Reyer: Sigurd
Soloists
ORTF Orchestra Philharmonique
Manuel Rosenthal
This is one of the operas I had been most looking forward to including in this project. Last year I was impressed by Reyer’s Salammbô https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1115302661835546773/7844049923808258817 and said that I wanted to hear Sigurd. I managed to track down a recording of the radio broadcast from 1974. The recording has quite significant cuts but even so is still long, spreading over three CDs.
Sigurd is Reyer’s version of the Nibelungen legends - apparently he was aware that Wagner was writing the Ring while he was working on his opera. The opera was hugely successful for the years up to the beginning of the First World War, but then fell completely out of favour.
I enjoyed it immensely and thought that it was a superb piece. Had it not been for the similarly of subject matter with the Wagner it could have stood a chance of remaining in the repertory. It is very much in the Meyerbeerian grand opera tradition but with significant influence of Berlioz. There are some Wagnerian influences, though these are from the earlier operas, particularly Lohengrin. There is a great sense of propulsion throughout the score and one can see why the work was so effective on stage. I’m so pleased that I finally got to hear the opera. I’ve know about it for years and have always been intrigued by what is might sound like.
