Solti's Ring
Parsifal conducted by Herbert Kegel on Brilliant Classics is a fine recording for a bargain price.

 

Wagner's delicate, poignant birthday gift to his wife performed here in the original staircase scoring for two violins, one viola, one cello, one double bass, one flute, one oboe, two clarinets, two horns, one trumpet, and one bassoon:

 

Highlight discs.
Preludes and overture discs.
The Ring without words discs.

Fliegender Hollander, Sinopoli or Klemperer
Lohengrin, Kempe, EMI/Warner is where I started.

 

My opinion: first, get several of the many available recordings of the "bleeding chunks" - the orchestral excerpts from the operas. Szell, Boult, Stokowski -- many others. Get a few.

Then there are some fun orchestral recordings of the operas without words. Lorin Maazel's The Ring without Words is really good. He also made one of Tannhauser. If you find you like these, then try to locate three RCA cds that Edo de Waart made of Parsifal, Tristan und Isolde, and again the Ring.

If you're hooked on the sound, the luscious harmony, the brilliant orchestral writing then you have to take up the operas. Opera was meant to be seen and I really encourage newbies to get DVDs of the operas - you can turn on the subtitles and it will make a lot more sense. Boy, I wish that was an option when I was learning the opera repertoire. Every Wagner opera is available on DVD/Blu Ray. Read the reviews and look for a close to traditional performance. I am not a snob when it comes to singers. Yes, many of the past were great, and some of the newer aren't as good - but they're good enough for me.

If DVD is not to your liking then you have to do this: get Newman's book The Wagner Operas as a companion to explain and enlighten what you're going to listen to. Then get a good set, like the Warner. Still not exactly cheap, but heck, it's 36 disks. I really enjoy the Philips collection from Bayreuth. DG made a set of complete Wagner operas several years ago that has the three early operas.

However you do it, you might find yourself hopelessly addicted. Then you'll have to go see The Ring live, go to Bayreuth and do all the other Wagner-ite stuff. I love it, but it's so hard to find 5 open hours sometime to listen to Meistersinger or Tristan.

Enjoy!

 

My opinion: first, get several of the many available recordings of the "bleeding chunks" - the orchestral excerpts from the operas. Szell, Boult, Stokowski -- many others. Get a few.

Then there are some fun orchestral recordings of the operas without words. Lorin Maazel's The Ring without Words is really good. He also made one of Tannhauser. If you find you like these, then try to locate three RCA cds that Edo de Waart made of Parsifal, Tristan und Isolde, and again the Ring.

If you're hooked on the sound, the luscious harmony, the brilliant orchestral writing then you have to take up the operas. Opera was meant to be seen and I really encourage newbies to get DVDs of the operas - you can turn on the subtitles and it will make a lot more sense. Boy, I wish that was an option when I was learning the opera repertoire. Every Wagner opera is available on DVD/Blu Ray. Read the reviews and look for a close to traditional performance. I am not a snob when it comes to singers. Yes, many of the past were great, and some of the newer aren't as good - but they're good enough for me.

If DVD is not to your liking then you have to do this: get Newman's book The Wagner Operas as a companion to explain and enlighten what you're going to listen to. Then get a good set, like the Warner. Still not exactly cheap, but heck, it's 36 disks. I really enjoy the Philips collection from Bayreuth. DG made a set of complete Wagner operas several years ago that has the three early operas.

However you do it, you might find yourself hopelessly addicted. Then you'll have to go see The Ring live, go to Bayreuth and do all the other Wagner-ite stuff. I love it, but it's so hard to find 5 open hours sometime to listen to Meistersinger or Tristan.

Enjoy!
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I do like DVD's in opera and I have several. I will probably get a couple but I also want to listen without the visual element.

 

Thanks to everyone. I will read everyone's posts carefully. I usually spend a lot of time doing these kind of things especially as someone as major as Wagner. You should be see me posting in the listening thread in the not-too-distant future.

 

I think that it depends on your background. If you're coming to Wagner from a mostly non-vocal background, some "bleeding hunks" recordings would be a good start. But if you're coming at him from other operatic repertoire, I'd go with a complete recording of one of the operas. The Karajan Rheingold worked for me.

