Take Five, ‘Tristan und Isolde’: David Breckbill weighs the merits of the fifth release in Janowski’s complete Wagner project, and muses on his past and future ‘Ring’ cycles

With this recording of Tristan und Isolde the Janowski/PentaTone Wagner cycle reaches its midpoint. Although the state-of-the-art recorded sound of this series yields slightly different sonic results, the PentaTone performances so far released (all recorded in concert) confirm many of the traits revealed in Janowski’s studio-made Dresden Ring of thirty years ago, a bargain reissue of which is also under review. In both contexts, Janowski’s Wagner achieves light, transparent textures, coupled with flowing tempi and flexible phrasing, an approach which often yields perceptive expressive insights.