Wagner One Ring to rule them all...

[jlaurson]

 

  I only recognize 2 names from the cast, Deborah Polaski and John Tomlinson.
  marvin

True, I've not heard it... but Simone Young has perpetrated the most deadly boring Palestrina... and mediocre Bruckner at best... (and Hamburg should feel blessed to get a huge upgrade in Nagano on the position she vacates), so I can't help but feel a RING with her is as necessary as hemlock, esp. when there are bonafide excellent new Rings coming onto the market as we speak (Jankowski is surprisingly good, ditto Gergiev... although the latter's Rheingold isn't up to what the Walkuere promised... and I'd delve into Weigle's [also on Oehms] from Frankfurt well before I'd try this one.)

[Lisztianwagner]

I only recognize 2 names from the cast, Deborah Polaski and John Tomlinson.
marvin

Wolfgang Koch played as Wotan in the Ring Cycle of the recent Bayreuth Festival, he was quite fine. I saw Alexander Tsymbalyuk (Fafner) and Mikhail Petrenko (Hunding/Hagen) performing at Teatro alla Scala on June; Tsymbalyuk was excellent both in Das Rheingold and Siegfried, while I think Petrenko hasn't got the right voice for those roles, it is too light.

[jlaurson]

Wolfgang Koch played as Wotan in the Ring Cycle of the recent Bayreuth Festival, he was quite fine...

Hmmmpf... at least he wasn't all that great in the 2nd Rheingold (3rd, technically) in Bayreuth this year. I quite liked him as Wotan in the Munich Ring, though. He's got a lighter voice than many Wotans, and can put it to mellifluous use.

[Roberto]

Yesterday I've listened to the Das Rheingold first time. It convinced me about the greatness of Wagner's art. The beginning was beautiful. I thought this opera will be boring but it was powerful and interesting. The recording quality is good (considering its age) and I like the sound effects. Balance between singers and orchestra is absolutely perfect. The story was interesting although I've read about the background of it previously.
I think this Ring was good choice. I am very curious about the continuation. Unfortunately I have to wait a week before it.
Thank you for the suggestions!

[Lisztianwagner]

Hmmmpf... at least he wasn't all that great in the 2nd Rheingold (3rd, technically) in Bayreuth this year. I quite liked him as Wotan in the Munich Ring, though. He's got a lighter voice than many Wotans, and can put it to mellifluous use.

Well, to be clearer, I only listened to him in the 1st Ring in Bayreuth, I liked him in that performance; I don't know what happened in the others......

[marvinbrown]

True, I've not heard it... but Simone Young has perpetrated the most deadly boring Palestrina... and mediocre Bruckner at best... (and Hamburg should feel blessed to get a huge upgrade in Nagano on the position she vacates), so I can't help but feel a RING with her is as necessary as hemlock, esp. when there are bonafide excellent new Rings coming onto the market as we speak (Jankowski is surprisingly good, ditto Gergiev... although the latter's Rheingold isn't up to what the Walkuere promised... and I'd delve into Weigle's [also on Oehms] from Frankfurt well before I'd try this one.)

  Oh dear it's best to stay away then.....thank you for the feedback.

  I will admit though that I have not heard Jabkowiski's Ring as heavily praised as it is.  I have so many Ring cycles (6 on CD and 1 DVD) so if I am going to purchase another it better be rather unique!

 

Wolfgang Koch played as Wotan in the Ring Cycle of the recent Bayreuth Festival, he was quite fine. I saw Alexander Tsymbalyuk (Fafner) and Mikhail Petrenko (Hunding/Hagen) performing at Teatro alla Scala on June; Tsymbalyuk was excellent both in Das Rheingold and Siegfried, while I think Petrenko hasn't got the right voice for those roles, it is too light.

  Thank you for the feedback.  I am very much into the voices and casting when it comes to Wagner's music dramas.  This is enough to keep me away.

  marvin

[TheGSMoeller]

The Ring Cycle in 2 and a 1/2 minutes.

[knight66]

I enjoyed that, very economical and full of wit.

Mike

[Elgarian]

Too long though ...

[DavidA]

The Ring conducted by Krauss is superb. I got it on an inexpensive download.  The recording is elderly but acceptable and the cast is superlative. Krauss is light on his feet and really knows how to keep the thing together.

[Sergeant Rock]

The Ring conducted by Krauss is superb. I got it on an inexpensive download.  The recording is elderly but acceptable and the cast is superlative. Krauss is light on his feet and really knows how to keep the thing together.

My favorite Siegfried.

Sarge

[marvinbrown]

The Ring conducted by Krauss is superb. I got it on an inexpensive download.  The recording is elderly but acceptable and the cast is superlative. Krauss is light on his feet and really knows how to keep the thing together.

  The Krauss Ring 1953 is indeed superb.  The cast is in top form.  Hans Hotter is in his prime and Krauss's conducting is electrifying.  It is in mono though and Windgassen misses a few lines in Siegfried, or so I have read but that does not detract from a mesmerizing performance.  If you like Krauss you should try Keilbeth's 1955 Ring Live at Beyreuth. Hotter is still in top form, it is in stereo and while Keilberth is more docile than Krauss the overall performance is spectacular.  Many people say that the Keilberth Ring 1955 is the DEFINITIVE RING!  There is only one major problem....the price! You won't find it for much less than £100. 

  marvin     

[sam adams]

Ok...going through this thread I did not see any mention of the "Dream Ring" from the immortal perfromances website. Has anyone here heard it. I know it is a "franken ring" to the extreme, but I hear a great job was done and the cast is unbeatable.