 

Good luck! Wagner is still something of a big enigmatic monolith to me. His music is fascinating, but seemingly impenetrable. So far, the only thing I have really enjoyed is George Szell's Wagner Without Words CD with the Cleveland Orchestra, recommended earlier in this thread. It's a phenomenal performance of orchestral bits from several of his "mature/Bayreuth" operas, mostly the Ring.

I would like to get into Wagner, but when everyone's first suggestion for where to begin is Solti's huge, 18-disc box set of the complete Ring Cycle, I will typically balk and move on to something else–typically, I'll go back to Berg or Webern when I can get through their entire works in a few hours :lol: But one day I'll probably get into it.

I recently bought Böhm's Tristan und Isolde at Bayreuth (on DG), and I've been listening here and there. It's a beautiful performance, but I know nothing of the plot. That one may be worth checking out, though from what I understand it's not exactly his most accessible opera.

 

I would like to get into Wagner, but when everyone's first suggestion for where to begin is Solti's huge, 18-disc box set of the complete Ring Cycle, I will typically balk and move on to something else-typically, I'll go back to Berg or Webern when I can get through their entire works in a few hours :lol: But one day I'll probably get into it.

Unless you decide you really don't like Wagner or opera, I can't imagine anyone will regret buying the Solti box for 30 dollars. It's such a great set of music beautifully recorded. The first opera Das Rheingold is just two discs. Enjoy that one until you've absorbed it and then move onto the next one. The music is on 14 discs, and it comes with the libretto on a CD-Rom, and two discs of narration by Deryck Cooke.

 

After a dozen years I'm finally thinking about "tackling" Wagner. The reason I phrase it that way is that I know it's going to take some time to go through his repertoire and truly appreciate it.

Are there any recordings/pieces that would be a good place to get my feet wet with Wagner?

I'll second the Solti Ring for a newbie. Some great singing, and spectacular sonics.

Parsifal deters some and captivates others. If you're ready to leave the world behind and go into an altered state for 4 1/4 hours, go for the masterly 1962 Knappertsbusch from Bayreuth - a true classic, live from Wagner's own theater, in fine sound (moderately priced) - or, for state of the art studio sonics, the Kubelik (expensive).

 

Tristan is essential listening, at least eventually. There's much disagreement about recordings, but the strongly dramatic Bohm bayreuth performance from 1966 is as good an introduction as any. The classic Furtwangler will always be there waiting for you.

Some may do best beginning with the early operas, The Flying Dutchman, Tannhauser and Lohengrin, which are more conventionally melodious, though less deep and disturbing.

 

If you want to have a go at the Ring, start with Rheingold, the shortest of the 4 and the one which I think is the easiest to grasp. While the Solti Rheingold was my entree to the full Ring with its great sound (& sound effects) and some exceptional singing, it isn't any longer.

 

Start at Parsifal and work your way backwards.

 

Ooh, you are awful, but I like you!

 

I got my start with Wagner by the more conventional opera, Der fliegende Holländer. Then went to to Meistersinger and Lohengrin. I have spent a fair amount of time with nine of the big ten and like them all a lot. Just haven't really gotten into Tannhauser yet. The Ring is awesome, but I have a compulsion to listen to the whole ring so find it hard to do only a single opera of the Ring by itself. So one of the Ring's greatest features becomes, for me, it's main drawback--its great length. No matter, I have 4 or 5 Rings on DVD all but one in the not-yet-watched pile. One of these days I'll give it a go.

 

Although the Ring or Tristan were often blasting through our house (so I was unavoidably acquainted with them), I started (as a teenager) with Die Meistersinger. Mature Wagner but a more conventional opera story.

 

^^^^I recommend an act at a time.
Better to absorb everything going on.

 

I would like to echo the suggestions made by several others that the best way to proceed for a newcomer is by way of "highlight" discs. I first tried it the "hard" way by listening through the entire operas, but got fed up very quickly.

