Stand and Deliver! Matthew Rye assesses whether concert performances can lead to satisfying listening experiences on disc

Reviews of Lohengrin, conducted Janowski, Berlin, 2011 (PentaTone, 3 hybrid SACDs); Die Walküre, conducted Elder, Manchester, 2011 (Hallé, 4 CDs).

November 2012, Volume 6, Number 3, 97–100.

With the virtual demise of opera recordings in the studio, taping from live performances seems well established as the way forward. These two sets are both derived from concert presentations, giving in theory the advantages of continuity and adrenalin of a live event while avoiding the balancing and stage noise disadvantages of the theatre (a medium which these days can be far more suitably served by video – at least when the engineers manage to get the sound right).