I'll let you folks go first.
I am always amazed at this statement which was coined by some critic with tin ears imo. What they perhaps means it's done with more subtlety than the sledge hammer approach of some. Just listen to the BPO roaring through the storms in Walkure - chamber music? :lol:1) Furtwangler's 1950 (La Scala): I'm not really fond of the fact that most of the leads have passed their prime, but Furtwangler shines.
2) Moralt's 1949: pretty rounded.
3) Karajan's DG: controversial, but this cute, "chamber" version of the Ring helped me a lot to explore the music when I first started.
And of course, one need to experience the "potted" Ring too.
Compared to the 50's Bayreuth recordings, this Konwitschny cycle does have the distinct advantage of a Mime (Peter Klein), who largely sings the notes that Wagner wrote (unlike Paul Kuen, who doesn't).View attachment 99056
The Konwitschny (bought on the Amazon Marketplace for under $20) is exceptionally well cast (with casts similar to 50's Bayreuth casts), but sonically limited, alas.
For those interested, these 26 are what I have found on Spotify. A + indicates one opera is missing (if more than one is missing I didn't include it).
+1948-49 - Moralt - Frantz, Grob-Prandl, Treptow, Vogel - Wien
1950 - Furtwängler - Frantz, Flagstad, Lorenz - Milan
1952 - Keilberth - Hotter, Varnay, Lorenz, Neidlinger - Bayreuth
1956 - Knappertsbusch - Hotter, Varnay, Windgassen, Neidlinger - Bayreuth
+1957 - Stiedry - New York
1957 - Knappertsbusch - Hotter, Varnay, Windgassen, Neidlinger - Bayreuth
1958 - Knappertsbusch - Hotter, Varnay, Windgassen, Andersson - Bayreuth
+1960 - Kempe - Uhde, Nilsson, Hopf, Kraus - Bayreuth
1958-65 - Solti - Hotter, Nilsson, Windgassen, Neidlinger - Wien
1966-67 - Böhm - Adam, Nilsson, Windgassen, Neidlinger - Bayreuth
1966-70 - Karajan - Stewart, Dernesch, Thomas, Kelemen - Berlin
1968 - Swarowsky - Polke, Kniplova, McKee, Kühne - Nürnberg
1973-77 - Goodall - Bailey, Hunter, Hunter, Hammond-Stroud - London
1979-80 - Boulez - McIntyre, Jones, Jung, Becht - Bayreuth
1980-83 - Janowski - Adam, Altmeyer, Kollo, Nimsgern - Dresden
1987-89 - Levine - Morris, Behrens, Goldberg, Wlaschiha - New York
+1988-91 - Haitink - Morris, Marton, Jerusalem, Adam - München
1991-92 - Barenboim - Tomlinson, Evans, Jerusalem, von Kannen - Bayreuth
1993-95 - Neuhold - Wegner, Pohl, Cook, Bryjak - Karlsruhe
2004 - Zagrosek - Stuttgart
+2005 - Haenchen - Nederlands
2008 - Thielemann - Bayrueth
2008-10 - Young - Hamburg
2010-12 - Weigle - Frankfurt
+2012-13 - Janowski - Berlin
2013 - Fisch - Seattle
Kempe 60 Myto
This is the Götterdämmerung from the Kempe 1960 ring, missing on Spotify, in case you want to give it a comparative listen like me in a while.
Nice! I accidentally mixed up the 61 and 62 Kempe Rings, and have not been back to anything he conducted. And at this point I'm not going to have time to get back to him this year, due to travel.With that we complete the three Wagner rings by Rudolf Kempe in Bayreuth, except 1963 which remains in Operadepot. This is the third time I post the Götterdämmerung video, but it was worth it because now I can review it in my challenge. Were you looking for it too, mountmccabe?
Does Kuen sing any of the written pitches? If so, it would be a first.But Siegfried is on another level. Paul Kuën, Bernd Aldenhoff, and Hans Hotter made for a stunning first two scenes,
Nice to see some love for Swarowsky's ring. It is a good one and unique.OK, I'm ready to post my final list. 25 Rings, even if two were cobbled together (only one of those by me).
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1968 - Swarowsky - Nürnberg - Götterdämmerung is great, especially Kniplová's Brünnhilde. The others are mediocre. Not great, but no major issues.
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Great survey of post 51 Rings MM......so much talent in the 1950s and revolutionary stage productions by Wagner grandchildren, thank the opera gods we have some good sound quality recordings of those glorious eventsThe main thing I learned is that I LOVE the 50s Bayreuth Rings. I will be spending a lot of time with them.
Varnay also in at least one Ring had to sing the Norn part and quickly transition to Brunnhilde in very next scence for Gotterdammerung at Bayreuth 1950s, talk about a marathon singing session......It was also fun to hear some of them manage to sing in all four operas*.
Commercial wise, the Sawallisch seems to be the most important missing link. I have the Haitink Gotterdämmerung, but it didn't make a good impression. Maybe I need to revisit?
Because of this thread (and a couple of others) I will get the Karajan Salzburg very soon (I'm a big fan of his studio set and incomplete set on Myto and EMI). I'm also about to pull the trigger on Kna's 1957-58. Any other suggestions?
Thank you!
Both the '76 and '77 Boulez recordings on Opera Depot have fantastic sound. I think the sound is better on both than the Philips commercial release. The singing is certainly better, and it's interesting to hear the crazy audience on the '76 cycle.Thanks to all for the guidance. I will be ordering the Kna 57-58, Karajan Salzburg, Solti '83, and Boulez '77 in the next 7-10 days.
Regarding the Karajan and Boulez, how is the sound? I have never ordered from Opera Depot.
I bought the Petrenko and Suitner from premiereopera.net and the sound is very good. They have the Karajan, Solti, and Boulez.
I have ordered a few cds from Pristine Classical before so I will look into the Krauss and Furtwängler transfers as well.
77 Boulez excellent live sound, 67-70 Karajan good to very good sound.....Regarding the Karajan and Boulez, how is the sound? I have never ordered from Opera Depot.
Thank you for the tip, DA!77 Boulez excellent live sound, 67-70 Karajan good to very good sound.....
Operadepot always has 50% or more sales every 30-60 days, be patient and take advantage of price breaks, CDRs come in 4 pocket clear plastic sleeve with two sided paper insert with track listing and cast, fast shipping 5-8 days usually