Feen

Completed in 1833 when he was just 20 years old, Wagner called Die Feen a "Grosse romantische Oper" (a grand romantic opera). As such the influence of Marschner, Carl Maria von Weber and the Italian operas can be detected. Alan Blyth, Gramophone's regular Wagner reviewer states "...that, by avoiding the aping of Italian opera in Das Liebesverbot and of grand opera in Rienzi, the result was an opera more stylistically unified than its successors. The later works may contain individual passages that are more 'advanced' than anything in the youthful imitative ways of Die Feen, but as entities they are less satisfying". In The New York Times, critic John Rockwell acknowledges the presence of passages imitative of Weber and Marschner but, says that there are "wonderfully original passages too...Some of the instrumental writing is exquisite. And especially in the final two acts, there are ensembles and scenes of undeniable strength of personality. This is not some quaint antiquarian resurrection, but an opera that can work for today's audiences on stage." As there are less than a half dozen aural recordings and no video recordings of Die Feen this does not permit many in depth evaluations of this early work. This particular recording should be compared to that of Sawallisch in order to achieve some understanding of Wagner's early operatic compositional efforts.

A rarity. Not many recordings of this produced. As a collector of Wagner, just had to have it. Now let's see how many times I play it. Interesting that an early Puccini composition had the same name/topic.

"Die Feen" ("The Fairies") was the twenty year old Wagner's first opera, (1833).First performed in 1888, five years after Wagner's death.Wagner Completists need at least one recording of it.It has been recorded four times - all are on CD.Not yet available on DVD or Blu-Ray."Complete" recordings of "Die Feen", in ascending order of completeness:[hint: for ease of navigation, read the review though to the end, then come back and click on the links.]2 hours, 46 minutes = Wolfgang Sawallisch, Munich Opera, 1983:  Feen-Comp Opera 2 hours, 53 minutes = Sebastian Weigle, Frankfurt Opera, 2011:  Die Feen 3 hours, 1 minute = Gabor Otvos, Cagliari Opera, 1998: The recording under review. *3 hours, 20 minutes = Edward Downes, BBC, 1976:  Wagner: Complete Operas (Limited Edition) Since "Die Feen" is such a rarity, I can only recommend a performance that is both complete and comes with a libretto and English translation.That makes it easy.Curiously enough, the oldest recording (1976) is the only one to meet these minimum requirements.Edward Downes with the BBC is, therefore, my first choice for "Die Feen".Fortunately its a spirited performance in nice stereo sound.It was released in 2005 as a 3 CD set on the Italian label Ponto (no libretto or translation), in violation of BBC copyright - since withdrawn.Luckily, DG picked it up for inclusion in their 13 Opera, 43 CD Box:  Wagner: Complete Operas (Limited Edition) The booklet includes a link to the website where librettos and translations can be downloaded (clumsy but unavoidable in a bargain box like this).DG also licensed the Downes/BBC recording of Wagner's second opera "Das Liebesverbot" for their Big Wagner Box.The best available performances of Wagner's first three operas, on nine CDs with complete librettos, for only $75 would be a bargain all by itself.Think of the remaining ten operas as a bonus.P.S. I have also prepared discographies of  Wagner: Das Liebesverbot  - and -  Wagner: Rienzi * The original, pricier release of the Otvos recording on the Dynamic label:  Wagner - Die Feen  included the text and translation.Still 19 minutes shorter than Downes in the DG box.

Diese Oper 4 Sterne:PRO:- tolle Melodien, die den reiferen Wagner durchaus vorausahnen lassen- sehr schöne Ouvertüre- ein umwerfender und sehr mitreissender kompletter 3. AktCONTRA:- ein teilweise fast peinliches Libretto mit einer sehr dünnen Story- für die etwas dünne Story doch phasenweise ziemlich langDie Oper ist aber absolut kein Verlust im CD-Regal eines Opernliebhabers. Ob sie einen eingeschworenen Wagnerianer überzeugen kann, muss jeder für sich selber entscheiden.Diese Aufnahme 2 Sterne:PRO:- gutes Orchester- gut aufeinander abgestimmte Sänger- sehr gut eingestellter Chor- günstiger PreisCONTRA:- sehr schlechte Aufnahmequalität- viele störende Nebengeräusche, es wird nahezu alles abgebildet, was sich auf der Bühne, im Orchester und im Publikum neben der Musik und der Handlung noch so abspielt (Notenblättern, Schritte, Bühnenmechanik usw.), ohne dass eine wirkliche Live-Spannung entsteht

Very good recording of a unknown Wagner opera.

Pretty and functional

Die Feen finde ich etwas langweilig und Wagner wollte mit Recht diese Oper nicht mehr so recht anerkennen. Aber für die Enwicklung des Komponisten interessant zu hören.

Sehr schlechte Aufnahme es ist kein Genuss dem zuzuhören. Für Musik Fans nicht zu empfehlen. Es ist Teilweise sogar eine Zumutung für das Ohr.