Who could resist a 1913 recording of the orchestral suite from Parsifal played by the Berlin Philharmonic and conducted by Alfred Hertz? Certainly not any rabid Wagner fan: Hertz was the conductor who broke the ban on Parsifal by performing it at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York in 1904, the first time the work had ever been performed outside of Bayreuth. And his way with the score is beguiling: the soft contours of the themes, the ambiguity of the harmonies, the quivering expectancy of the tone; all of these things ...
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Who could resist a 1913 recording of the orchestral suite from Parsifal played by the Berlin Philharmonic and conducted by Alfred Hertz? Certainly not any rabid Wagner fan: Hertz was the conductor who broke the ban on Parsifal by performing it at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York in 1904, the first time the work had ever been performed outside of Bayreuth. And his way with the score is beguiling: the soft contours of the themes, the ambiguity of the harmonies, the quivering expectancy of the tone; all of these things are essential to the music of Parsifal and Hertz realizes them with rapturous precision in this performance. And any fan of historic recordings couldn't resist: this Berlin Philharmonic recording preceded its famous recording of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 by two months, the first compete recording of any symphonic work. As a historical document of the early days of recording, this Parsifal is of overwhelming significance. And no fan of historical performance practice could resist...
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Add this copy of Wagner: the Complete Karl Muck Parsifal Recordings, to cart. $6.86, good condition, Sold by Solr Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Skokie, IL, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Naxos.
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