A favorite Wagner performance from Niel Rishoi

The complete RCA Furtwängler Tristan is actually my top favorite, but the Ponnelle staging in Bayreuth featuring René Kollo and Johanna Meier is my top sentimental favorite, because it was my first full Wagner performance.

I had acquired a LaserDisc player in the early 1990s, and I purchased this set. The player also connected to my stereo, sitting in a darkened room for 4 hours, I watched and listened; aided by the English subtitles, I became immersed and suspended in time awash with this intoxicating music drama. I thought the “So starben wir,” excerpted here, just sublime.

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