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Richard Wagner
"Wesendonck-Lieder"
Wolfgang Sawallisch, who was
for many years the general
music director of the
Bavarian State Opera chose
these two works in their
original form to play in a
concert of Wagner’s music
which could not have taken
place in more beautiful
surroundings. In the
Singer's Hall of
Neuschwanstein Castle - that
half finished fairy-tale
castle in the "Königswinkel"
(royal corner) of upper
Bavaria, built by Ludwig II
as a homage to the creations
of his friend and idol
Richard Wagner, the
Wesendonck Lieder and the
Siegfried Idyll were
performed by Marjana
Lipovsek and members of the
Bavarian State Orchestra.
All of the musicians from
that evening play in
friendliest cooperation with
one another as well as
having a deeply felt
relationship with the music.
This comes through in the
recording which through
fortunate circumstances was
made that evening.
Sawallisch leads his
musicians in a quasi
affectionate-yet-reserved
manner. These were the
Slovenian mezzo-soprano
Marjana Lipovsek who under
his direction started her
career in numerous big roles
at the Bavarian State Opera,
not least those of Wagner,
and also the musicians of
"his" State Orchestra which
Sawallisch, who was born in
Munich, had since his debut
in 1954 conducted in
innumerable opera
performances and symphony
concerts by the "Musikalische
Akademie" (the concert
formation of the Bavarian
State Orchestra). From 1971
Sawallisch was their general
music director for a period
of twenty-two years.
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