Wagner: Die Walküre, Act I

Lauritz Melchior is unquestionably the greatest Heldentenor who ever lived. Here he is in fabulous voice, even by his standards, and he is so much more involved and intelligent when he is working with a great conductor than with the likes of Edwin McArthur. He has secure legato, excellent diction, and portrays the character more movingly than anyone I have ever heard. Add this to his brilliant, powerful, beautiful voice, and you have a peerless Siegmund. Lotte Lehmann is just as fabulous as Melchior. She has a very beautiful voice ideal for Sieglinde: solid at the core but soft-edged, and she too has model diction and excellent legato. She sometimes doesn't sing as softly as she should, as in her first few lines, but she makes up for this with her singing in the big moments towards the end of the act. Emanuel List, the Austrian bass, can't quite match the standard set by Melchior and Lehmann, but you can't blame him for that. He has a very dark, resonant voice, but he is not ideally steady. But when he sings "Wie gleicht er dem Weibe" or "Mich dünkt, von dem wehrlichen Pahr," or any of the other memorable lines throughout the act, all vocal problems are forgotten. He IS Hunding, and not an opera singer pretending to be Hunding. His only serious rival on disc is Martti Talvela for Karajan.

And finally, we come to the conducting of Bruno Walter. Helped by the radiant playing of the Vienna Philharmonic, he conjures up Wagner's unique world of blended sound and emotion like no one else on record. He is as warm and lyrical as is possible, but realizes all the drama, and never goes over the top. He also shows a command of the structure of the act that eludes modern conductors. He is a great conductor. At mid price, this is a fabulous bargain, and we must hope that EMI will make it more widely available in the US, because this is a performance to good for any music lover to be without.

The Vienna Phiharmonic is at the top of their pre-war game, and Bruno Walter conducts briskly and beautifully (since this recording was originally put out on 78s, it zips along at a pace that some of today's narcoleptic conductors would do well to emulate). Emanuel List is an appropriately menacing Hunding, and Lotte Lehmann is the embodiment of aching passionate intensity as Sieglinde.

But this recording belongs to Lauritz Melchior, who is little short of awe-inspiring as Siegmund. Don't believe me? Try listening to Track 8, where Melchior delivers "Ein Schwert verhiess mir der Vater" with an intensity that few if any singers have ever been able to manage. Melchior was to opera singers what Babe Ruth was to baseball players, and this recording catches his voice at its absolute peak.

Keith Hardwick's transfer is up to his usual high standard, and the price is right. So you really have no excuse not to buy this CD. If you've ever been at all curious about Wagner or the Ring Cycle, this CD is just about the perfect introduction. It doesn't get better than this.