Cd
Wagner: Das Rheingold (Bayreuth Festival)
Albert Dohmen (Wotan); Andrew Shore (Alberich); Hans-Peter König (Fafner); Michelle Breedt (Fricka); Gerhard Siegel (Mime); Edith Haller (Freia);
"Whatever one's take on the production, Mr. Thielemann drew a probing, radiant and exhilarating musical performance from this orchestra of dedicated instrumentalists" (The New York Times)
Wagner: Der fliegende Holländer (Bayreuth Festival)
Samuel Youn (Der Holländer); Benjamin Bruns (Der Steuermann); Christa Mayer (Mary); Tomislav Muzek (Erik); Ricarda Merbeth (Senta); Franz-Josef Selig (Daland);
"... one revels in Christian Thielemann's masterly handling of the Overture's tempo modifications and, thereafter, the lustrous sonorities that support the singers in this single-act version of the opera... Youn is a particular revelation, with bass qualities to establish the character's emotional weight but also effective baritonal colours that convey anguish with great specificity." (Gramophone)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Bayreuth Festival)
Linda Watson (Brünnhilde); Stephen Gould (Siegfried); Albert Dohmen (Wotan); Hans-Peter König (Fafner); Andrew Shore (Alberich); Eva-Maria Westbroek (Sieglinde);
"Whatever one's take on the production, Mr. Thielemann drew a probing, radiant and exhilarating musical performance from this orchestra of dedicated instrumentalists." (The New York Times)
Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Bayreuth Festival)
Franz Hawlata (Hans Sachs); Artur Korn (Veit Pogner); Michael Volle (Sixtus Beckmesser); Klaus Florian Vogt (Walther Von Stolzing); Norbert Ernst (David); Michaela Kaune (Eva);
"Meistersinger' that's on an entirely new Wagnerian scale...it is full of smart ideas and moments of effective theater." (The Washington Post)
Wagner: Die Walküre (Bayreuth Festival)
Endrik Wottrich (Siegmund); Eva-Maria Westbroek (Sieglinde); Linda Watson (Brünnhilde); Kwangchul Youn (Hunding); Michelle Breedt (Fricka);
"Thielemann and the Bayreuth Orchestra create a ravishing wall of sound and not a moment is less that aurally stunning: one listens, agape." (International Record Review)
Wagner: Götterdämmerung (Bayreuth Festival)
Stephen Gould (Siegfried); Ralf Lukas (Gunther); Andrew Shore (Alberich); Hans-Peter König (Hagen); Linda Watson (Brünnhilde); Edith Haller (Gutrune / Norn);
"...there is no doubt that this year's Ring at Bayreuth belongs to...Thielemann....[who] creates a musical experience epic in its scale and inexorable in its apocalyptic, shattering power." (The Guardian)