Here's a very good review of the 1973 recording posted by Ralph Moore at Amazon.com:
First performed in 1884, of Wagnerian length at just over three hours and with a plot which uses the same elements adapted from the Lay of the Nibelungs that we find in the last scene of "Siegfried" and the three Acts of "Götterdämmerung", the similarities between "Sigurd" and Wagner's mammoth works are nonetheless coincidental, as Reyer's sketches predate the first performances in Paris of the last parts of the "Ring" by nearly two decades. It has since borne the fate of being first overshadowed then eclipsed by Wagner's Gesamtkunstwerke.
It was in fact in some ways as retrogressive as Wagner's music was innovative, being very much in the tradition of French heroic Grand Opera and evidently heavily indebted to French predecessors, especially Berlioz, echoes of whom are constant throughout the opera. At times a little bombastic, it thus at its worst recalls the empty pomp of Meyerbeer, although despite the heavy orchestration with its over-use of cymbals, I found although a libretto is available on the Internet - French only - no translation - I had no need of recourse to it, so clear is the diction of the artists recorded here. The frequent use of shimmering strings and the deployment of heavy brass do seem to recall Wagner but that, too, must be coincidental and more often than not I found myself remembering features of Berlioz's two great operas, "Les troyens" and "Benvenuto Cellini" and there are passages of "spirit music" in Act II which anticipate Massenet's "Esclarmonde". not performed until 1889.
Although Wagner by no means invented its use, another Wagnerian feature in "Sigurd" is the use - indeed, over-use - of motifs. Wagner made much more subtle and varied use of them, whereas Sigurd's theme - a heroic, stentorian, ascending brass figure - and Brunehild's calling card, "La Valkyrie est ta conquête", are decidedly over-exposed, although at least memorable and effective, which cannot be said of all Reyer's melodies. He has a fine sense of the dramatic and his orchestration is striking, but he does not share Berlioz's melodic fecundity. He can resort to "note-spinning" and his long tunes are sometimes either too diffuse or too obvious, hence the two-note minor-third invocation of the gods sounded in the opening and throughout Act II is rather crude and over-repetitive.
The opera is especially strong in ensembles of a rousing nature such as the drinking and hunting choruses, and also duets, trios and quartets, such as the confrontations between Hilda and Brunehild over their love for Sigurd - where the Hilda's opening phrases. "Jeune reine, ma soeur" remind us of Gluck, another influence over Reyer - the extended duet between Brunehild and Gunther in Act III, the trio in Act II "Ô Brunehild, ô vierge armée" and little gems like the music for the quartet of Attila's emissaries in Act I. Sigurd's death is a little anticlimactic musically, although the build-up to his murder is similar in tension and atmosphere to the scene in "Pelléas et Mélisande" just before Golaud stabs Pelléas, and Brunhild's lament "Sigurd est mort" strikes home. The apotheosis of the last scene is highly effective if musically conventional.
The cast could hardly be bettered, featuring some of the best French singers of the era. This was a studio recording in 1973; the stereo sound, conducting, playing and singing could hardly be better given its provenance, the chorus being lusty and committed, the orchestral sound first rate and Rosenthal's direction utterly apt. Andréa Guiot's Brunehild appears a little earlier than Wagner's Brünnhilde in "Siegfried", but still not until half way through the opera and it's worth the wait: she has a big, creamy, vibrant sound worthy of a mortal who was formerly a goddess and she has less edge and "scratch" in her voice than Crespin, who also liked this role. Andrée Esposito is fine as a febrile Hilda and mezzo Denise Scharley similarly satisfying as her nurse. Listening to excerpts sung by Georges Thill and César Vezzani makes you realise just how marvellous the role of Sigurd can be made to sound by a tenor of exceptional quality but Guy Chauvet does not let the side down. He has a rather hard, constricted sound and begins a little tentatively, struggling a little with his top notes, but he soon warms up and makes a lovely job of his big aria, "Esprits gardiens", starting in a melting mezza voce before swelling his tone into full voice. A great treat for me is hearing Robert Massard, the finest French baritone of his generation and in my opinion a much under-rated singer.His French baritone counterpart, Ernest Blanc, a Bayreuth regular as Telramund, is also impressive as the High Priest with his dark, grainy tone. Belgian bass Jules Bastin is in fine, elegant voice as Hagen, making much of his spritely aria announcing Gunther's nuptials.The only relative blot is the growly, unsteady Bard with his uncertain intonation in low notes.
Unfortunately this wonderful memento of a once prized but now nearly forgotten has not been re-issued since its first appearance on CD in 1989 and copies are rare. I obtained mine on eBay from a gifted private producer and sound restoration specialist friend who makes transfers from LP to CD of very high quality for private use; as a bonus, arias by Thill and Crespin are appended. It is by no means a perfect work but I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it twice through with hardly a break.
