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Hello everyone,

I was hoping to find someone more well-versed in this than I am... I am trying to find out if the entirety of Richard Wagner's Lohengrin was ever produced on a 78, or if not all of it, specifically anything from Act II or more specifically, Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral. I have found various catalog references to some of the more popular pieces from the work, such as Wedding March and Elsa's Dream, but I haven't been able to find any reference to anything from Act II.

Thanks in advance.

UK Columbia recorded several Wagner operas complete in Bayreuth during the 1928 Festival. I once had Tannhauser in two 12 inch albums, bought cheaply at a car boot sale, but passed it on to another forum member and avid collector of Wagner several years ago. I have also seen Tristan & Isolde on 20 12 inch records in three albums, so they are out there.

As far as I am aware, there was no complete recording of Lohengrin on 78s although numerous excerpts were recorded right from the very earliest days. Unfortunately, very few of these excerpts are from Act 2 in fact I think you would be very lucky to find anything other than Elsa's Balcony Scene and the record that I think you may be looking for which is sometimes called The Wedding Procession Music. This takes place towards the end of Act 2 as Elsa, surrounded by her Maids of Honour, make their way from the castle to the Minster.

Albert Coates, the conductor, recorded it for HMV (on D937) released in February 1925 but there will almost certainly be other recordings.

Tim W-W

I knew I had it somewhere in my collection. Not for sale, but another version to look out for :

epigramophone wrote:UK Columbia recorded several Wagner operas complete in Bayreuth during the 1928 Festival. I once had Tannhauser in two 12 inch albums, bought cheaply at a car boot sale, but passed it on to another forum member and avid collector of Wagner several years ago. I have also seen Tristan & Isolde on 20 12 inch records in three albums, so they are out there.

I once passed on a Tristan set. It was multiple albums, in a remote location, and I just couldn't see lugging it out of there. I don't regret it! What I do regret was not being able to get the Credenza that came with it!

The earliest complete Lohengrin appears to be a performance in Russian issued on the Melodiya label in 1949, with Samuel Samosud conducting. There was a 'pocket' version on eight sides made by Deutsche Grammophon in 1929 with Fritz Wolff in the title role and an even more compressed selection made in the U.S.A. in 1942. Generally the opera was represented only by isolated extracts from the first and third acts, including the Act III duet on three Odeon sides from 1909 with Destinn as Elsa.

The 1928 Columbia Tannhaüser is not quite complete, the third act being considerably truncated.

Oliver Mundy.

Wagnerian wrote:...Albert Coates, the conductor, recorded it for HMV (on D937) released in February 1925 but there will almost certainly be other recordings.

Tim W-W

Assuming it's the same recording issued on US Victor 9017, note that it's sung in English, not German.

Wagnerian wrote:As far as I am aware, there was no complete recording of Lohengrin on 78s although numerous excerpts were recorded right from the very earliest days. Unfortunately, very few of these excerpts are from Act 2 in fact I think you would be very lucky to find anything other than Elsa's Balcony Scene and the record that I think you may be looking for which is sometimes called The Wedding Procession Music. This takes place towards the end of Act 2 as Elsa, surrounded by her Maids of Honour, make their way from the castle to the Minster.

Albert Coates, the conductor, recorded it for HMV (on D937) released in February 1925 but there will almost certainly be other recordings.

Tim W-W

This would be it right here. The trip from the Castle. I'll do some searching based on those terms... thank you!

[/quote]Assuming it's the same recording issued on US Victor 9017, note that it's sung in English, not German.[/quote]

D937 is a purely orchestral record (both sides) so I doubt both sides are the same recording as Victor 9017. It is interesting-ish to note that the entry for D937 in Michael Smith's listing of HMV Black Label issues is not quite correct as it states the title as "Lohengrin - The Bridal March", whereas the actual label states "Wedding Procession Music - Act II"

Menophanes wrote:The 1928 Columbia Tannhaüser is not quite complete, the third act being considerably truncated.

Tannhauser was recorded during the Bayreuth Festival of 1930, Tristan was recorded in 1928 but you're right, both have severely truncated Act IIIs

Tim W-W

Wagnerian wrote:As far as I am aware, there was no complete recording of Lohengrin on 78s although numerous excerpts were recorded right from the very earliest days. Unfortunately, very few of these excerpts are from Act 2 in fact I think you would be very lucky to find anything other than Elsa's Balcony Scene and the record that I think you may be looking for which is sometimes called The Wedding Procession Music. This takes place towards the end of Act 2 as Elsa, surrounded by her Maids of Honour, make their way from the castle to the Minster.

Albert Coates, the conductor, recorded it for HMV (on D937) released in February 1925 but there will almost certainly be other recordings.

Tim W-W

In addition to what you mentioned above... a search for Wedding Procession from Loehingrin led me to a 1916 book called "Grand Opera with a Victrola" on Google Books. I waded into that and found this, which is dead-on the piece I'm looking for:
That lists a reference of Sousa's Band 35114 at the bottom. Searched for that, and ended up here:

http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/8114

That site can be tricky depending on how you feel about Flash but the piece I'm looking for is right in the middle of it, starting at 1:32.

This is the corps song for the Phantom Regiment Drum & Bugle Corps, of which my son is a member. So that's why I was trying to dig it up... a huge thank-you for the tips.

So now that I've ID'd some possibilities, any thoughts on where I might find a copy? The only place I know to search right now is eBay.