Sir Georg Solti, Wiener Philharmoniker, Vienna State Opera Choir, Kirsten Flagstad, Paul Kuen, George London, Jean Madeira, Ira Malaniuk, Gustav Neidlinger, Hetty Plumacher - Wagner - Der Ring des Nibelungen (Ring Cycle) / Sir Georg Solti

Modern storage media (CD/DVD) offer both high fidelity and great reliability in the playback of music. Yet only a bit more than a generation ago, the possibilities inherent in the long-playing record inspired John Culshaw, a young producer for Decca, to attempt the most ambitious recording project ever contemplated up to that time--a complete studio recording of the Ring. Though other Rings were issued after this landmark enterprise, none have equaled the Decca Ring in popularity. There are those who prefer live performances, or who feel that the sound and theatrical effects in this recording are overdone; nonetheless this remains the benchmark Ring, as shown by its seemingly endless rerelease schedule. The Ring effort was high profile at the time and helped nail down Sir Georg Solti's status as a "superstar" conductor and authoritative interpreter of the Wagnerian repertory. Another key contributor to the success of the project was the uniform excellence in the casting. Definitive performances given include Neidlinger's nietzschean Alberich, Stolze's whining Mime, Boehme's rumbling Fafnir, along with Nilsson in her prime-more a force of nature than a human voice. The care lavished on the capture of the music was unmatched at the time of the recording, and still leaves this as one of the best sounding Rings even today, when the oldest part (Rheingold) has reached its 40th anniversary. --Christian C. Rix Amazon.com essential recording

The Cream of the Crop, For Studio Versions

I started out with the Levine/Met dvd of this opera/cycle. As most reviewers know, that dvd tends to make the more subtle, quiet portions of the Ring seem endless (just check out the Die Walkure portion). I can't knock that dvd collection too much, because it at least gave me an idea of a more traditional Ring, and hey, the Das Rheingold part of the cycle was often very good (LOVE Christa Ludwig's Fricka! Timeless!).

Because of my being advised by knowledgeable Wagnerites that I had mostly been cheated out of a more dynamic Ring recording, I began collecting the Solti-conducted version, buying one part of the cycle a month. I felt that this was the best way to fully absorb the operas; Das Rheingold one month, Die Walkure the next, etc. This approach worked where the Levine dvd ultimately failed: I was able to hear the Ring recorded in a more controlled environment. Some would be quick to point out the disadvantages to the Solti approach, and I sympathize. A live performance can be far more edgy, spotlighting the interpreter's personalities and lending more excitment thus.

For me, the Solti-conducted Ring has become the performance that immersed me most thoroughly in the Wagner Ring cycle. This set has grown with me. It was through this cycle that I began experiencing the Ring on a distinctly personal level. Please allow me to take time out to explain myself better:

The Ring is composed of characters and situations that are directly related to timeless psychological archetypes. When one opens/immerses oneself completely to the experience that the Ring provides (having a couple of books on the subject really helps as well), one can learn about one's individual relationship to these archetypes.

A really excellent addition to buying the Solti Ring cycle are the libretto books which come with each opera, written out in different languages (including English). These also include famous pictures depicting scenes from the Ring, depicted by artist Arthur Rackham. These are each really excellent inclusions that help the listener's immersion.

I'm going to close by pointing out a couple of faults with the Solti in comparison with the other, famous studio recording of the Ring.Herbert Von Karajan's Die Walkure is probably
the most effecting in terms of the Sieglinde-Siegmund duet...we're talking astoundingly moving singing and tasteful, yet committed orchestral playing throughout the first act. But overall, the Solti Walkure is by far the most rocking interpretation I've heard (and I've heard the Furtwangler, Keilberth classic, Bohm, and Krauss Bayreuth renditions). On a lighter note, I must mention the fact that Heavy Metal (most specifically the bands Manowar, Dio-fronted Rainbow, Black Sabbath, and Judas Priest) led me toward investigating the works of Richard Wagner, and the Ring in particular. I must particularly reccomend this recording of the Ring to any fellow Metalheads out there, as I haven't heard any more powerful performances of the (to paraphrase Manowar bassist Joey DeMaio) "heavy metal-inventing" parts of this opera. I understand also that many would take this in a bad light, and to question my earlier ranking of this recording as being "dynamic". But I must point out the beauty of Siefried's soliliquoy upon drinking the dragon's blood, his death speech, the jaw-droppingly gorgeous Brunnhilde-Siegfried meeting...her awakening. All of these I found more effecting that in any other recording of this work (I DO give props to the singing in the Krauss/Bayreuth rendition however).

I must point out also that the majority of the Karajan-conducted Ring seems to suffer far less from the often irritating (and head-scratch-provoking) intonation problems the Solti recording does. But I feel that's quibbling, BUY THIS RING if you want a recording of a great work that just keeps providing new things to admire and learn from with each listen. I can't think of a more inspiring form of reccomendation than that.

GET THIS!

October 10, 2008

A great achievement, but....

Solti's Ring cycle is certainly one of the great achievements in the history of recorded music. The story behind the first studio Ring is now legendary... how a young producer named John Culshaw undertook the most ambitious recording project in history to create his vision for the ultimate Ring cycle. Boasting an all-star cast and utilizing the best available technology to its fullest potential, the final result was a Ring for the ages... or so was the general consensus. But as time wore on and new cycles by Bohm, Karajan, and (most recently) Keilberth have become available, this set's flaws become all too obvious.

