Despite the Royal Albert Hall’s dodgy acoustics, I’ll bet the storied venue’s walls reverberated like hell when Klaus Tennstedt led the London Philharmonic in this all-Wagner BBC Proms concert on August 20, 1992. The orchestra never plays less than full-out in response to the intensity and dynamism Tennstedt elicits from the podium. The conductor seamlessly unifies the Rienzi Overture’s numerous tempo changes and allows plenty of time for the LPO’s gold-plated sonority to congeal. Dawn unfolds leisurely into an equally unhurried Rhine Journey where Tennstedt encourages his musicians to shape Wagner’s inner lines with chamber-like interplay. He also makes a convincing case for ever-so-slightly broadening the last three notes of the Funeral March’s triplet figure (the one Toscanini slaved over to ensure absolute accuracy).
My one reservation concerns the sonic congestion in loud tuttis, and how the overly prominent brass tend to drown out important string material, as in the Meistersinger and Tannhäuser Overtures’ climaxes, or the Ride of the Valkyries’ cascading scales. While more beautiful (Karajan/Berlin), sensual (Stokowski/Symphony of the Air), and polished (Szell/Cleveland) Wagner discs stand as references, Tennstedt fans surely will want to hear these persuasive performances.
