The ideal "Siegfried Idyll"

[Birgitte Jorgensen <bj@kemmunet.net.mt>]

Jorg wrote:
>Who knows more about GG´s interests in conducting in his later life. I
think
>I´ve heard it in a german TV-broadcast, that GG has arranged two (?)
dates
>in order to conduct Beethovens Corelian and Mendelsohns
Sommernachtstraum
in
>his last days before he died? Is this correct and wich
>interpretation/recording is recommended to have a good taste ???

Anne Smith wrote:
>GG hired some musicians in Toronto to record "Siegfried Idyll".  He
>conducted.   I don't care for Wagner's music so I can't really judge
>if it is tasteful.  I think that this is all he got done before he
died.

>GG planned to do more conducting than piano playing.  He planned
>to record some piano concerti with the piano and orchestra
>recorded separately and put together with editing.  It's a shame he
>didn't get to do this.  It would have been an interesting experiment.

Yes, it is lamentable that his all-too-brief foray into conducting gave
us just this fleeting shimmer of what might have been.

Jorg, I would not hesitate to recommend to you the Sony release of
Siegfried. I find it a deeply moving interpretation and it very nearly
breaks my heart.

Birgitte Jorgensen