Wagner Magic Fire Music Stokowski, NBC Symphony (1944)

The closing pages of Die Walküre from Wagner s Ring Cycle depict Wotan s displeasure at his daughter Brünnhilde s disobedience. His punishment is to put her to sleep on the Valkryries Rock, surrounded by a wall of magic fire that only a true hero can penetrate. Leopold Stokowski made several arrangements from Wagner s musicdramas in which the vocal lines are taken over by various orchestral sections. Wotan s Farewell and Magic Fire Music was played at an NBC Symphony concert in 1944 and is one of the items on a Pristine Audio CD where the decadesold broadcasts are given a vivid new lease of life. We hear the final moments of Stokowski s refulgent transcription in a typically excellent Pristine transfer. (PASC 609).