Warner Classics: Wagner - Lohengrin (Rudolf Kempe) - 3 Audio CD Box Set

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Product Details:

• Product Type: Audio CD Box Set (3 CDs)
• Label: Warner Classics
• Composer: Richard Wagner
• Conductor: Rudolf Kempe
• Principal Cast: Jess Thomas, Elisabeth Grümmer, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Christa Ludwig, Gottlob Frick, Otto Wiener
• Orchestra: Wiener Philharmoniker (Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra)
• Chorus: Chor der Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna State Opera Chorus)
• Chorus Master: Dr. Richard Rossmayer
• Genre: Opera / Classical
• Original Recording: 1964 (Vienna)
• Digital Remastering: 2000
• Release (this edition): 2016
• Publisher: Parlophone Records Limited, a Warner Music Group Company
• Barcode (UPC): 0825646902569
• Condition: Factory Sealed

Product Features

• Format: 3-CD standard jewel case set
• Total Playing Time: CD1 - 72:02 / CD2 - 77:10 / CD3 - 68:05
• Booklet: Included - English text & synopsis / Deutscher Text & Handlung / Texte & synopsis en français
• Language: German (opera) with multilingual booklet
• Edition: Remastered reissue (2016)
• Series: The Home of Opera

Overview

This is the Lohengrin recording that serious collectors keep coming back to. Conducted by Rudolf Kempe and taped in Vienna in 1964, it has the kind of cast that simply doesn't come together anymore - Jess Thomas in the title role, Elisabeth Grümmer as Elsa, Christa Ludwig as Ortrud, and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as Friedrich von Telramund. Every name on that front cover is a legend.

What makes this particular recording stand apart from later studio attempts is its sense of theatrical live urgency - Kempe draws out the full sweep of Wagner's romantic opera without letting the pacing drag. Thomas brings both the heroic gleam and a human vulnerability to Lohengrin. Grümmer's Elsa is radiant and genuinely moving. Fischer-Dieskau and Ludwig, as the opera's two antagonists, are never merely villainous - they shade their characters with real psychological depth.

Originally recorded for EMI, digitally remastered in 2000, and reissued by Parlophone / Warner Classics in 2016, the audio quality holds up impressively well. Spread across three CDs totalling just over 3 hours and 37 minutes, this edition also includes a full multilingual booklet with text and synopsis in English, German, and French.

For anyone building a reference collection of German Romantic opera, this is one of the half-dozen recordings that genuinely belongs on the shelf.

Interesting Facts

• Wagner composed Lohengrin between 1845 and 1848; it premiered in Weimar in 1850 under Franz Liszt - Wagner himself was in political exile and could not attend.
• The famous "Bridal Chorus" from Act III ("Here Comes the Bride") became one of the most universally recognized wedding marches in Western culture, though Wagner never intended it as a ceremonial piece.
• Rudolf Kempe (1910-1976) was widely regarded as one of the foremost Wagner conductors of the postwar era; Herbert von Karajan himself reportedly considered Kempe the only conductor who understood Wagner's tempos better than he did.
• Jess Thomas (1927-1993) was an American tenor who became one of the leading heldentenors of the 1960s and 70s, performing regularly at Bayreuth and the Metropolitan Opera.
• Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (1925-2012) recorded more than 150 albums and is considered one of the greatest baritones in recorded history; his discography spans six decades.
• Christa Ludwig (1928-2021) was a defining mezzo-soprano of the second half of the 20th century, celebrated equally in opera and lieder across the world's leading stages.
• This recording was made at the Sofiensäle in Vienna, a hall famous for its warm acoustic that suited large-scale operatic recordings through the 1960s and 70s.

Track Listing

CD 1 (72:02) Lohengrin - Act I & Act II (Part 1)

CD 2 (77:10) Lohengrin - Act II (continued) & Act III (Part 1)

CD 3 (68:05) Lohengrin - Act III (conclusion)

Full scene-by-scene breakdown included in the enclosed multilingual booklet.

Label & Publisher

Parlophone Records Limited, a Warner Music Group Company. Original recording © 1964 EMI. Digital remastering © 2000 Parlophone Records Limited. This edition © 2016 Parlophone Records Limited.

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