Sunday Classics: Bruno Walter rehearses and plays Wagner's "Siegfried Idyll"

This is, as best I can tell, a mockup for a Japanese issue of the rehearsal for Bruno Walter's recording of the Siegfried Idyll.

by Ken

When we did our first exploration of the Siegfried Idyll in May, I promised that we would be coming back to the piece, approaching from a different direction. This is it. As I indicated in Friday night's preview ("Bruno Walter comes to America") and last night's ("The 'American' Bruno Walter brings his humanity to Wagner"), we've been heading toward a return engagement with Wagner's Siegfried Idyll as seen through the eyes of the 82-year-old Bruno Walter. Happily, Columbia Records released a 45-minute slab of rehearsal, which gives us an even closer view of his view than the lovely finished recording. Let's plunge right in:

BRUNO WALTER REHEARSES WAGNER'S SIEGFRIED IDYLL
(American Legion Hall, Hollywood, Feb. 27, 1959)

"You see, In Wagner, più piano means 'blot out,' you know, just give in, and it goes to the nothing . . ."

The published rehearsal begins at the upbeat to bar 4:


For reference, here's the finished recording of this same chunk of the piece (though starting at the beginning), bars 1-25:



FOR MORE OF WALTER'S SIEGFRIED IDYLL, INCLUDING A REMINISCENCE BY PRODUCER THOMAS FROST, CLICK HERE

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