Wagner

René Pape

Released on 1/01/2011 by Deutsche Grammophon (DG)
Main artists: René Pape Staatskapelle Berlin Daniel Barenboim
Genre: Klassiek
Distinctions: Gramophone Editor's Choice

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Language available : english

It speaks very highly of any singer if, on a solo recital disc, he is joined by artists of the caliber of Daniel Barenboim and Plácido Domingo. On this album of operatic scenes and arias by Wagner, bass René Pape shows himself to be very much in the league of Barenboim and Domingo. Perhaps most importantly, he has the commanding personality that's a bottom-line necessity in making the composer's mythic characters believable and sympathetic even in their moral complexity. And his voice is ideal for Wagner: absolutely secure and full in its depths and heights, subtly colored, and with a loamy richness that projects over the orchestra without forcing. He was only in his mid-forties when he made this album, so he should have a long and fruitful career ahead as he gains even deeper insight into these demanding roles. The scenes recorded here spotlight Pape's gifts wonderfully. In the program notes, he discusses Wagner's desire for singers to master a kind of bel canto vocal production that could also accommodate the percussive consonants of the German language, and Pape exemplifies that kind of synthesis: warm, shapely bel canto singing in which the words are projected with power and absolute clarity. His Wotan, in his farewell to Brünnhilde at the end of Die Walküre, is heartbreaking in his intense expression of a father's conflicted grief. He is as powerful in his moments of tenderness as in his raging against the tragedy he cannot avert. Pape's Gurnemanz radiates compassion and wisdom, and the synergy between him and Domingo is thrilling in their extended scene from Parsifal. Barenboim, a veteran Wagner conductor, brings masterful insight to these scenes; he leads Staatskapelle Berlin in performances that are beautifully paced, and their details shine with clarity even through the composer's sometimes dense orchestration. Deutsche Grammophon's sound is clean and warmly ambient.

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Wagner

René Pape

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Die Walküre / Dritter Aufzug (Richard Wagner)

Leb wohl, du kühnes, herrliches Kind!

René Pape

00:04:41

Richard Wagner, ComposerLyricist - Daniel Barenboim, Conductor, MainArtist - Staatskapelle Berlin, Orchestra, MainArtist - René Pape, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, Bass (Vocal) - Stephan Flock, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Claudio Becker-Foss, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Christian Leins, Producer, Executive Producer - Christoph Claßen, Producer, Recording Producer