Matthias Goerne, Daniel Harding & Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra - The Wagner Project (2017) [CD Rip]

Somewhat unexpectedly, baritone Matthias Goerne has emerged as one of the rising Wagnerian singers of our time, making something of a transition from the art song repertoire of Schubert and Schumann to music drama in a series of important recordings, including appearing as Wotan in Jaap van Zweden's Ring cycle on Naxos. For this 2017 Harmonia Mundi release, Goerne joins Daniel Harding and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in The Wagner Project, a double-disc sampler of vocal and orchestral highlights from Richard Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Tristan und Isolde, Der fliegende Holländer, Tannhäuser, Parsifal, and of course, Der Ring des Nibelungen. Here, Goerne continues his transformation, singing extended passages from the highly varied roles of Hans Sachs, King Marke, Wotan, The Dutchman, Wolfram, and Amfortas, showing great flexibility and physical strength while using subtlety in his characterizations and exhibiting an impressive vocal range. In between the vocal excerpts are selections of orchestral music that frame Goerne's monologues, such as the seldom anthologized Prelude to Act III of Meistersinger, the Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan, the Overture to Der fliegende Holländer, and the Prelude and Good Friday Enchantment from Parsifal, which Harding conducts with compelling power and passion. This package touches on familiar material and may only show a small part of Goerne's abilities, but it demonstrates his commitment to the music and hints at his future as a major Wagner interpreter. -- Blair Sanderson