First performed in 1884, of Wagnerian length at just over three hours and with a plot which uses the same elements adapted from the Lay of the Nibelungs that we find in the last scene of "Siegfried" and the three Acts of "Götterdämmerung", the similarities between "Sigurd" and Wagner's mammoth works are nonetheless coincidental, as Reyer's sketches predate the first performances in Paris of the last parts of the "Ring" by nearly two decades. It has since borne the fate of being first overshadowed then eclipsed by Wagner's Gesamtkunstwerke.
It was in fact in some ways as retrogressive as Wagner's music was innovative, being very much in the tradition of French heroic Grand Opera and evidently heavily indebted to French predecessors, especially Berlioz, echoes of whom are constant throughout the opera. At times a little bombastic, it thus at its worst recalls the empty pomp of Meyerbeer, although despite the heavy orchestration with its over-use of cymbals, I found although a libretto is available on the Internet - French only - no translation - I had no need of recourse to it, so clear is the diction of the artists recorded here. The frequent use of shimmering strings and the deployment of heavy brass do seem to recall Wagner but that, too, must be coincidental and more often than not I found myself remembering features of Berlioz's two great operas, "Les troyens" and "Benvenuto Cellini" and there are passages of "spirit music" in Act II which anticipate Massenet's "Esclarmonde". not performed until 1889.
Although Wagner by no means invented its use, another Wagnerian feature in "Sigurd" is the use - indeed, over-use - of motifs. Wagner made much more subtle and varied use of them, whereas Sigurd's theme - a heroic, stentorian, ascending brass figure - and Brunehild's calling card, "La Valkyrie est ta conquête", are decidedly over-exposed, although at least memorable and effective, which cannot be said of all Reyer's melodies. He has a fine sense of the dramatic and his orchestration is striking, but he does not share Berlioz's melodic fecundity. He can resort to "note-spinning" and his long tunes are sometimes either too diffuse or too obvious, hence the two-note minor-third invocation of the gods sounded in the opening and throughout Act II is rather crude and over-repetitive.
The opera is especially strong in ensembles of a rousing nature such as the drinking and hunting choruses, and also duets, trios and quartets, such as the confrontations between Hilda and Brunehild over their love for Sigurd - where the Hilda's opening phrases. "Jeune reine, ma soeur" remind us of Gluck, another influence over Reyer - the extended duet between Brunehild and Gunther in Act III, the trio in Act II "Ô Brunehild, ô vierge armée" and little gems like the music for the quartet of Attila's emissaries in Act I. Sigurd's death is a little anticlimactic musically, although the build-up to his murder is similar in tension and atmosphere to the scene in "Pelléas et Mélisande" just before Golaud stabs Pelléas, and Brunhild's lament "Sigurd est mort" strikes home. The apotheosis of the last scene is highly effective if musically conventional.
The cast could hardly be bettered, featuring some of the best French singers of the era. This was a studio recording in 1973; the stereo sound, conducting, playing and singing could hardly be better given its provenance, the chorus being lusty and committed, the orchestral sound first rate and Rosenthal's direction utterly apt. Andréa Guiot's Brunehild appears a little earlier than Wagner's Brünnhilde in "Siegfried", but still not until half way through the opera and it's worth the wait: she has a big, creamy, vibrant sound worthy of a mortal who was formerly a goddess and she has less edge and "scratch" in her voice than Crespin, who also liked this role. Andrée Esposito is fine as a febrile Hilda and mezzo Denise Scharley similarly satisfying as her nurse. Listening to excerpts sung by Georges Thill and César Vezzani makes you realise just how marvellous the role of Sigurd can be made to sound by a tenor of exceptional quality but Guy Chauvet does not let the side down. He has a rather hard, constricted sound and begins a little tentatively, struggling a little with his top notes, but he soon warms up and makes a lovely job of his big aria, "Esprits gardiens", starting in a melting mezza voce before swelling his tone into full voice. A great treat for me is hearing Robert Massard, the finest French baritone of his generation and in my opinion a much under-rated singer.His French baritone counterpart, Ernest Blanc, a Bayreuth regular as Telramund, is also impressive as the High Priest with his dark, grainy tone. Belgian bass Jules Bastin is in fine, elegant voice as Hagen, making much of his spritely aria announcing Gunther's nuptials.The only relative blot is the growly, unsteady Bard with his uncertain intonation in low notes.
Unfortunately this wonderful memento of a once prized but now nearly forgotten has not been re-issued since its first appearance on CD in 1989 and copies are rare. I obtained mine on eBay from a gifted private producer and sound restoration specialist friend who makes transfers from LP to CD of very high quality for private use; as a bonus, arias by Thill and Crespin are appended. It is by no means a perfect work but I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it twice through with hardly a break.