1928 BAYREUTH TRISTAN Nanny Larsen Todsen Gunnar Graarud Andresen ELMENDORFF

$

40

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I am currently selling a series of great Richard Wagner and classic European 78 rpm orchestral recordings on all the great European labels:

The famous 1927 Columbia Recordings of Wagner Operas recorded at the 1927 Wagner Festival in the Bayreuth Wagner Theater.

These are incredible recordings and the first time that Wagner had been recorded electrically in Bayreuth. Columbia was very proud of these recordings since they capture the spirit and atmosphere of the Festival. Even after 75 years these recordings sound incredible.

1928 Columbia Engineers came back to the Hill to make a Landmark recording: The first complete recording of Wagners Tristan and Isolde at 38 sides easily the largest Set offered at that time.

Nanny Larsen-Todsen not a household name today is a great Isolde and her Liebestod is still one of the best ever recorded. Ivar Andressen as Koenig Marke Gunnar Graarud as a great Tristan.

Conductor(s):
Elmendorff, Karl

Orchestra(s):
Bayreuth Festival Orchestra

Choir(s):
Bayreuth Festival Chorus

Artist(s):
Andresen, Ivar; Beer, Hans; Bockelmann, Rudolf; Graarud, Gunnar; Helm, Anny; Larsen-Todsen, Nanny; Rodin, Gustav; Sattler, Joachim

Ably conducted by Karl Elmendorff.

Complete  on 18x12" gold label pre war records in two albums (a few records of album 2 are silver label)

Condition: Excellent faint scuffs, plays very very quiet, both albums hold together, spine from 1 is missing, spine of 2 is loose.

A GREAT COPY

 To its credit, Columbia rejected the HMV system of piecemeal excerpts and made a determined effort to give the Wagnerian record-buyer a coherent view of each drama. It was found too difficult to take down actual performances, so recordings were made when the Festspielhaus was not in use. Although, in the event, only extended excerpts from Parsifal were achieved in 1927, virtually the whole of Tristan und Isolde was set down in 1928 – Acts 1 and 2 were done substantially complete and only Act 3 was cut, a practice which was usual in those days anyway, in the interests of conserving the energies of singers and audience alike at the end of a long evening. The greatest exponents of the title rôles, Lauritz Melchior and Frida Leider, were under contract to HMV, but a fine cast was assembled, including Rudolf Bockelmann, regarded as second only to Friedrich Schorr as a Heldenbariton, and the handpicked Bayreuth orchestra and chorus were conducted magnificently by the underrated Karl Elmendorff. 

Karl Elmendorff (1891-1962) was born in Düsseldorf and studied philology before entering the Cologne Conservatory in 1913. He conducted in Hagen, Aachen, Munich (the Bavarian State Opera, 1925-32), Wiesbaden, Kassel, Berlin (the State Opera, 1938-41), Mannheim, Dresden (the Saxon State Opera, 1941-5) and then, after denazification proceedings, Kassel again (1948-51) and finally Wiesbaden again. He was a regular conductor at Bayreuth (1927-42). His other major studio recording was the fine Bayreuth Tannhäuser of 1930, but other superb opera recordings were made during his Dresden period by German Radio.

Nanny Larsén-Todsen (1884-1982), who hailed from Hagby in Sweden, studied at the Royal Conservatory in Stockholm before making her début at the Royal Opera there as Agathe in Der Freischütz in 1906. Later she had further studies in Berlin and Milan. From 1916 she had an international career, from 1922 virtually exclusively in Wagnerian rôles. She had successes at La Scala (1923-4), the Metropolitan in New York (1925-7), Bayreuth (1927-31) and all the major European houses including Covent Garden (1927 and 1930). After her retirement she taught singing and lived to a great age. She recorded for several labels.

Göta Ljungberg (pronounced Yerta Lyoongberry) (1893-1955) was also from Sweden, born at Sundsvall. At eight she sang for the Queen and after studies at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm with Gillis Bratt, she joined the Royal Opera in 1918, singing Gutrune (Götterdämmerung) and Elsa (Lohengrin). A beautiful woman with a charismatic stage presence, in 1924 she made a sensational début at Covent Garden as Salome and thereafter she was an international star, known especially for Wagner and Strauss rôles. In 1931-5 she was at the Metropolitan, New York, but by the mid-1930s it was clear that, like her contemporaries Rethberg and Austral, she had ruined her voice with too many dramatic rôles. Luckily she left a number of records which show her at her best.

Gunnar Graarud (1886-1960) was born at Holestrand near Oslo and studied engineering in Karlsruhe before being encouraged to take up singing seriously in Berlin. He made his début in 1919 at Kaiserslauten and sang all over Germany, including four seasons at Bayreuth. He also guested at most of Europe’s major houses. From 1929 to 1937 he was a member of the State Opera in Vienna, where he later taught singing at the Academy of Music. Best known for Wagner and Strauss, he was also a fine Handel singer. He recorded for a number of labels.

Rudolf Bockelmann (1892-1958) was from Bodenteich near Celle. After studies in philology and music at the University and Conservatory in Leipzig, he volunteered for war service and was wounded several times. He made his début in Celle in 1920 and from 1921 to 1926 sang at the Leipzig Opera. His first season at Bayreuth was 1928 and he returned regularly until 1942. In the meantime he enjoyed a brilliant international career, mainly in Wagnerian rôles. His few recordings sadly included songs with a blatant Nazi agenda. After the war he sang only in Hamburg and at the smaller German theatres, retiring in 1957.

Ivar Andrésen (1896-1940) was born in Oslo and after thinking he was a tenor, studied in Stockholm with Gillis Bratt and Hjaldis Ingebjart, emerging as one of the best basses of his era. His début was made as the King in Aida at Stockholm in 1919 and he remained a magnificent Verdi singer, while also making a reputation in Wagner and Mozart. From 1926 to 1934 he was the leading bass at Dresden. He then moved to the Berlin State Opera, where he had first appeared in 1931. From 1927 to 1936 he sang at Bayreuth and from 1930 to 1932 he was at the Metropolitan in New York. He also made guest appearances in London, Paris and other major cities. He died in Stockholm at the height of his powers. His dark voice was captured on many fine recordings of both opera and song.

Here is a critical appraisal of the performance from the Web:

Early recordings of Richard Wagner's music were realized despite a certain amount of trepidation on the part of the old guard at the Bayreuth Festival. It was feared that capturing a single component of Wagner's work would misrepresent the idea of """"Gesamtkunstwerk or """"total art form."""" Siegfried Wagner himself broke the ice when he recorded sections of 'Parsifal' in 1927. The following year the conductor Karl Elmendorff recorded excerpts from 'Tristan und Isolde' with the great heroic tenor Gunnar Graarud and soprano Nanny Lars?n-Todsen. The recording is remarkable for its expansiveness--so much of the orchestral and vocal colors are present despite being transferred from the brittle 78 format. Graarud's performance as Tristan is exhilarating. It is regrettable that many of his scenes are absent from these selections as many felt him to be a more complete artist than Lauritz Melchoir with whom he alternated the role between 1927-31. He is paired with Nanny Lars?n-Todsen who was the first Scandinavian to play Isolde a voice of size and depth.

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