Deryck Cooke, Georg Solti; Vienna Philharmonic
Release Date: 23 August 2024
Label: Australian Eloquence
Packaging Type: Brilliant Case (Jewel Case size, Holds 2 CDs)
No of Units: 2
Barcode: 0028948469185
Description
Long out of print, Deryck Cooke's invaluable 'Introduction to Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen' reappears on CD, with its original LP couplings of Siegfried Idyll and Kinderkatechismus.
Almost as soon as it reached completion with the release of Die Walkure in 1966, the Decca Ring cycle conducted by Sir Georg Solti was recognised as the greatest achievement in the history of recorded sound. Three years later, the cycle was issued complete for the first time, and it came with a significant appendix: a three-LP introduction to the music-drama, written and narrated by Deryck Cooke.
An English writer on music, Cooke had come to international attention through his completion of Mahler's sketches for the Tenth Symphony. He was a friend of the Decca Ring's producer, John Culshaw, who invited him to make this introduction. No academic, but a broadcaster on the BBC's Third Programme and a pioneer in what might be called popular musicology, Cooke presumed no prior knowledge on the part of his listeners, only a willingness to immerse themselves in the world of the Ring and in its universal themes of love, power, self-knowledge and tragedy.
Solti and the Vienna Philharmonic recorded many excerpts especially for this introduction - played slower or extended or without voices, to aid comprehension. (Some of these excerpts may have been recorded during rehearsals for various orchestral sections.) Countless listeners have since had their understanding of the Ring immeasurably enhanced by engaging with Cooke's introduction.
In complement to Decca's recent remastering of the original recording, Eloquence now reissues Cooke's introduction on CD, presented just as it was in the original box. Unlike previous digital-era issues, this set also includes the recordings of the Siegfried Idyll, led by the Vienna Philharmonic violinist Walter Weller, and the charming Katechismus which Wagner composed as another birthday present for his wife Cosima.
Tracklisting
London Sinfonietta; David Atherton
Antal Dorati; Philharmonia Hungarica
Joshua Bell
Irmgard Seefried
Concertgebouworkest / Colin Davis
Michael Tilson Thomas
Bayerischer Staatsopernchor & Orch, Keilberth
Andor Foldes; Ferdinand Leitner
Martyn Brabbins, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers
Filippo Mineccia, Vivica Genaux, Roberta Mameli, Il Groviglio, Marco Angioloni
Francesco Ledda, Opera Discovery Orchestra, Stefanna Kybalova, Valer Borin, Marcello Lippi, Paolo B
Horst Wolf
Sophie Gordeladze, Hector Sandoval, Luca Grassi, Martin Piskorski, Rory Dunne, Cappella Aquileia, T
Tina Gorina; Vivica Genaux; Giulio Pelligra; German Olvera; Riccardo Novaro; Ugo Guagliardo; Pawel
Marta Torbidoni; David Astorga; German Olvera; Aleksey Bogdanov; Matheus Pompeu; Paulina Boreczko;
Anita Cerquetti
