Claudio Abbado conducts Wagner and Debussy — With Bryn Terfel

Claudio Abbado's grace meets Bryn Terfel's bewitching timbre.

One of the greatest performers of Wagner's repertoire, the bass-baritone Bryn Terfel gives an emotional interpretation of Wotan thanks to his powerful voice and his perfect diction. Walkyrie's music walks among the mystical plains with Claudio Abbado's ample and inspired conducting. If indeed the musicians notably Renaud Capuçon and Emmanuel Pahud are suspended to the maestro's movements, it is Bryn Terfel's strength that transfigures this excerpt from Wagner's tetralogia. No need for stage direction or for any costumes, the musician's commitment make this concert a remarkable and unique moment of the Lucerne Festival.

Known his interpretation of French music, Claudio Abbado reproduces in the Martyre de Saint Sébastien or La Mer the same miracles of transparency that he gave in other pages of Debussy. His lyrical tempo and his watchful eye bring refined notes out of his musicians. From the choir to the soprano, the orchestra magnifies these poetic pages of the French composer.