Other singers have Wagner discs, Matthias Goerne has a Wagner Project – which is typical of his probing approach to whatever he sings. This double CD teams him with conductor Daniel Harding and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in key monologues from the composer’s biggest baritone roles. He’s an unusually tender Wotan bidding farewell to his daughter, a contemplative rather than bluff Hans Sachs. Similarly, he lavishes velvet tone and insightful attention to text on extracts for Wolfram, Amfortas and King Marke. The surprise is his Flying Dutchman, uncompromisingly and gloriously fierce. We hear more of Harding’s glowing orchestra than of Goerne, as most of the monologues are framed by a scene-setting prelude and a postlude from the opera in question. The only problem is that however intelligently you dress it up this is still a bleeding chunks disc, and some of the stops and starts really jolt.
