TANNHÄUSER

TANNHÄUSER:Wagner
OAD: 01/09/1954
Szell; Vinay, Harshaw, Varnay, London, Hines
MOD Audio SID.19190103
You either love Vinay or you hate him (even as a tenor). As a tenor I like him very much. Wolfram is a particularly congenial part for London, and this was the third performance of a four performance run (at least with Szell who did the next performance after this one and left the Met forever). Szell is one of the prime attractions and this performance is available on Met Player. This performance is on MOoD and notable as Szell’s last Met broadcast and his penultimate appearance at the Met. Cast are well up to their roles, though Vinay is not to every taste– he is to mine. This performance is available also in MOoD as well as the Sony Box and has been on Sirius before. I’m sorry that they did not seek out the 1941 Flagstad Melchior broadcast which was at one time available from the Met in their historic LP series so a decent tape does exist. The Dresden version is used. I take nothing away from the distinction of Szell, but in Tannhauser, the title role is what makes or breaks the performance. Vinay is acceptable, but he is not prime Melchior either.