---
product_id: 14458195
title: "Wagner: Gotterdammerung August 4, 1951 ~ Knappertsbusch"
brand: "richard wagnerhans knappertsbuschbayreuth festival orchestra & chorusastrid varnaybernd aldenhoffelisabeth höngenelisabeth schwarzkopfhanna ludwigheinrich pflanzlhermann uhde"
price: "€ 105.58"
currency: EUR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 5
url: https://www.desertcart.fi/products/14458195-wagner-gotterdammerung-august-4-1951-knappertsbusch
store_origin: FI
region: Finland
---

# Wagner: Gotterdammerung August 4, 1951 ~ Knappertsbusch

**Brand:** richard wagnerhans knappertsbuschbayreuth festival orchestra & chorusastrid varnaybernd aldenhoffelisabeth höngenelisabeth schwarzkopfhanna ludwigheinrich pflanzlhermann uhde
**Price:** € 105.58
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Wagner: Gotterdammerung August 4, 1951 ~ Knappertsbusch by richard wagnerhans knappertsbuschbayreuth festival orchestra & chorusastrid varnaybernd aldenhoffelisabeth höngenelisabeth schwarzkopfhanna ludwigheinrich pflanzlhermann uhde
- **How much does it cost?** € 105.58 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.fi](https://www.desertcart.fi/products/14458195-wagner-gotterdammerung-august-4-1951-knappertsbusch)

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- richard wagnerhans knappertsbuschbayreuth festival orchestra & chorusastrid varnaybernd aldenhoffelisabeth höngenelisabeth schwarzkopfhanna ludwigheinrich pflanzlhermann uhde enthusiasts

## Why This Product

- Trusted richard wagnerhans knappertsbuschbayreuth festival orchestra & chorusastrid varnaybernd aldenhoffelisabeth höngenelisabeth schwarzkopfhanna ludwigheinrich pflanzlhermann uhde brand quality
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## Description

Product description               Astrid Varnay                  .com               It's still easy to imagine the anticipation that must have attended the Bayreuth Festival in 1951 when it reopened for the first time since the war. This was the epoch-making summer when Wieland Wagner began to unveil a bold rethinking of his grandfather's canon--and to distance his art from the ideological trappings of the Third Reich--through increasingly austere and abstract productions. One member of the recording teams on hand (rivals EMI and Decca) was John Culshaw, who would later become famous as the mastermind producer behind the first and still most-popular studio recording of the Ring. Despite problems with the rest of the cycle, Culshaw managed to register its epic concluding work to his satisfaction. Yet that legendary Götterdämmerung sat in the archives for almost half a century due to contractual complications. This release at last makes its glories available. Conductor Hans Knappertsbusch--a master of the grand old tradition who is above all prized for his incomparable accounts of Parsifal--presides over a majestically scaled performance right from the doom-colored opening chord. Its cumulative power builds like a juggernaut. Though Knappertsbusch's famously weighty pacing makes this probably the slowest Götterdämmerung on record, the tempi rarely feel distended but rather enable Wagner's densely webbed, late-style ripeness to reverberate with its full emotional resonance. Knappertsbusch also knows how to keep a particular dramatic moment taut without losing his command of the larger context, as in the confrontation between Brünnhilde and Waltraute or Act II's vengeance trio. And in the funeral march you won't hear Soltian muscle but a profoundly resigned summation far subtler in its impact. The relatively young cast features some of Bayreuth's finest postwar artists, several making their festival debut during the 1951 reopening. Astrid Varnay proves her claim as Flagstad's successor, imbuing Brünnhilde's transfiguring love and subsequent betrayal with a presence that is completely gripping from the beginning to the cycle's cataclysmic end. Variety of color endows Bernd Aldenhoff's Siegfried with more dimensions than most interpreters; he can be sweet-voiced or imperious, rising to glory in the Act I duet and summoning a blustery bravado in his scene with the Rhinemaidens. Marth Mödl's angsty, dark-hued tone gives Gutrune an intensity far beyond the usual passive dimwit, while Hermann Uhde portrays her brother--despite his straining upper range--as a complex tangle of ambition and self-doubt. An integral part of this tremendously tight-knit ensemble is Ludwig Weber's intimidating Hagen. He gives the villain a truly Iago-like scope, brooding in the malignancy of his monologues and striking a chord of sheer terror in the scene of Siegfried's murder. In short, this set belongs in the collection of anyone interested in the performance of Wagner--or of great musical drama, period. --Thomas May

## Images

![Wagner: Gotterdammerung August 4, 1951 ~ Knappertsbusch - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81He3rKOiJL.jpg)
![Wagner: Gotterdammerung August 4, 1951 ~ Knappertsbusch - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81O1H-QYvaL.jpg)
![Wagner: Gotterdammerung August 4, 1951 ~ Knappertsbusch - Image 3](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81He3rKOiJL.jpg)
![Wagner: Gotterdammerung August 4, 1951 ~ Knappertsbusch - Image 4](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81O1H-QYvaL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fantastic, historic performance
*by A***3 on December 10, 2014*

Love this! I have waited to hear this for quite a while, and hesitated at the cost. Then, this week: Fantastic early Christmas present for myself! Great performance, in stunningly good mono sound. I have the 1956 M&A Kna Gotterdammerung, and this blows it away performance and soundwise. Culshaw is a magician; not only is the sound great, for once a recording in Bayreuth favors the singers over the orchestra. There are moments in Act 1 Scene 1 when you would swear Hagen and Gunther were singing right into the microphone. They may have been; mic placement for this recording was spot on for vocals. Enunciation is crisp and clear to the point you utterly forget it is mono. There is a "front-to-back" depth that more than makes up for the "left-right" dynamic of stereo. In other words, despite being mono, the sound is dimensional, not flat. Occasionally the orchestral moments are a bit distant (Siegfried's horn during the Rhine journey), but nothing ruinous. The singers are awesome, and Bernd Aldenhoff is my new favorite "mature" Siegfried; he is fantastic! If you love Wagner, or historic recordings, don't miss this! It was worth the exorbitant price! Good thing they only captured this one - the 1951 Ring in its entirety would have been Gotterdammerung to my bank account!

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Slow tempi add to the monumental sonic structures of the Ring
*by A***O on April 13, 2021*

Despite a loss of low frequencies, the recording captures a grand and clearly articulated version of The Ring. The historical context adds to a feeling of fresh rebirth and hope despite the ruins still visible everywhere.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent
*by A***L on April 26, 2013*

I can't get enough of Act 2 and 3 of this performance, just beautiful, but I still prefer Furtwangler's 1950 Scala and 1953 RAI radio recordings.GotterdammerungRichard Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (RAI, Rome 1953)

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*Product available on Desertcart Finland*
*Store origin: FI*
*Last updated: 2026-02-05*