Wolfgang Windgassen
The most important singer of the German Heldentenor repertory in the 1950s and 1960s, Wolfgang Windgassen employed his not-quite-heroic instrument, believable physique, and considerable musical intelligence to forge memorable performances on-stage and in the recording studio. Although his voice lacked the sensuous appeal of Melchior's or Völker's, it was never unattractive and never employed to obvious effect. Indeed, it conveyed a youthfulness that suited the young Siegfried especially well. Born to German parents, both of them singers, in French Savoy, Windgassen began his vocal studies with his father Fritz. He later continued his training with Alfons Fischer and Maria Raznow at the Stuttgart Conservatory. The tenor made his debut as Alvaro in La forza del destino at Pforzheim in 1941. In 1945, he joined the Württembergisches Staatstheater in Stuttgart, steadily moving from lyric roles to more heroic parts; he remained a singer there until 1972. Upon making his debut in the first postwar season at Bayreuth in 1951, he came to international attention. His Parsifal, growing from uncomprehending innocence to maturity and service, was a moving portrayal and was recorded live by Decca Records. Windgassen became indispensable at the Bayreuth Festival, excelling as Lohengrin, the two Siegfrieds, Tannhäuser, and Tristan. There, he earned the respect and devotion of the three leading dramatic sopranos of the age: Martha Mödl, Astrid Varnay, and Birgit Nilsson. Elsewhere, Windgassen made positive impressions at La Scala (where he debuted as Florestan in 1952), Paris (Parsifal in 1954), and Covent Garden, where he appeared as Tristan in 1954. Although regarded by English critics as somewhat light of voice for Wagner's heaviest tenor roles, his lyric expression and dramatic aptness were wholly admired. The Metropolitan Opera briefly heard him as Siegmund beginning in January 1957 (a role rather low for him) and as Siegfried. Windgassen did not return to America until 1970, when he sang Tristan to the Isolde of Nilsson at San Francisco. Beginning that same year, he turned to stage direction. Among Windgassen's finest recordings are his Bayreuth Parsifal, captured with a superb cast under Knappertsbusch's direction, his 1954 Bayreuth Lohengrin under Jochum, his Siegfrieds under both Böhm at Bayreuth and in the studio with Solti, and his Bayreuth Tristan with Böhm conducting and Nilsson as his Isolde.
© TiVo
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Beethoven: Fidelio, Op. 72 (Remastered)
Wolfgang Windgassen, Martha Modl, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Wilhelm Furtwängler
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1954
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Lohengrin
Wolfgang Windgassen, Birgit Nilsson, Hermann Uhde
Opera - Released by Opera d'Oro on 17 Feb 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Götterdämmerung (Remastered 2012)
Sir Georg Solti, Birgit Nilsson, Wolfgang Windgassen, Gottlob Frick, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1973
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Das Rheingold
Ferdinand Frantz, Ira Malaniuk, Wolfgang Windgassen, Orchestra Sinfonica Di Roma Della RAI, Wilhelm Furtwängler
Opera - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Die Walküre
Wolfgang Windgassen, Hilde Konetzni, Martha Modl, Orchestra Sinfonica Di Roma Della RAI, Wilhelm Furtwängler
Opera - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Les maîtres chanteurs de Nuremberg, extraits (Mono Version)
Wolfgang Windgassen, Josef Herrmann, Münchner Philharmoniker, Ferdinand Leitner
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Das Rheingold by Wilhelm Furtwängler
Wilhelm Furtwängler, Wolfgang Windgassen, Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
Opera - Released by Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording on 14 Apr 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Parsifal – 1951 Recording (Hans Knappertsbusch - The Opera Edition: Volume 5)
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 1 Jan 1952
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Götterdämmerung (Live In Bayreuth / 1967)
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1973
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde, WWV 90 (Remastered 2023)
Martha Modl, Wolfgang Windgassen, Artur Rother, Orchester Der Städtischen Oper Berlin
Opera - Released by Archipel on 7 Jul 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: The Ring - Great Scenes
Birgit Nilsson, Wolfgang Windgassen, Hans Hotter, Gerhard Stolze, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Siegfried (Live In Bayreuth / 1967)
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1967
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Tannhäuser - Highlights
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1964
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Der erste Heldentenor in Neu-Bayreuth - Wolfgang Windgassen, Vol. 1
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Documents 2 on 13 Dec 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Tristan et Isolde, Extraits (Mono Version)
Martha Modl, Wolfgang Windgassen, Orchester Der Städtischen Oper Berlin, Arthur Rother
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Götterdämmerung (Remastered 2012)
Birgit Nilsson, Wolfgang Windgassen, Gottlob Frick, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1973
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wolfgang Windgassen sings Wagner
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Wagner: Gralsmystik
Ferdinand Leitner, L'orchestre de l'Opéra de Paris, Wolfgang Windgassen, Martha Modl
Opera - Released by Profil Medien on 1 Jan 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss, J. II: Die Fledermaus - highlights
Gundula Janowitz, Renate Holm, Wolfgang Windgassen, Eberhard Wächter, Karl Böhm, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wolfgang Windgassen: Die Walküre 1!.Aufzug
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo