The talk on Twitter yesterday turned, as it often does, to Fritz Wunderlich, and the question of a complete Eugene Onegin recording came up. As far as I know, there’s only one: a live 1962 performance from Munich, with Hermann Prey in the title role, Ingeborg Bremert as Tatyana, Brigitte Fassbaender as Olga, and Joseph Keilberth conducting the Orchestra and Chorus of the Bavarian State Opera.
(You can listen to the recording below, or follow the links to download it from Rapidshare.)
Acts One and Two
Acts Two and Three
Wunderlich also made a pair of German-language highlights discs around this same time, the first for EMI in 1961 (with Prey, Melitta Muzsely, and Gottlob Frick, and coupled with selections from Pique Dame), the second for Deutsche Grammophon four years later (with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Evelyn Lear, Brigitte Fassbaender, and Martti Talvela).
Wow! The mysterious and serendipitous byways of the web (Joyce DiDonato’s blog, to her Twitter feed, to your Twitter, to this blog) have just led me here, and I couldn’t be more delighted to find news of this recording. Wunderlich has been on my stereo all evening, and a favorite almost from the first note heard. Thanks!