Mendelssohn, Wagner, Schumann

The conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt carved his reputation in Baroque repertoire, but later broadened his activities into the Classical and Romantic eras. These previously unreleased recordings, made at the Styriarte festival in 1999, chronicle his first foray into the works of Richard Wagner. Harnoncourt’s patiently unfolded account of the Prelude to Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde benefits significantly from the sensitively balanced playing of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Using the ensemble’s modest size as an advantage, Harnoncourt reveals fascinating instrumental detail often occluded in larger-scale performances. The Lithuanian soprano Violeta Urmana is refulgent in Isolde's tragic “Liebestod”, where Harnoncourt builds an appropriately passionate peroration. A highly-charged “Bacchanale” from Tannhäuser shows another side of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, punchy and powerful in Wagner’s depiction of unrestrained erotic energy. Ardently committed performances of Mendelssohn’s overture Die schöne Melusine and Schumann’s Requiem für Mignon complete this invaluable addition to the Harnoncourt discography.