Parsifal, his son Lohengrin and Siegmund have (I believe) been Peter Hofmann's roles in Wagner's operas on stage, though we know from the Philips records of the concert performances of Tristan how well he can sing the title role there. Thus he has concentrated on lyrical rather than the heroic parts. Indeed, he has said, in interview and on the sleeve-note here, that he abjures, indeed is frightened of, the word Heldentenor, fearing that it suggests ''roaring''. So it is rather odd that I found myself responding more eagerly here to Hofmann's declamatory (certainly not roaring) manner in Siegfried's Forging Song and in Tannhauser's Rome Narration than to his lyrical style in Siegmund's Spring Song or Lohengrin's Grail Narration, as in a similar way I preferred him as a Third Act to Second Act Tristan. Without his handsome appearance to help, I find his 'straight' singing lacks a steady stream of tone, the somewhat gritty tone being bumpily emitted, thus detracting from the obvious feeling for the music under inspection. An exception is Rienzi's Prayer (the first scene of Act 5 is presented complete with introduction and postlude), where Hofmann's piano singing is finer and more even.
In the Tannhauser extract, which continues until the anti-hero's return to Venusberg (hence the appearance of a Wolfram), Hofmann doesn't quite match in tension Melchior's classic performance (recently reissued in HMV's large Wagner boxed set—RLS7711, 4/83), but it comes pretty close, and ''Nothung! Nothung!'' suggests very much a Siegfried in the making with its youthful ardour and full-throated accents. Walther's music, perhaps the most difficult in all Wagner, produces moments of strain, particularly in the fiendish tessitura of the Prize Song. But, as a whole, you won't hear better today, and if you forget Melchior and Volker, or don't happen to have encountered their records. Hofmann has much to offer. The less than first-rate orchestra is a little distantly recorded, but Ivan Fischer shows understanding of the idiom, especially in the Rienzi and Tannhauser items.'