RICHARD WAGNER (1813-1883)

 

Prelude (Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg)

Dich, teure Halle (Tannhauser)

Prelude and Liebestod (Tristan und Isolde)

Siegfried's Journey to the Rhine, Siegfried's Funeral March, Brunnhilde's Immolation Scene (Gotterdammerung) 

 

Birgit Nilsson (soprano)

Sydney Symphony Orchestra / Sir Charles Mackerras

 

One of the most famous nights in Australian music occurred in September 1973 when Sir Charles Mackerras conducted the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in the first public concert to be staged in the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House. In front of a packed, emotion-charged house, the great Australian conductor made a triumphant homecoming in an all-Wagner concert that sent the critics searching for superlatives.

 

Now for the first time, ABC Classics is releasing the entire concert on CD. Featuring the greatest Wagnerian soprano of the twentieth century, Birgit Nilsson, as soloist, the concert provided an electrifying opening for the iconic building. Thirty-five years on, the excitement remains palpable and Mackerras' ability to bring the best out of the Orchestra of which he himself had once been a member remains awe-inspiring.

 

Included in this Australian Masters package is a bonus DVD (Format PAL All Regions) featuring television footage of the concert's second half. A priceless memento of a great day in Australian music, it captures two master-artists at the height of their creative powers with an orchestra playing at its peak.

 

“…when she comes to the final scene of Götterdämmerung she gives everything, and anyone who heard her in the flesh knows what an immense amount that was… Meanwhile Mackerras has shown himself an expert Wagner conductor, with an exhilarating Rhine journey and a lacerating, noble and in the end triumphant Funeral Music. Sound is excellent, both on the CD and the black-and-white DVD.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2009

 

Australian Masters

ABC CD & DVD ABC4766440