Also, the Furtwangler La Scala 1950 actually seems to be greatly improved by pristine and maybe more attractive to the collector. The new pope states its his favorite ring, so we have a papal decree going for it too....

[marvinbrown]

Ok...going through this thread I did not see any mention of the "Dream Ring" from the immortal perfromances website. Has anyone here heard it. I know it is a "franken ring" to the extreme, but I hear a great job was done and the cast is unbeatable.

Also, the Furtwangler La Scala 1950 actually seems to be greatly improved by pristine and maybe more attractive to the collector. The new pope states its his favorite ring, so we have a papal decree going for it too....

  To answer your question, no I have not heard of this "Dream Ring".  What does "franken ring" mean?

  Furtwangler must be one of the greatest Wagnerian conductors on record. But unfortunately both of his Rings, I owned the RAI and donated it, while superbly conducted suffer from poor sound or poor orchestra or both. 

marvin

[sam adams]

Hi Marvin,

This one:

http://immortalperformances.org/documents.php?d=5

And the recent Fanfare review:

http://immortalperformances.org/reviews.php?d=77803

A franken ring is sewn together from multiple performances, it manages to have all the best "golden age" 30's and 40's singers together for the complete cycle (something that was never actually recorded as a complete cycle). Somtimes there are multiple splices in a single act. For example the famous Furt. incomplete covent garden performance is incorporated. It sounds sketchy but the reviews say otherwise.  Even though it has been remastered it may be under your standards based on your Furt. ring comments.

Speaking of that, you should really try the free samples on Pristine's website of the La Scala Ring. It sounds so much better than I have heard before and several people on Amazon have said it is at least now at the sound quality level of the Krauss set. Also the La Scala is a far better orchestra than the RAI. One reviewer said it sounded like they made a deal with the devil and worked magic on the recording.

[marvinbrown]

Hi Marvin,

This one:

http://immortalperformances.org/documents.php?d=5

And the recent Fanfare review:

http://immortalperformances.org/reviews.php?d=77803

A franken ring is sewn together from multiple performances, it manages to have all the best "golden age" 30's and 40's singers together for the complete cycle (something that was never actually recorded as a complete cycle). Somtimes there are multiple splices in a single act. For example the famous Furt. incomplete covent garden performance is incorporated. It sounds sketchy but the reviews say otherwise.  Even though it has been remastered it may be under your standards based on your Furt. ring comments.

Speaking of that, you should really try the free samples on Pristine's website of the La Scala Ring. It sounds so much better than I have heard before and several people on Amazon have said it is at least now at the sound quality level of the Krauss set. Also the La Scala is a far better orchestra than the RAI. One reviewer said it sounded like they made a deal with the devil and worked magic on the recording.

  Thank you for posting a link to the "Dream Ring". If you read some of my posts you will notice that I tend to prefer Ring cycles with very strong casts ( Krauss '53, Keilberth '55, Bohm and Solti are my favourites).  This concept of assembling the best singers for each role and piecing it together is very intriguing. The only danger is the potential disruption to the flow of the music and drama when you do this. But it seems that they are able to marry the pieces well.   I'll have to check this out.


  EDIT: Sam it seems that this Ring Cycle is only available in Canada/ USA. Are there any UK or European suppliers?

  marvin

[Brahmsian]

It would be interesting (albeit time consuming) to do a GMG 'blind listen' comparison project of all the complete Wagner Ring cycles, a blow-by-blow for each Act of each opera, and see the results. 

[Lisztianwagner]

It would be interesting (albeit time consuming) to do a GMG 'blind listen' comparison project of all the complete Wagner Ring cycles, a blow-by-blow for each Act of each opera, and see the results. 

Pounds the table. It would take a very long time, but I would certainly participate.

[AndyD.]

I still have my standbys (the Solti Decca set, the Bayreuth Boulez and Levine Morris dvds). I've owned so many Rings, but those are just my default, I still get so much out of them. Hoping to find a more recent, at least really good traditional staging.

[acidrock23]

Thanks for the great thread, utterly new member.  I had decided to get a copy and check it out.  I had the Solti ring on LP c. 1987 or so and checked it out a few times, liked it but it was too cumbersome, have drifted around all sorts of different musics but thought "hmmm, if this was on my ipod, or better yet if I can get iCloud to work and have the nice sound on my iphone...hmmm...it'd go well with the miserable winter weather...." so I bought the Solti online on Saturday AM...but then I found this thread and started reading through it.  And then, when the library opened, I went and checked out Bohm and Levine, just for fun.  I liked Bohm pretty well and was thinking "hmmm, maybe reorder?" but kept at the reading and noticed the Karajan also having adherents.  I've always liked certain pieces of his.  The Sibelius Karelia Intermezzo is one of my all-time favorite things, I always toss it on running playlists.  The more I read, the more I shifted so blammo, by Sunday, I cancelled the Solti and replaced it with the Karajan.  It came today, along with the Lee book so I should be set for the weekend!  I'm ripping it and just checked out the beginning of Rheingold and dropped the needle into the middle of Siegfried and I'm liking the sound and style a lot!!  I appreciate all your viewpoints and the detailed and lengthy discussions of the pros and cons of each set.  Thanks again!