I recently revamped my entire Wagner "highlights" material, and have acquired what I consider to be a decent collection in terms of length and quality. In total it amounts to some 10 hrs 40 mins playing time:

1. Rienzi: Overture plus 'Allmacht'ger Vater', (Rienzi's Prayer) (from Act 5) - Sawallisch/Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper, Bayerisches Staatsorchester
2. Der Fliegende Holländer (highlights) - Levine/Metropolitan Opera
3. Tannhäuser (highlights) - Sinopoli/ Royal Opera House Covent Garden
4. Lohengrin - Abbado/Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
*5. Tristan und Isolde - Pappano/Royal Opera House Covent Garden
6. Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (highlights) - Jochum/Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin
7-10. The Ring (separate highlight CDs for each of the 4 operas) - Janowski/Staatskapelle Dresden
11. Parsifal - Barenboim/Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

What I like especially is that these versions are well recorded with little if any background noise of any sort.

* In the case of Tristan, I think what I did was to select tracks 1, 5, 9, 10, 12, 19, 27, 33 from the whole CD set as I couldn't find a suitable highlights disc that matched the quality of the Pappano recording.

 

I'd recommend The Ring on DVD (Boulez is my favorite, but you might sample the competition on Youtube before buying)...it'll help you get the story in your head before turning to recordings, and by viewing the whole "epic" cycle you won't miss out on the amazing immersive quality of Wagner's music.

 

The time and commitment one needs to give in order to come to enjoy Wagner's immense ouvere scares many people off I imagine. I would simply say: do not be intimidated by Wagner. Before even starting the undertaking you should know that its going to take an investment on your part. But luckily Wagner is an artist who will repay your investement tenfold.

Sure, you can start by listening to the overtures and orchestral excerpts, and they contain very appealing music that is easy to like. But you aren't really engaging with Wagner's art or realzing its full potential anymore than you would be with Beethoven's if you simply listened to a 10 minute "highlight" disc of his 9th symphony. The key to approaching Wagner is to realize that he is a man of the theater, and his imagination thrived on being able to translate powerful visuals and the essence of a dramatic situation into music. This was his greatest genius, so unless you are totally opposed to engaging with drama by way of music, or get very little out of musical theater, there's no reason why you shouldn't jump right in and experience the operas in their entirety.

 

After a dozen years I'm finally thinking about "tackling" Wagner. The reason I phrase it that way is that I know it's going to take some time to go through his repertoire and truly appreciate it.

Are there any recordings/pieces that would be a good place to get my feet wet with Wagner?

Don't start by just buying a Ring and working your way through, because the first opera in the Ring isn't so special, it could put you off exploring the rest! Siegfried could be a great place to start, because it's an opera in two halves. Acts 1 and 2 have excellent music in the "middle" Wagner style, and in Act 3 Wagner starts to write in his last, greatest, most cosmic style and it's very special, it's what makes Wagner a great great composer. Also Siegfried is very entertaining, and funny even, it's like an operatic fairy tale.

Siegfried, that's the best place to start.

 

Well, hold on. A newcomer to the Ring should understand that the cycle is one continuous narrative, and that there are very good reasons for starting at the beginnig with Das Rheingold. The resonance of Wagner's musical score throughout the four operas builds as he is able to transform musical motifs from the beginning of the cycle all the way through the end. As he recalls key moments musically, we as the audience recall those moments dramatically, and in this way he is able to trancend time and make the past present in our minds.

Everyone has their favorite opera from the Ring -- mine is the finale, Gotterdammerung -- but Rheingold is extraordinary in its own right. From the very opening that is a potent realization in sound of emergence and becoming as a process, the opera surges with a special vitality and harnessed energy.

 

But the whole story so far is recapped in Siegfried!

I agree with you that the overture of Rheingold is nice, shame about the rest.

 

But the whole story so far is recapped in Siegfried!

That's a crude overstatement. When The Wanderer and Mime engage in their wisdom contest they recap some basic plot points, but the scene serves a purpose that is removed from "summarizing" the story for the audience. In other words the dialogue is not meant to get the audience caught up with the action, and leaves out so much of what has transpired in the two previous operas that a person would have no real idea about any of the implications of the drama contained in Siegfried and what he represents in the cycle moving forward.

