Wotan's Farewell - Die Walküre, Act 3 (Von Karajan, 1967)

[cfortnerXYZ]

Brilliant. The pairing with Wotan's Farwell and the Magic Fire Music make a complete union of myth, magic and defiance in the face of tragedy. Wer meines Speeres fuerchtet streitet das Feuer nie!

[dadasopher]

@cfortnerXYZ Indeed. I went for mood for meaning, and it was totally subjective.

[TheLastVampireChild]

James Dean was lovely.

[dadasopher]

@TheLastVampireChild He really was. I never appreciated him as much as when I collected all these pics from the internet.

[olivleonardo]

What does James Dean have to do with Richard Wagner or Thomas Stewart or Wotan?

[dadasopher]

@olivleonardo It's a goodbye song - my way of saying goodbye to a great actor gone too soon.

[stevevandien]

@dadasopher OK. But James Dean died nearly 59 years ago, and he never had anything remotely to do with "Die Walkure." Wotan's Farewell is about the king of the gods bidding goodbye to his favorite daughter as he also imposes restrictions upon her for defying him. Again, nothing to do with a 24-year-old actor who managed to kill himself by driving WAY too fast for road conditions.

[gaiuslittleboot]

@olivleonardo

That the person who posted it is a gay man? Still, I appreciate him posting, & it was far more interesting that just posting a publicity still of whoever's singing.

[olivleonardo]

@gaiuslittleboot LOL.

[thetuxguy5]

i love opera and this is one of my favourite arias!

one of my favourite operas too =)

[dadasopher]

@thetuxguy5 Me too! I remember the first time I heard it. I was watching a video of the Met doing Die Walkure, and I had no idea what to expect, and when Wotan sang his goodbye to Brunhilde, I was floored. So beautiful, so full of feeling.

[BOOLsheet]

@thetuxguy5 its not an aria

[eddimull]

I was rehearsing this earlier today. On the ride home, with it still in my head, Lady GaGa came on the radio. It was like brushing my teeth then drinking a beer - was really awful. I immediately turned the stereo off. 

[dadasopher]

@eddimull Good comment!

[pinintra]

@DemocracynowChina  allora è per te!

[dxhtz]

This is great way to keep Thomas Stewart's work before the public..Its too bad this excertpt of Walkure is just a bit too long for a Youtube video. I like this combination BTW..an appropriate lament.

[dadasopher]

@dxhtz Thank you!

[parsifal3142]

Thanks for fixing the breaks in the beginning. This remains my favourite Farewell.

[dadasopher]

@parsifal3142 I remember the first time I heard/saw this goodbye, on the videotape of the Metropolian Opera. I hadn't read the libretto, didn't know what was coming, and I was moved beyond words, truly awed.

[parsifal3142]

@dadasopher I feel the whole opera has been a build up to this, just as the whole Ninth is a build up to the Ode to Joy. Don't know if this is what was on your mind but: 1 Wotan putting Brunhilde 'to sleep' and her waking up un-aged as a metaphor for James Dean's early death or 2 (simply) beautiful music / beautiful actor?

[dadasopher]

@parsifal3142 I like your interpretation. Consciously, I was responding emotionally to the goodbye music, but your insight into the plot/history parallels works very nicely. I also like what you say about the opera leading up to this goodbye just as Beethoven's sympthony leads up to the Ode to Joy. I must listen to the 9th again!

[windstorm1000]

I was a dean aholic years ago--but don't understandt he connection you are making here with Wagner....Dean actually preferred Bartok and STravinsky. Play the "miraculous mandarin"--THAT Jimmy would have liked!

[dadasopher]

@windstorm1000 As Wotan bid goodbye to his daughter with this music, I bid an overdue goodbye to Dean with this music, too. A personal association.

[JMillerBayRidge]

Having seen the best Wagner productions @ Met with Levine, Karajan always blows me away...amazing

[japanesesweet]

what an ingenious juxtaposition!

Especially in Wagner, it's not always viable to find the right look for the right voice so this may go some way in solving the problem.

[dadasopher]

@japanesesweet Thank you so much!

[saraswatikaruna]

"mister, we deal in lead."

[Starkiller160793]

Es lo mas bello que he escuchado nunca

[ukiop999]

Do you have the very end from this (the last several minutes with the fire music and Wotan's last phrase)? Id love to hear it, I enjoy what Stewart is doing with Wotan.

