditional heldentenor types are often terrible in the role.

I think that the Rome Ring was an Opera Depot free download a couple of weeks ago.

oh yes! I downloaded that, I still haven't even unzipped the files yet though. Ok, i'll put it on the listen stack for the weekend and report back.

 

[wkasimer]

Higher tessitura. The baritonal, traditional heldentenor types are often terrible in the role.

Exactly. Hopf and Suthaus are prime examples.

 

[SixFootScowl]

I think that the Rome Ring was an Opera Depot free download a couple of weeks ago.

You talking about this one:

 

[wkasimer]

You talking about this one:

Yes. Really an excellent performance.