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Wagner's Ring des nibelungen

28K views 111 replies 40 participants last post by  apricissimus 
#1 ·
hi

i'm a great fan of the ring des nibelungen by wagner.
any other fans?

my complete ring cycles on cd:
-edition Herbert Von Karajan
-edition Georg Solti
-edition Pierre Boulez
-edition James Levine

my complete ring cycles on lp:
-edition Wilhelm Furtwängler
-edition Herbert Von Karajan
-edition Georg Solti

any other good editions available?
 
#2 ·
I think there may be one or two other fans of Wagner on this forum . . .

Der Ring des Nibelungen was my first opera experience and I watched all four operas back to back. It took nearly a week. I was never once bored -- in fact the experience held me captivated.

I must admit to being a little disappointed in the Siegfreid's Death and Funeral music section because I was comparing it to the same music used to far more epic effect in a similar scene in John Boorman's Excalibur. It is more epic than the Götterdämmerung production I was watching anyway.
 
#5 ·
I think there may be one or two other fans of Wagner on this forum . . .
Umm, yeah... hi.:)

My 'go-to' cycle remains Solti- but Keilberth 1955 contains my favorite Siegfried.
Not, I hasten to add, that I think there's anything really wrong with Solti's Siegfried.

Since you can get Böhm's Ring Cycle as part of the "Wagner Cube" [a box set titled "Wagner- Great Operas from the Bayreuth Festival," on Decca] and get all 10 canonical Wagner operas for c. $70.00 (or less, haven't checked prices since I got mine over a year ago), the Böhm tops the chart of bargain recommendations.

I normally try not to pan Ring Cycle recordings- but a caution should be entered into the record concerning Haitink and Goodall. The oft-cited stumbling block with the Haitink is a sub-optimal Brünnhilde. Die Walküre and Götterdämmerung, particularly, suffer when this condition is present. Goodall is hampered by some truly distortive tempi- especially in Götterdämmerung. He takes so much longer than anyone else that once, when calculating average times for certain select Wagner opera recordings, I simply threw his time out. If I'd added it, I would have gotten an average that indicated that Götterdämmerung took longer than Meistersinger!:eek:
["The abominable slowman!" once quipped Wagner academic and author John Deathridge.:D]
 
#4 ·
For me, the Solti is still the recorded cycle to have. He seems to realise that the work is a music drama as well as an epic work. I understand some people feel he overstates the excitement but for me his is a reading that truly returns the cycle to the the narrative arena aftter the Nazi associations and enables the listener to hear the work anew.

However, it is worth supplementing the CD set with the stupendous Boulez/Chereau Bayreuth production on DVD.
 
#6 ·
Visually, Boulez's Ring is good. For the musical punch from the orchestra, no one has improved on Solti. Why is Solti rued for the overstatement of excitement? He has brought vigour and I am sure his is a worthy offering. Many pooh his Mahler's Eighth but frankly I haven't come across a crisper and heavyweight recording than that...
 
#7 ·
I've been looking at Boulez' Ring cycle (mostly because I think I'll be given the Solti cycle toward the end of this month). Boulez has risen from being one of my very least favorites to one of my top 5 conductors.

I've heard the Bohm Ring (from the Wagner Cube CTP has above mentioned), and while I liked it, it was completely blown out of the water by a Met broadcast of Das Rheingold, James Levine conducting, and it seriously made Bohm's sound practically monochrome as far as how magical the orchestra sounded. I'm not sure about the soloists, but the orchestra seems so much... more in general.
 
#12 ·
Keilberth '55
Knapppertsbusch '56
Solti
Barenboim DVD
Furtwängler '53 (would be higher if sound were better)
von Karajan
Krauss '53
Levine/Boulez DVD

is probably my order today (it will change). I still have to listen to the budget Böhm that I picked up recently and I'd like to hear the early 40's Met Ring and the '60 Kempe Bayreuth Ring. And there are many individual recordings worth sampling (Haitink Rheingold/Furtwängler studio Walküre/De Billy Rheingold DVD/Mehta Siegfried DVD).
 
#14 ·
Krauss '53 from Bayreuth

The Furtwangler '53 from Rome (I am listening to the '50 La Scala in bits to see how I like it in comparison).

'55 Keilberth from Bayreuth remains my overall favorite because it is a staged performance, but in decent stereo from the 50s, and with many of the main singers in younger voice than for Solti. I also like Varnay overall as Brunnhilde, but am nearly as fond of Nilsson and Modl.
 
#15 ·
mmm.....

Pierre Boulez? Pierre Boulez! Why in heaven have you choosen Pierre Boulez?...pierre boulez....

A very personal interpretation of Der Ring...Very personal Das is not Wagner! It is Boulez' Ring.

