Wotan sing-off - 11 basses and baritones sing Wotan's Abschied

Eleven basses and baritones sing one of the most famous lines in all of opera:

"Wer meines Speeres Spitze fürchtet, durchschreite das Feuer nie!"

Your Wotans---of the past, present, and future---are, in chronological order of performance:

1. Friedrich Schorr - 1940, Metropolitan Opera, c. Erich Leinsdorf
2. Hans Hotter - 1955; London Recording, c. Leopold Ludwig
3. Jerome Hines - 1960; Bayreuth Festival, c. Rudolf Kempe
4. Theo Adam - 1965; Bayreuth Festival, c. Karl Bohm
5. Thomas Stewart - 1969; Bayreuth Festival, c. Lorin Maazel
6. Donald McIntyre - 1974; Bayreuth Festival, c. Horst Stein
7. Sigmund Nimsgern - 1986; Bayreuth Festival, c. Peter Schneider
8. James Morris - 1993; Metropolitan Opera, c. James Levine
9. John Tomlinson - 1995; Bayreuth Festival, c. James Levine
10. Rene Pape - 2008; NDR Concert appearance, c. Alan Gilbert
11. Albert Dohmen - 2008; Bayreuth Festival, c. Christian Thielemann

Enjoy!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Richard
• Wagner
• Die
• Walküre
• Walkuere
• Walkure
• Bayreuthe
• Festspiel
• Metropolitan
• Opera
• cage
• match
• Ring
• Nibelungen

[primobaritono]

Thank you for the interesting comparison! May I inquire as to why you left out the two greatest renditions of this line, those from Lawrence Tibbett and George London?

[rexeterna]

pretty simple, tibbett never sang wotan live as far as I know. it's more interesting to compare them after singing for the entire time than in a selection.

[primobaritono]

Thanks for the reply. I understand completely. I know London sang Wotan live, but the only recording of him is in studio.

[rexeterna]

by which of course I mean Tibbett never sang Wotan live in its ENTIRETY. I'm aware of his doing it in concert (the whole abschied at least), but singing all of Act 2 and 3 is much more demanding than singing the last ten minutes. It's just the purist in me...

[JefRoberts]

Wonderful! Hotter and Tomlinson are the winners for me. I love Stewart for his tenderness, Hines for his voice, too. There are better recordings of Schorr, but he still has lots of authority even without the top notes. Some other omissions not mentioned elsewhere are Rudolf Bockelmann and Hans Hermann Nissen. I love Bockelmann with Furtwangler from Covent Garden in 1937. Even with dodgy sound, lots of authority and a grand performance.

[kronos77]

Schorr gets the shaft in this contest. There are better recordings of him on Youtube. The audio quality is horrible here. He was second only to Frantz in my opinion.

[xCountArchosX]

where's London -_-

[helius69]

So, is there a definitive answer as to which voice is better for Wotan?  Bass, Bass-Baritone, Baritone?

[CelesteGabriel]

Hines has all the pride and glory in his voice a Wotan needs ( and hes a TRUE bass, not like the others)

[Chrysothemis]

@BassHaritone Amen to that. Mr Grimsley was absolutely astounding in the 2009 Seattle cycle.

[DemisLian]

Hotter is sublime, the best in these selections here! But Fr. Scorr was even greater, in this MET Matinee he was at the end of his career, there are better recordings of him from Europe in the early 30s. But who is really missing is the immense Rudolf Bockelmann - just find his ACT III Covent Garden 1937 live reconding with Flagstad under Furtwangler and you will understand.

[johnb340]

I am fond of James Morris' rendition. (the one in this clip is not a good example) He has a ton of power behind his voice and his emotion in Wotan's farewell gets me every time!

[BassHaritone]

Greer Grimsley is the sleeping giant amongst modern day Wotans.

[juldir]

Hotter, Tomlinson, Adam and Pape! Juha Uusitalo is missing and he should be in this list. He is The vocalwonder.

[reviewsvoiceontube]

Yes. Terfel gave a remarkable performance of this in Lucerne with Abbado-even though he is not a high bass as demanded he has all qualities to shine in this-as he did. You may also like to listen to american bariton Tibbett here on youtube-very large, firm and ringing voice with Wotans farewell. And believe it or not the great Siepi sang this, too. Still- nobody holds a candle to George London in this one.

[jawj80]

Where is Bryn's Wotan?