Schmidt-Isserstedt: Music from Das Rheingold, Die Walkure, Siegfried - Odeon XOC 113

Jacket GOOD / LP EX / French pressing

This outstanding LP from Odeon (XOC 113, French pressing, yellow/brown label, mono – no stereo edition exists) features Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt conducting the Northwest German Radio (NDR) Symhony Orchestra in a brilliant all-Wagner program, sumptuously recorded in the rich acoustics of the Musikhalle, Hamburg on 15 December 1955.

*Note: This is a very heavy pressing – I have little doubt that it is at least 200g.

The exact contents are as follows:

Das Rheingold: Entrance of the Gods into Valhalla

Die Walküre: Magic Fire Music

Siegfried: Forest Murmurs

Götterdämmerung: Siegfried's Rhine Journey and Funeral Music

Reviewing Tahra’s CD re-issue (TAH 694-696) of these recordings for MusicWeb-International, the outstanding critic Jonathan Woolf wrote: “The rest of the final disc consists of Wagnerian chunks, played with fulsome commitment and, once again, a sure sense of the music’s direction, its peaks and troughs.”

In lieu of liner notes the reverse side of the jacket carries the track listing and reproductions of other albums in Odeon's "Les Classiques Favoris" series. The amazing cover art is uncredited.

CONDITION:

The gradations of condition I use are as follows: MINT, Near-Mint, Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor.

The condition of the laminated jacket is GOOD. There is edgewear, creasing, and ringwear. However, there are no seamsplits, owners' markings, or other defects and the album remains solid, bright, glossy, and highly attractive in appearance – overall, still a decent collector's copy.

The condition of the LP itself is EXCELLENT. Though there is light surface noise throughout, in general the playback remains quite fine. However, those wanting a flawless or near-MINT copy are kindly advised to look elsewhere. Overall, this is as an excellent collector's copy.