WAGNER; RICHARD

Furtwangler Tristan EMI C

Robert Levine

This nearly-50-year-old performance still retains its status as a “classic”, and the digital remastering that would appear to be the raison d’etre for its current

Beecham BBC Proms C

David Hurwitz

The best thing about this September 16, 1954 concert is Thomas Beecham’s hilarious speech preceding the lovely encore performance of Massenet’s Last Sleep of the

Wagner Gotterdammerung Goodall/Chandos

Jed Distler

And you thought Hans Knappertsbusch was a slowpoke. Clocking in at a record five hours (on five CDs, no less, for an opera that usually

Melchior FLagstad duets/Naxos C

Jed Distler

Ward Marston makes the complete studio recorded Flagstad/Melchior Wagner duets more listenable than ever, although not much could be done to mask the compressed dynamics

Bruckner 4 etc Walter/Urania C

Jed Distler

I can’t tell if Urania’s edition of the Bruno Walter/NBC Symphony Bruckner Fourth broadcast stems from the same lacquer discs used for Seth Winner’s superb

Mehta Bruckner 9 Eloquence C

David Hurwitz

Zubin Mehta’s Bruckner Ninth surely deserves careful remastering and reissue on Decca’s “Legends” series, but until that unlikely event we must be grateful to Australian

Mehta Bruckner 4 Eloquence C

David Hurwitz

The most interesting thing about this Bruckner 4 is the way in which Zubin Mehta has succeeded in imposing a Viennese sound on his Los

Kna-Kna Bruckner

Victor Carr Jr

In some circles Hans Knappertsbusch has the reputation of a great Brucknerian, but you certainly couldn’t prove it by this dreadful performance of the Symphony

Wagner – Die Walküre Böhm C

ClassicsToday

One of the oldest of Wagner wisecracks has George Bernard Shaw looking down at his watch after an hour to find that only 15 minutes

Mehta Mahler 4 Eloquence C

David Hurwitz

Mehta’s Mahler Fourth, freed from its horrible, low-level LP transfer (it was, if I’m not mistaken, Decca/London’s first-ever digital release) comes across as what my