Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine & Joseph Swensen – Ring Odyssey (2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 02:08:30 minutes | 2,24 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Alpha Classics
‘If, in a parallel universe, Wagner wrote a symphony rather than a sixteen-hour Ring, it might actually resemble my Ring Odyssey.’ These are the words used by the new music director of the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Joseph Swensen, to present this anthology of Der Ring des Nibelungen for soprano, tenor, bass-baritone, male chorus and orchestra, which he composed on the basis of Wagner’s monumental tetralogy. The American conductor confesses that, during a performance of Tristan, Wagner was suddenly revealed to him as ‘a dreamer’ full of ‘humility, tenderness, vulnerability and generosity’. Swensen has made a point of following the chronology of the operas and respecting the original music: ‘My solemn promise to Wagner was that, aside from the occasional solo timpani roll denoting the passage of time, I would not change or add a single note to his masterpiece.’ An enthralling traversal, recorded at a memorable concert and delivered by exceptionally committed singers and instrumentalists.
Tracklist:
1. Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine & Joseph Swensen – Wagner: Das Rheingold, WWV 86A, Scene 1: Prelude – Song of the Rhine Maidens (Reworked by Joseph Swensen) (05:09)
2. Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine & Joseph Swensen – Wagner: Das Rheingold, WWV 86A, Scene 1: Alberich Renounces the Power of Love, Seizes the Rheingold and Forges the Ring (Reworked by Joseph Swensen) (02:16)
3. Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine & Joseph Swensen – Wagner: Das Rheingold, WWV 86A, Scene 2: Valhalla, Castle of the Gods (Reworked by Joseph Swensen) (01:30)
4. Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine & Joseph Swensen – Wagner: Das Rheingold, WWV 86A, Scene 2: Wotan and Loge Descend into the Nibelheim (Reworked by Joseph Swensen) (01:42)
5. Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine & Joseph Swensen – Wagner: Das Rheingold, WWV 86A, Scene 4: Donner Summons the Thunderstorm to Reveal Valhalla (Reworked by Joseph Swensen) (01:54)
6. Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine & Joseph Swensen – Wagner: Die Walküre, WWV 86B, Act I: Prelude – Thunderstorm, Sieglinde offers Shelter to Siegmund (Reworked by Joseph Swensen) (03:35)
7. Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine & Joseph Swensen – Wagner: Die Walküre, WWV 86B, Act I: Love Duet No. 1 – The Incestuous Tryst of Sieglinde and Siegmund (Reworked by Joseph Swensen) (05:40)
8. Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine & Joseph Swensen – Wagner: Die Walküre, WWV 86B, Act I: Spring Follows the Winter Storm – Siegmund Acquires His Name and Sword (Reworked by Joseph Swensen) (13:35)
9. Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine & Joseph Swensen – Wagner: Die Walküre, WWV 86B, Act II: Prelude – Wotan and Frika Argue over Siegmund’s Immorality (Reworked by Joseph Swensen) (03:27)
10. Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine & Joseph Swensen – Wagner: Die Walküre, WWV 86B, Act III: Ride of the Valkyries – Brünnhilde and the Valkyries Retrieve the Souls of the Dead Heroes (Reworked by Joseph Swensen) (05:33)
11. Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine & Joseph Swensen – Wagner: Die Walküre, WWV 86B, Act III: Wotan’s Grief over the Disownment of Brünnhilde, He Summons Loge to Set Fire to the Mountain Brünnhilde is to Rest (Reworked by Joseph Swensen) (05:57)
12. Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine & Joseph Swensen – Wagner: Die Walküre, WWV 86B, Act III: “He who Fears My Spear, May not Pass this Fire” – Only the Bravest Hero Will Free Brünnhilde (Reworked by Joseph Swensen) (04:22)
13. Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine & Joseph Swensen – Wagner: Siegfried, WWV 86C, Act II: Prelude – The Dragon’s cave (Reworked by Joseph Swensen) (04:13)
14. Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine & Joseph Swensen – Wagner: Siegfried, WWV 86C, Act II: “Du holdes Vöglein” – Siegfried and the woodbirds (Reworked by Joseph Swensen) (02:15)
15. Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine & Joseph Swensen – Wagner: Siegfried, WWV 86C, Act II: Siegfried Battles Fafner the Dragon (Reworked by Joseph Swensen) (01:06)
16. Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine & Joseph Swensen – Wagner: Siegfried, WWV 86C, Act III: Prelude (Reworked by Joseph Swensen) (02:59)
17. Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine & Joseph Swensen – Wagner: Siegfried, WWV 86C, Act III: “Ewig war ich” – Brünnhilde Accepts Siegfried’s Love and Renounces the Glory of the Gods (Reworked by Joseph Swensen) (04:24)
18. Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine & Joseph Swensen – Wagner: Götterdämmerung, WWV 86D, Prologue: Sunrise (Reworked by Joseph Swensen) (03:05)
19. Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine & Joseph Swensen – Wagner: Götterdämmerung, WWV 86D, Prologue: Love Duet No. 2 – Siegfried’s Flight into the Wilderness (Reworked by Joseph Swensen) (11:48)
20. Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine & Joseph Swensen – Wagner: Götterdämmerung, WWV 86D, Prologue: Brünnhilde Urges Him to Keep Their Love to Mind (Reworked by Joseph Swensen) (05:53)
21. Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine & Joseph Swensen – Wagner: Götterdämmerung, WWV 86D, Act II: Hagen Summons the Gibichung Vassals to War (Reworked by Joseph Swensen) (02:50)
22. Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine & Joseph Swensen – Wagner: Götterdämmerung, WWV 86D, Act III: Prelude – The Rhine Maidens Urge Siegfried to Return the Ring to the Rhine (Reworked by Joseph Swensen) (03:40)
23. Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine & Joseph Swensen – Wagner: Götterdämmerung, WWV 86D, Act III: Siegfried is Murdered by Hagen (Reworked by Joseph Swensen) (05:37)
24. Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine & Joseph Swensen – Wagner: Götterdämmerung, WWV 86D, Act III: Siegfried Dies and is Carried Away (Reworked by Joseph Swensen) (06:42)
25. Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine & Joseph Swensen – Wagner: Götterdämmerung, WWV 86D, Act III: Brunnhilde takes the Ring from Siegfried’s Hand and Lights Her Funeral Pyre (Reworked by Joseph Swensen) (10:31)
26. Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine & Joseph Swensen – Wagner: Götterdämmerung, WWV 86D, Act III: Brunnhilde’s Immolation and the World is Consumed in Flood and Fire (Reworked by Joseph Swensen) (08:37)
