Henk de Vlieger has made an impressive sideline career with his symphonic syntheses of the music dramas of
Richard Wagner, in addition to his regular position as percussionist for the
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. His arrangements of music from Der Ring des Nibelungen, Parsifal, and Tristan und Isolde have been handsomely recorded by
Neeme Järvi and the
Royal Scottish National Orchestra, who also performed Meistersinger: An Orchestral Tribute for Chandos in 2010, demonstrating a continued support of
de Vlieger's projects. Concert versions of
Wagner's music date back to the composer's own arrangements, as well as to those of his followers, but they were usually straightforward excerpts with vocals removed and appropriate closing cadences tacked on.
De Vlieger is more involved with the material, and produces orchestral suites that present the music almost in an "opera without words" format that connects directly to the stories of the original works. Considering the difficulty some listeners experience breaking into
Wagner's long operas -- Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg can run in excess of 5 hours -- these orchestral versions may be an attractive introduction for beginners. This SACD is rounded out with Two Tragic Entr'actes, which have been constructed by
de Vlieger from
Wagner's sketches, as well as the seldom played A Faust Overture and the deeply obscure Overture to Columbus. The curious will find these filler pieces interesting enough for a few hearings, but the Meistersinger compilation is of sufficient length, musical variety, and expressive richness to reward repeated listening.