Richard Wagner in an intimate encounter

Wolfgang Sawallisch, who was for many years the general music director of the Bavarian State Opera chose these two works in their original form to play in a concert of Wagner’s music which could not have taken place in more beautiful surroundings. In the Singer's Hall of Neuschwanstein Castle - that half finished fairy-tale castle in the "Königswinkel" (royal corner) of upper Bavaria, built by Ludwig II as a homage to the creations of his friend and idol Richard Wagner, the Wesendonck Lieder and the Siegfried Idyll were performed by Marjana Lipovsek and members of the Bavarian State Orchestra.

All of the musicians from that evening play in friendliest cooperation with one another as well as having a deeply felt relationship with the music. This comes through in the  recording which through fortunate circumstances was made that evening.

Sawallisch leads his musicians in a quasi affectionate-yet-reserved manner. These were the Slovenian mezzo-soprano Marjana Lipovsek who under his direction started her career in numerous big roles at the Bavarian State Opera, not least those of Wagner, and also the musicians of "his"  State Orchestra which Sawallisch, who was born in Munich, had since his debut in 1954 conducted in innumerable opera performances and symphony concerts by the "Musikalische Akademie" (the concert formation of the Bavarian State Orchestra). From 1971 Sawallisch was their general music director for a period of twenty-two years.