Erna Schltiter (soprano)
Ludwig Suthaus (tenor)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
(Leader, Paul Beard )
Conductor, Sir Malcolm Sargent
Wagner
Prelude: Lohengrin
7.42 app. Senta's Ballad (The Flying
Dutchman)
7.52 app. Good Friday Music (Parsifal)
8.5 app. Prize Song (The Mastersingers)
8.12 app. Siegfried's Journey to the Rhine (The Twilight of the Gods)
8.24 app. Love Duet, Act 2 (Tristan and Isolda)
8.49 app. Ride of the Valkyries (The
Valkyries)
From the Royal Albert Hall, London Tickets may be obtained from the Royal Albert Hall or usual agents
The Lohengrin Prelude represents a vision of angels descending from heaven, bearing the Holy Grail: it reaches a climax as the Grail is revealed, then fades away into the distance.
In her Ballad, Senta sings of the curse-laden sea-captain, doomed to' sail the seas through the ages until he finds redemption in the love of a woman.
It is Good Friday when Parsifal returns to the domain of the Grail, having regained the sacred spear from the wizard Klingsor; and as the sun rises, ' the grateful earth rejoices at its rebirth through the Saviour's suffering. '
With his Prize Song, the young knight
WaJther gains admittance to the ranks of the mastersingers and, more important to him, the hand of his beloved Eva.
Siegfried makes his journey to the Rhine after taking leave of Briinnhilde, and sails away down the river in search of new adventures.
In the love-duet from Tristan and Isolda, the two lovers, surrounded by the mystery and enchantment of night, sing ecstatically of their longing for eternal union in death.
The Ride of the Valkyries pictures them assembling at their meeting-place, bearing the bodies of dead heroes on their horses.
D. C.
See ' Music Diary ' on page 27