I agree with you that the overture of Rheingold is nice, shame about the rest.

There's nothing shameful about the rest of the opera. I've talked to many who claim it is their favorite, and it does have a quicksilver quality and ironic bite about it that is absolutely unique among Wagner's operas.

 

Might be a stupid question but how can non-german speakers best enjoy wagner ?

Do you have some kind of double subtitles, one in german and one in english ?
I mean, the libretto ought to be important, as Wagner himself wrote it.

 

Recordings generally come with side-by-side German/English librettos, you can find these online as well, and some videos have subtitles.

 

I love Siegfried. It's the Ring opera I listen to the most.
The music is magnificent.

 

Richard Wagner ✠ PARSIFAL ✠

 

Syberberg's film is interesting to watch but is an eccentric takeoff on Parsifal. It is NOT the place to start with this opera. Save it for when you know the work well.

 

I hope that the OP is able to make sense of all the advice that has been offered so far in this thread on how best to proceed with becoming familiar with Wagner's music. I trust he/she will take note of the general view that highlight CDs are the best way to proceed.

In my case, when researching a new composer, I usually go to a classical music web site like Arkiv or Presto where they list all of the works of each composer in a rough order of popularity. I next decide which works to acquire based on the kind of music I am looking for, whether solo instrument, chamber, orchestral, choral etc. Finally, I select a recording based on recommendations given by the likes of Gramophone, Penguin, and the BBC. Over quite a few years, I have found this process to be both reliable and very simple.

I suspect that the OP, who is evidently no novice having been into classical music for 12 years, knows this kind of procedure already but just fancied creating a thread on the topic of Wagner. That, of course, is fine because it gives other members who have less experience and knowledge on the composer in question the opportunity to pick up a few tips. Further, it is always nice to hear other people’s opinions on good recordings etc, as there is monopoly of good advice on things like this. The problem is that such discussions can, after a while, sometimes become rather argumentative and sterile, with very little further useful information to be gained.

 

I hope that the OP is able to make sense of all the advice that has been offered so far in this thread on how best to proceed with becoming familiar with Wagner's music. I trust he/she will take note of the general view that highlight CDs are the best way to proceed.

I'm not sure if there is a general consensus, on this thread or otherwise. Highlight CDs aren't necessarily the best way to start with Wagner any more than they are with other composers, especially if the person enjoys opera. It all comes down to the individual: what they are looking to get out of the experience and the kind of music and art forms they are predisposed to. Personally, the prospect of bleeding chunks held very little appeal for me. I started with The Flying Dutchman and worked my way through the operas chronologically. I was hooked and never looked back.

 

I agree completely. Don't fiddle-faddle with this leviathan! Although the first Wagner I heard in my teen years was a variety of overtures, interludes, etc., and though I was enchanted and continued to enjoy them, I was fascinated by the mythological content of his stories and dove into the complete operas very quickly. Nothing in my life since has been more spellbinding than that early immersion in Wagner's vast, magical worlds, and the longer I know them the more they reveal to me. Get an early start.

 

With CDs so cheap I'd recommend a Ring highlights. One example for less than a quid second hand:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wagner-Rin...1_9?keywords=wagner+gotterdammerung+solti&qid=1558984008&s=gateway&sr=8-9-spell

There are stacks of other highlights but this is one of the best. Gives you a feel for what RW is all about. Don't for goodness sake go for complete operas as it is like a non-swimmer jumping in at the deep end.

 

With CDs so cheap I'd recommend a Ring highlights. One example for less than a quid second hand:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wagner-Rin...1_9?keywords=wagner+gotterdammerung+solti&qid=1558984008&s=gateway&sr=8-9-spell

There are stacks of other highlights but this is one of the best. Gives you a feel for what RW is all about. Don't for goodness sake go for complete operas as it is like a non-swimmer jumping in at the deep end.

That's exactly what I and several others have said, so I agree entirely.

 

Not all "bleeding chunks" are the same, or even instrumental, so cherry-picking them can be fruitful ha...

you can't judge a CD by the cover...