Wagner: Preludes and Overtures (CD Review)

by Karl Nehring 

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: Act I – Prelude; Rienzi: Overture; Lohengrin: Act I – Prelude; Lohengrin: Act III: - Prelude; Parsifal: Act III – Karffreitagszauber (“Good Friday Music”); Die Walküre: Act III – Ritt der Walküren (“Ride of the Valkeries”). St. Louis Symphony Orchestra; Jerzy Semkow, conductor. VOX-NX-3044CD

 

It’s always gratifying to see more recordings from the Vox vaults being given new life thanks to the good folks at NAXOS, who have begun digging out some of the old analog master tapes that had been recorded by Elite Recordings back in the 1970s and preparing new digital masters using state-of-the-art 192 kHz/24-bit technology. As the note on the back cover proclaims, “The Elite Recordings for Vox by legendary producers Marc Aubort and Joanna Nickrenz are considered by audiophiles to be amongst the finest sounding examples of orchestra recordings.” We have reviewed several of the previous Vox “Audiophile Edition” releases (e.g., Mozart piano concertos and a Rachmaninov symphony here and Rachmaninov piano concertos here). Those recordings featured the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Leonard Slatkin, who was the SLSO’s music director from 1979 to 1996.

 

Jerzy Semkow

This Wagner album finds the orchestra conducted by Slatkin’s immediate predecessor, the Polish-born Jerzy Semkow (1928-2014), who served as SLSO music director from 1975 to 1979. The notes do not specify the recording dates, mentioning only that the original LP was released in 1978. To be honest, there are so many Wagner orchestral “Overtures & Preludes” albums to choose from on the market that this new Vox release faces some stiff competition. Its virtues include the excellent Elite Recordings sound that NAXOS has so carefully transferred from the original analog master tapes to contemporary digital format plus the straightforward, no-nonsense approach Semkow brings to Wagner’s music. These scores are colorful and expressive enough without a conductor having to add his own fits of frenzy. The liner notes by the late music critic Richard Freed (1928-2022) are a model of content and clarity, making this release especially recommendable to those just beginning their acquaintance with the music of Richard Wagner.