Father and Son: David Bastardo is intrigued by two unusual recordings

Reviews of The Wagner Project, Wesendonck Lieder, ‘Mignonne’, ‘Dors mon enfant’, ‘Adieux de Marie Stuart’, Tristan und Isolde Prelude (arr. Humperdinck), Siegfried Idyll, soprano Zukowski, 2023 (AVI, 1 CD); Siegfried Wagner: Preludes and Overtures, conducted Kitajenko, Frankfurt, 1997, reissued 2024 (Deutsche Grammophon, streaming only).

November 2024, Volume 18, Number 3, 91–3.

Richard Wagner in historically informed performance (HIP) is not something you hear very often. We have Marc Minkowski’s almost experimental take on Der fliegende Holländer and the ongoing Ring from Kent Nagano with Concerto Köln, but a disbelief in any need for HIP Wagner is still common. Nevertheless, daring specialists are now diving into the challenging depths of a renowned composer’s lesser known and early works.