Wagner: The Rhinegold (in English). (Historical).(Review)

[] Pring, Collins; Belcourt, Bailey, Hammond-Stroud, Lloyd, Grant; English National Opera, Goodall. Chandos CHAN 3054 (3)

While the live recordings of the ENO/Reginald Goodall Valkyrie and Siegfried (already reissued on Chandos and reviewed previously) can be considered fully competitive with original-language versions, the claim can't be made so confidently with these remaining segments of the same forces' Ring of the Nibelung -- least of all, perhaps, with The Rhinegold, recorded in 1975. Goodall's leadership remains as devoted to lyricism and balance as ever. While not one to barge through heedlessly, he does succumb to the opposite danger, looking out for each phrase so lovingly that lines break apart into individual measures and phrases, even notes; passages such as those evoking water and fire lose their point and sound like slow-paced rehearsals. Further, the relatively simple textures of this earliest score of the Ring expose the limitations of this orchestra more obviously.

Despite the help that Goodall's extended coaching reportedly provided in focusing his casts toward an unpressurized, lyrical delivery of Wagner, in this performance his extended time-scale does no favors to some modestly formatted voices, including two of the three principal roles. The lively energy of Derek Hammond-Stroud's Alberich cannot quite hide his lack of sustained tonal quality for his biggest moments. And Emile Belcourt's aural presence, close to that of a musical-comedy baritenor experienced at finessing the hard bits (and clearly a skillful actor), is lightweight even within the charactertenor tradition for Loge.

Things look up when we get to Wotan: Norman Bailey embodies his role with great authority and eloquence, painting an unusually detailed character without musical sacrifice. Vocal strength is also contributed by Clifford Grant and Robert Lloyd, a welcome pair of giants for any production, and Anne Collins, an arrestingly sonorous Erda.

If Bailey stands out especially in Rhinegold and Valkyrie, and Rita Hunter in the latter and Siegfried, in Twilight of the Gods (recorded last, in 1977) the special star of the occasion is Alberto Remedios as Siegfried, or so it seems on this rehearing. As in all three of his appearances in the cycle ...