[Starkiller160793]

Realmente bellisimo, estoy sin palabras

[noosphere23]

You are very perceptive! Some reviewers at the time might have commented on the size of his voice - and that the Met is a 3800 seat house. Though he wasn't a George London, he did not have a problem being heard anywhere in that house. Additionally, Karajan took a decidedly non-traditional turn with parts of his Ring which was cause for some reviewers to comment negatively.

[noosphere23]

I had the privilege of seeing Thomas Stewart as Wotan in both Karajan's Salzburg and Met productions in the late 1960's. He was by far the most "erudite" Wotan I ever experienced!

[dadasopher]

I envy you!

[noosphere23]

You were most kind to post this. Thank you so much!

[elske15]

@dadasopher

[stevevandien]

Some claim that Stewart's Wotan wasn't completely satisfactory at the Metropolitan, that he was a fine actor but his voice wasn't quite up to snuff, perhaps a little small for the role. What's your opinion? Was he thoroughly satisfying in this devastatingly demanding role in that ENORMOUS theatre? I envy you; wish I'd heard these and other historic productions at the Met in the late 60s:) --

[Starkiller160793]

@noosphere23 Es lo mas bello que escuche nunca

[Starkiller160793]

@Starkiller160793 

[rumpwrestler]

@noosphere23 Then you clearly missed Hotter in Vienna, Bayreuth, etc.

[MrCafiero]

I would love to hear the first part if you have it.

[Spiritakis]

Thank you very much for posting this performance, despite its technical defects and incompleteness.

Thomas Stewart is outstanding Wotan. So much subtler and more emotionally stirring, and with so much finer diction than than the venerable Hotter on Solti's Ring.

I have never seen James Dean on the screen but I too find the combination with Wagner's music quite moving, if a bit strange and unexpected.

Thank you very much again for posting this treasure.

[sorobji]

Wierd and strangely moving at the same time, looking at that myth of an actor, James Dean, and listening to this emotionally stirring music.

[dadasopher]

Thank you - that's what I found when I put the two together!

[BOBBYFSCHR]

Karajan, the greatest Wagner conductor! Great performance.

[parsifal3142]

THANK YOU. Third Act of Ring II! I was exposed to this monumental music when I was a teenager. Have never quite recovered! I love this as it is - without sounding ungrateful, any chance the two breaks in the beginning can be fixed?

[junehilde]

Probably my favorite operatic excerpt. I'm sad to say I've never heard Thomas Stewart before. He is amazing. !! Thank you.

[robertwbecker]

Yeah, Thomas Stewart was a great Wotan,,, this recording is testament to that!

[SieglindeMoos]

James Dean and the end of the Walküre...it's almost too much for my poor heart.... ;-)

[dadasopher]

Thank you, SieglindeMoos! I feel the same way.

[billyguns2]

Is this not some of the greatest music ever written? I am totally awestruck listening to it.

[dadasopher]

yes, i'll never forget the first time i heard and saw it on a new york metropolitan video: the scene, the unexpected plot, wotan and his daughter, the goodbye and the love between them- and the way wagner's music and the baritone's voice so utterly transcended the mundane!

[billyguns2]

This is a beautiful tribute to two beautiful men. There is not enough of Thomas Stewart on YouTube! The man not only had a gorgeous voice, he was a fine musician who sang a fabulous legato line; he always gave us crystal clear enunciation of the text, too. He was a true bass-baritone, my favorite voice type.

[tenorismo]

James Dean as Wotan ?

[dadasopher]

This video is my way of saying goodbye to James Dean, even though he went long ago. I find Wotan's farewell to Brunehilde particularly affecting, which is why I used it. Dean's soulfulness and the music seem to complement one another.

[ShiekUrBooty]

yea, it's not relevant except for the perceptions of the video poster.

[styrlain]

kitsch

[dadasopher]

It was definitelly self-indulgent - a guilty pleasure!

[stevevandien]

What the heck, why not:)? And I'd forgotten what a fine singer Thomas Stewart was, particularly in Wagner --

[styrlain]

hhank you. klaus

musik ist eben das..... und nichts anderes. k

[Sieglinde84]

He looks like James Dean's twin brother.

And what a voice! I'm pretty obsessed with bass-baritones, especially with Wotan.

[hrkaenzig]

Very touching and impressing !! Thank you very much !

[barbh1]

Brilliant editing, Mike! The man's face was a work of art.