Hallé Orchestra & Sir John Barbirolli - Wagner: Suite from Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Lohengrin Preludes & Overture from Rienzi (Remastered) (2020) [Hi-Res]

The Meistersinger Overture and Act 3 Suite was popular with Barbirolli, having recorded it for HMV in 1944 and other Wagner works he recorded included the Lohengrin Preludes (HMV 1946, now released on SJB1004), the Rienzi Overture (HMV 1944). A unique opportunity to hear an all-Wagner concert from Barbirolli comes in a ‘live’ broadcast with the New York Philharmonic in November 1938 which includes the Siegfried Idyll, which he never recorded commercially (Barbirolli Society SJB1035).

Whatever qualms Wagner himself might have had about performing extracts from his operas in the concert hall, he was, as a professional musician, able to suppress them. They brought in revenue, of course, but this was not the main consideration; more important was that his work should be known and understood. He therefore sanctioned, even encouraged, the performance of excerpts from his operas, either with vocalists or, as in the present recording, in purely orchestral form.

Halle Orchestra
Sir John Barbirolli, conductor

Digitally remastered