Essential Wagner / Various Essential Wagner / Various CD

Essential Wagner is a double-disc compilation of excerpts from the music dramas of Richard Wagner, selected from EMI's substantial backlist and featuring many artists from the label's roster from the 1960s to the 2000s. This package represents many of the best-known selections, but it is by no means exhaustive or even broad enough for the beginner, for several missing pieces come to mind: the "Venusberg Music" and the "Entry of the Guests" from "Tannh?user," the Prelude to Act III and the "Dance of the Apprentices" from "Die Meistersinger von N?rnberg," the Prelude to "Das Rheingold," "Magic Fire Music" from "Die Walk?re," "Forest Murmurs" from "Siegfried," "Siegfried's Rhine Journey" from "Die G?tterd?mmerung," and the "Transformation Scene" and "Good Friday Music" from "Parsifal." These all deserved inclusion, but were left out because there are too many possibilities to fit on only two CDs. That might seem a minor point to raise over an essentials album, for surely the pieces included here are among the most significant, and the performances are far from mediocre. Even so, dabbling in Wagner's music might not be the best way to get to know the composer. Certainly any greatest-hits package can introduce newcomers to Wagner's works, and this one surely whets one's appetite. But it's unwise to suggest that his vast output can be reduced to essentials, for the purchase of this incomplete sampler will necessitate getting several others just to cover all the concert extracts. Listeners should not stop at this collection, but should move on to explore complete works. Perhaps more than other composers, Wagner demands a serious commitment to his concepts and philosophy of music, and anthologies can never replace the full experience of his expansive music dramas.

1. Der Fliegende Holl?nder: Overture London Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir Adrian Boult 2. Summ' Und Brumm', Du Gutes R?dchen (Der Fliegende Holl?nder: Spinnerinnen-Chor, 2. Akt) (1990 Remaster) Chor Der Bayerischen Staatsoper M?nchen/Bayerisches Staatsorchester/Robert Heger 3. Der Fliegende Holl?nder: Johohoe! Traft Ihr Das Schiff (Senta's Ballad) (Act II) Jessye Norman/John McCarthy/Klaus Tennstedt 4. Steuermann, La Die Wacht (Der Fliegende Holl?nder: Matrosenchor, 3. Akt) (1990 Remaster) Chor Der Bayerischen Staatsoper M?nchen/Bayerisches Staatsorchester/Robert Heger 5. Tannh?user: Overture Mariss Jansons 6. Tannh?user: Dich, Teure Halle, GRSS' Ich Wieder (Elisabeth's Greeting) (Act II) Jessye Norman/Klaus Tennstedt 7. Tannh?user ? Romantische Oper in 3 Akten (Dresdner Fassung), Dritter Akt (Tal Vor Der Wartburg): Wie Todesahnung - Oh Du Mein Holder Abendstern (Wolfram) Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau/Orchester Der Staatsoper Berlin/Franz Konwitschny 8. Begl?ckt Darf Nun Dich, O Heimat (Tannh?user: Pilgerchor, 3. Akt) (1990 Remaster) Chor Der Bayerischen Staatsoper M?nchen/Bayerisches Staatsorchester/Robert Heger 9. Lohengrin (1989 Digital Remaster): Vorspiel (Prelude), 1. Aufzug New Philharmonia Orchestra/Sir Adrian Boult 10. Lohengrin: Einsam in Tr?ben Tagen (Elsa's Dream) Hildegard Behrens/Peter Schneider/M?nchner Rundfunkorchester 11. Lohengrin - Acte II : Entweihte Gotter (Remasteris? en 2003) Rita Gorr - Orchestre Du Theatre National de L'opera de Paris - Andr? Cluytens 12. Lohengrin: Prelude to Act III Klaus Tennstedt/Berliner Philharmoniker 13. Treulich Gef?hrt (Lohengrin: Brautchor, 3. Akt) (1990 Remaster) Chor Der Bayerischen Staatsoper M?nchen/Bayerisches Staatsorchester/Robert Heger 14. Lohengrin (2000 Digital Remaster): In Fernem Land (Act 3) Nicolai Gedda/Orchester Der Bayerischen Staatsoper M?nchen/Heinrich Bender 15. Prologue: Das Rheingold, Scene IV: Abendlich Strahlt Die Sonne (Wotan/Fricke) James Morris/Marjana Lipovsek/Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Bernard Haitink 16. First Day: Die Walkure, Act 1: Winderstr?rme Wichen Dem Wonnemond (Siegmund) Bernard Haitink/Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Reiner Goldberg 17. First Day: Die Walkure, Act 1: Du Bist Der Lenz (Sieglinde) Bernard Haitink/Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Cheryl Studer 18. First Day: Die Walkure, Act 1: Oh S?sseste Wonne! Bernard Haitink/Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Cheryl Studer/Reiner Goldberg 19. First Day: Die Walkure, Act 1: Siegmund Heiss Ich (Siegmund/Sieglinde) Bernard Haitink/Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks/Cheryl Studer/Reiner Goldberg 20. Die Walk?re: Walk?renritt (The Ride of the Valkyries) (Act III) Klaus Tennstedt/Berliner Philharmoniker 21. Siegfried, Act 1: Nothung! Nothung! Neidliches Schwert! (Siegfried/Mime) Siegfried Jerusalem/Peter Haage/Bernard Haitink/Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks 22. G÷tterd?mmerung (1975 Digital Remaster): Siegfried's Funeral March London Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir Adrian Boult 23. Die Meistersinger Von N?rnberg (1989 Digital Remaster): Vorspiel (Prelude), 1. Aufzug New Philharmonia Orchestra/Sir Adrian Boult 24. Die Meistersinger Von N?rnberg, Dritter Akt/Act 3/Troisieme Scene, F?nfte Szene/Scene 5/Cinqui?me Sc?ne: 'Morgenlich Leuchtend in Rosigem Schein' (Walther/Volk/Die Meister/Sachs/Pogner/Eva) Bernd Weikl/Ben Heppner/Siegfried Lorenz/Cheryl Studer/Cornelia 25. Tristan Und Isolde (1988 Digital Remaster), Act 2: O Sink Hernieder Helga Dernesch/Jon Vickers/Christa Ludwig/Berliner Philharmoniker/Herbert Von Karajan 26. Tristan Und Isolde: Mild Und Leise (Liebestod) Hildegard Behrens/Peter Schneider/M?nchner Rundfunkorchester