Listening to any of these Solti/Culshaw operas, one immediately has to adjust for a musical barrage of exaggerated climaxes, hyped up dynamics, and (sometimes silly) sound effects. The result being that these great works come across as sounding too much like a typical Hollywood blockbuster. Admittedly the sound quality is often outstanding, but balances often seem ill-chosen with performers frequently on the verge of being overwhelmed by the orchestral soundscape. (Windgassen in particular is treated without much sympathy from either conductor or producer.) In addition, Solti's obsession with rhythmic precision and excessive punctuation often seem to shortchange the more lyrical aspects of the score. Revisiting Furtwangler on EMI or Karajan on DG as a point of comparison, one can hear how Solti prefers to deliver a sock to the solar plexus rather than gently tug at the heart strings. This ultra-theatrical approach is impressive at first, but all those in-your-face climaxes quickly grow wearisome and come to seem unnatural. Even worse, Solti's aggressive tempos sometimes have the opposite effect by arbitrarily slowing to a crawl and thereby robbing a particular scene of its forward momentum. For example, check out the Forging Scene in Siegfried- perhaps the most boring on disc. But more to the point, Solti and Culshaw's approach tends to give these operas a rather episodic feel... more like a collection of highlights than a continuous work.

Ultimately, the litmus test for any great Ring cycle is whether it holds up well upon repeated hearings. Unfortunately, whenever I now (try to) listen to one of these operas and once again find myself having to cope with Solti's aggressive tempos, his crude way of building climaxes, and the utter lack of subtlety, it almost always feels more like a chore than a pleasure.

I wonder how many of its devoted fans can still survive listening through the whole cycle... February 22, 2008

Brunnhilde Was Not Happy

I love this set and wouldn't be without it and think the remastering is an improvement over the first generation CD release. It is somewhat interesting that Decca hasn't re-mastered it further.

Anyway, interesting that Birgit Nilsson was never really that happy with the recording. Her huge voice was somewhat scaled down by the engineers in favor of the orchestral detail and volume. I heard Nilsson live enough to remember her never being drowned out by the orchestra. In her autobiography, she felt better balance was struck with this release but she was so dissatisfied with the "Walkure" recording that she almost refused to have the recording released. I actually prefer her performance in the complete live Bayreuth Ring on Phillips, conducted by Karl Bohm. That's the Brunnhilde I remember.

The other problem with this set and this is really minor, considering the medium. This music does not sound like this when heard in a theater or ever in concert. The Decca engineers were out to make a big sonic bang with these operas, and they did. The sound is incredible and if you try it on an iPOD, you'll be walking into walls.
January 9, 2008

The Greatest Listening Experience You Can Ever Have

I have owned three versions of this classic recording. My first as a set of cassette tapes that I worked part-time one summer just be be able to purchase. The second version was an early CD recording, and my third purchase was this remastered set.
This is the definitive listening experience for anyone who loves music, art, poetry and literature. I have long felt that the musical drama is the apogee of art, in that it combines so many art forms into one experience: poetry, music, singing, instrumentation, narrative, costume design, and set design.
One does not experience all of these by listening to a CD recording, but we all cannot travel to Bayreuth every time we want to experience Wagner.
I own many recordings of THE RING, and eack one has something to offer. But for sheer enjoyment and power, Solti's RING is it for me. It is my desert island disc set! November 9, 2007

Unique and legendary-this is Solti's Ring

This is, by any standards, a phenomenal achievement. I would recommend it to anyone, both new and experienced to the ring cycle to purchase this and it is, and shall remain, a landmark in studio recording. However, as a complete ring cycle, I consider Bohm's and Barenboim's to at least be its equal. Still, Solti's Gotterdammerun, Siegfried, and Rhinegold are areguably the finest on record-but his Walkure is, despite a great Act I, pretty shoddy-due mainly to Hans Hotter shaky Wotan. Hotter comes through magnificently as the Wanderer, especially in Act III of Siegfried-but Walkure finds Hotter a shadow of his brilliant, incomparable former self. I pity those who know Hotter only through this cycle-for how could they be expected to understand why he considered "THE" Wotan for the ages. TO understand that, one must turn to his Krauss53, KNA56, and the recently released Keilberth55 cycle(of which the Krauss and Keilberth to be superior to this cycle on all accounts-with the exception of sound) A side not-Astrid varnay is the Brunnhilde in those performances and her voice is much more in line with what I believe Brunnhilde to be and her Keilberth performance is the single greatest performance of that role on recordl....period.
But, with the exception of the Keilberth, the krauss should be reserved till after you are familiar with Wagner and historical sound.
This is a page turning performance(in the manner of Krauss rather than the meditative KNA-while Keilberth falls in between the two). Its intensity is truly only rivalled and exceeded by the Krauss.
Its cast is a concotion of the best the opera world had to offer at the time.
George London is Wotan in Rhinegold, before Hotter takes over for Walkure and Siegfried. Nilsson is Brunnhilde, a marvelous performance with really no drawbacks.
though individually-among post Keilberth versions(which is in stereo) there is arguably no finer Ring except for possible Bohm's(though I find Theo Adam to be too weak as Wotan but I prefer Brigid Nilsson's performance to this one). Barenboim's has great sound and John Tomlinsons Wotan to support it. Tomlinson turns in one of, if the not the, greatest Wotan performance of our time(along with James MorrisLevine on DVD). Between Levine and Barenboim however, Barenboim excells on all levels.
Cycles-
Krauss, Keilberth, KNA56
SoltiBohm, Barenboim
Finest individual performances
Rhinegold-Solti, Karajan,Krauss
Walkure-Krauss, Keilberth,KNA
Siegfried-Keilberth, Solti
Gotterdammerung-Keilberth, Solti,Krauss,KNA November 5, 2007

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