Martin
 
#16 · (Edited)
I found a nice summary of the Ring that is helping me as I work my way through my first DVD set. Had I not read this I would have been totally baffled with Walkurie as I am 40 minutes in and have yet to see any clear connection to Rheingold. But with this article giving the missing details of what happens between the two operas I can watch in contentment.

http://www.well.com/user/woodman/singthing/ring/story.html
 
#18 ·
My favorites... Goodall, Furtwangler (both), Keilberth, Karajan, Knappertsbusch 56, Solti, Janowski, Barenboim (not as video) and my favorite video Ring- Mehta...the ones I don't care for as much. Levine (both), Haitink, Boulez (but I like it as a video)
 
#19 · (Edited)
I've been collecting Rings for 40 years (gulp!), and I have one full cycle for each of those years. The pedant in me says it should be 38, in that I've doubled-up on Boulez and Barenboim in that I own the CDs and DVDs, but they're different "soundtracks", so I'll count them separately.

Favourites? I might hazard a Top Ten in no particular order: Solti, Karajan, Barenboim, Böhm, Goodall, Keilberth '54, Krauss '53, Janowski (Dresden), Furtwängler (both). That said, every set certainly has its virtues - whether vocal, orchestral or both - and I've enjoyed pretty much all of them. There are one or two exceptions, but I'm too gallant to drop names :)
 
#23 · (Edited)
Great singers, both, and Goodall's expansive tempi really allow their beautiful voices to bloom. The rest of the cast is pretty special too: Norman Bailey (Wotan), Derek Hammond-Stroud (Alberich), Gregory Dempsey (Mime), Ann Howard (Fricka), Margaret Curphey (Sieglinde) and Norman Wellsby (Gunther), to name a chosen few. I mention these in particular because each gives a superb account of their respective roles, among the very best on record in my opinion. So, too, do Hunter and Remedios, of course.
 
#28 ·
There is no perfect Ring cycle nor could there be. The challenge of the thing in casting and recording is really quite incredible. The best conducted and played and recorded Ring has to be Karajan's. However, there are some quirks of casting which some find more difficult than I do.
Solti's is of course the most famous with a fabulously cast and conducted Gotterdamerung. But his Wotan (Hotter) is a distinct liability in parts of Siegfried as his voice had by then almost gone and in Walkure it is disastrous in spite of his experience and artistry. Nilsson is a phenomenon but I do find her somewhat chilly.
I find Janowski 1 a pretty good all round set although Altmeyer's Brunnhilde is a bit strained.
Bohm is very swift and I don't like the Bayreuth recording. But he certainly strikes sparks. The cast is pretty good although somewhat elderly by that time. Some swear by it but not me.
Krauss would be the ideal Ring if it had been recorded by Decca engineers 10 years later. As it is the sound is just not up to modern standards. But a great performance with a great cast all the same. Listen to the real Hotter Wotan here!
 
#30 · (Edited)
This appears to be one excellent Ring. This one from 1968 live performance. (sound clips to Walkure):


Can get the whole ring in this live performance, but it will be expensive, about $278 plus $16 shipping on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BLI5D2
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BLI5DC
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C1OZ12
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C1OZ1C

But if you open the four links given in this page There is a streaming link for each opera and you can listen to all of it.
 
#49 · (Edited)
So of those you have listed, I believe the sound quality is quite good for Bohm and Solti, but I see them at the bottom of your list, though that list may not be in order of preference.

But of the first five, which is the best sound? I am curious because I am listening to a very good remaster of Krauss right now. It is very good, but sound quality is not quite where I like it. Would Keilberth, Kna or one of the Furts be better?
 
#50 ·
Unfortunately neither Furt is well recorded. Kna, Krauss, and Keilberth are all a step up in sound quality. The Keilberth is stereo, and might be the best choice of the early Rings based on just that alone. However, the new Orfeo remastering of the Krauss is so good that I must say it may be the best Ring of all when performance and sound are weighed equally. It really depends on how much you value stereo over mono. Otherwise to my ear the Keilberth and newly remastered Krauss sound roughly equal sonicly, with Krauss getting the nod for being a more engaging performance.

Frankly after these earlier recordings, Solti and Bohm bore me too much despite the superior sound quality. In fact I consider the Solti the only one of the two worth having just so I can have a top notch sounding Ring if I ever need it. If these were the only two Rings available however, I would choose Bohm.

Of course for me Furtwangler's 1950 La Scala Ring still draws me in like no other. With an opera tale this long, sound quality concern diminishes over time, and you want a performance that keeps you engaged. The Gebhardt release has the best sound. It's not that the sound quality is bad to distraction. It's just not on par with the others mentioned.
 
#51 ·
Latest Orfeo Krauss and Gebhardt Furtwangler Rings have been surpassed in sound quality (I used to own them) by the amazing restorations of Andrew Rose for Pristine XR, makes them even more valuable Rings by uncovering large amounts of fine detail previously masked or obscured, it is quite remarkable and a gift from the opera god for wagner fans.....

There are extended high quality sound samples at Pristine website, reviewer comments:

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2010/Apr10/wagner_ring_paco039-41.htm

 
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