What never stops amazing me is the transparency he finds in a score of such richness, even at its most intense moments, you can hear every line, every voice, every intention. And the pacing. He builds the drama with such strategic patience over such long spans that when the great climaxes finally arrive, they feel completely inevitable, earned, not imposed.

The Act II love duet is perhaps the most extraordinary example of this: nearly an hour of music that feels like one single, suspended breath. I was lucky enough to experience his Tristan from the inside, playing under his baton the Vorspiel and Liebestod and sitting in the pit for a complete performance, and what you hear in this recording is exactly what it felt like to be there.

For me, this is what great conducting is: the ability to hold enormous complexity in one hand and an enormous span of time in the other, and make both feel natural.

Ryan Ellermann agrees:

I am a certified Ring Nutcase, and there is no better, more thrilling and emotional Ring for me than the Barenboim/Kupfer production from Bayreuth.  Barenboim’s conducting perfectly carries the story along. There is not a dull moment over the four operas. Barenboim deftly extracts gorgeous sounds from the Bayreuth orchestra and wonderful singing from the somewhat unconventional cast of Wagnerian performers on stage. This clip of the Funeral March encapsulates the glory of Wagner and Barenboim’s masterful conducting.