WAGNER: Overtures to “Der Fliegende Hollander” and...

WAGNER: Overtures to “Der Fliegende Hollander” and “Tannhauser”; Preludes to Acts I of “Lohengrin” and “Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg”; Prelude and Liebestod from “Tristan und Isolde.” Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Seiji Ozawa. Philips 426 271-2. One can only express awe at the graceful, polished, stupendously beautiful playing of the Berlin Philharmonic--a virtually flawless musical machine--here. That said, one also cannot find any other reason to buy this disc of Wagner standards, for Ozawa’s conceptions are so faceless and bland that they don’t stand a chance against the competition. The “Tristan” excerpts have the most life of the lot, relatively speaking, while the “Tannhauser”--taken at a somnolently dragging pace--is the low point.