Which Das Rheingold...

[MN Dave]

If you are strapped for cash you might consider the Neuhold set which you can find on ebay from time to time for about $10-$15, for the whole Ring Cycle (yeah that's right) which has good sound and a pretty good performance. No it is not Solti or Levine but it will do.

I do think for Rheingold Solti is the way to go. I am not in love with his conducting but the recording is fabulous. Yes it is at times gimmicky (like the stupid trick with the Ring dropping on the pile of gold), but at it's best like transition to Nibelheim where there are 18 anvils of various sizes playing Solti can't be beat. You literally hear the anvils hammer away, building up to an unbearable fff, then die away. No recording even comes close to this respect.

Also you pretty much need stereo to hear Rheingold or any part of the Ring correctly. There is just so much detail in the score (like the 6 offstage harps in the Entrance of the Gods into Valhalla) that no mono recording can capture vividly.

Others I can recommend include Sawallisch, Levine, and Karajan (Rheingold is probably the best of Karajan's set). Levine you can find Rheingold separately from time to time on ebay or Amazon cheaply. Karajan maybe not and Sawallisch as far as I know is only available as a complete set although for only about $50-$60.

Hey, thanks for all the info, PF!

[PerfectWagnerite]

There is also this DVD from Salzburg conducted by The Wonder himself:



which is probably how I would go about approaching this opera.

[head-case]

The Solti Rheingold was recorded 50 years ago; it is a historical recording!

Despite that the sound is quite good, the performance isn't, IMO.  Karajan's is very fine, the engineering is iffy in parts. Bohm is the best overall pure audio recording, in my opinion.  But I think the Levine DVD is the best way to get to know the thing.

(BTW, I have the old Karajan "white box" edition of the entire ring on sale on ebay, I've upgraded to the remastered and more compact "originals" edition.)

[Anne]

I agree with head-case that the Levine DVD's are the best way to get into the Ring.  It's a nice weekend project.  To my surprise my family, who cannot stand classical music, stuck with it and watched the entire Levine Ring and enjoyed it.

[marvinbrown]

The Solti Rheingold was recorded 50 years ago; it is a historical recording!

  Technically speaking you have a point.  But that Solti Ring  sure doesn't sound like a historical recording.  When you compare it to Furtwangler's RAI recording you'd think that there are at least 25 years between the two of them.  Yes that Solti Ring cycle is in a league all on its own! 

  The Levine MET DVD Ring is also my first choice if you want to see a staged performance.  While many people slam it for being too traditional, bordering on boring I find it the most accurate account of these 4 operas.  I love the costumes and stage design, even the special effects were thrilling.  That said I think the MET  could have provided a more terrifying dragon (Fafner) in Siegfried!

  marvin

[Anne]

I was teaching my eight-year-old grandson the Ring (We just slid right over incest, in fact didn't even mention it.)  When he saw Fafner, he said he thought he looked like a squid.

[marvinbrown]

I was teaching my eight-year-old grandson the Ring (We just slid right over incest, in fact didn't even mention it.)  When he saw Fafner, he said he thought he looked like a squid.

  Anne I applaud your efforts in teaching your 8 year old grandson the Ring  .  My parents first took me to the opera when I was 10 years old.  We went to see Carmen and then Don Giovanni.  I enjoyed carmen but I will admit that I fell asleep during the Don Giovanni performance.  Funny how after 25 years it has become one of my favorite Mozart operas.  How is your grandson responding to the Ring?  Is he enjoying the singing and the music?  I would imagine that all the characters especially the dragons and giants would interest a young boy.   

  marvin

[MN Dave]

You guys were right. That Furtwangler Rheingold sounds like crap.   

[PSmith08]

You guys were right. That Furtwangler Rheingold sounds like crap.   

Yeah, it does. It's the worst-sounding entry in the entire La Scala Ring, which is saying rather a lot.

[marvinbrown]

You guys were right. That Furtwangler Rheingold sounds like crap.   

  Please do not let that ruin your impression of Furtwangler's other recordings of  Wagner's operas. Furtwangler's Tristan und Isolde with  Flagstad on EMI's Great Recordings of the Century is arguably one of the best if not  THE BEST recording of that opera on record.

  marvin
   
 
 

[MN Dave]

  Please do not let that ruin your impression of Furtwangler's other recordings of  Wagner's operas.

I won't. 

[PSmith08]

  Please do not let that ruin your impression of Furtwangler's other recordings of  Wagner's operas. Furtwangler's Tristan und Isolde with  Flagstad on EMI's Great Recordings of the Century is arguably one of the best if not  THE BEST recording of that opera on record.

  marvin

Furtwängler's Tristan is special indeed, but it was eclipsed by Leonard Bernstein's recording, which - quelle surprise - suits the score to a "T."

In any event, Furtwängler only really made two complete Wagner recordings in decent, studio sound: that Tristan and the Vienna Walküre. There is a Götterdämmerung finale with Flagstad that was a studio job, which is really one of two good sources for Flagstad's Brünnhilde along with the 1957 Solti Walküre Act 3, and some other extracts (mostly overtures and preludes). There is, obviously, more than that, but the sound quality ranges from the tolerable (e.g., the Bayreuth Meistersinger) to the execrable (the recording mentioned above). It's variable and unfortunate, since Furtwängler understood Wagner in a way approached by, really, only Hans Knappertsbusch in the 1950s and 1960s.

[marvinbrown]

Furtwängler's Tristan is special indeed, but it was eclipsed by Leonard Bernstein's recording, which - quelle surprise - suits the score to a "T."

  WOW PSmith08 you actually  like Bernstein's account?? I find that Bohm's Tristan at Bayreuth with Nilsson recorded in 1966 to be the only rival to Furtwangler's recording.  That said, Furtwangler had Flagstad as Isolde and to my ears that's as good as it gets.  Its wonderful that there are so many recordings on the market to suit all tastes!

  marvin

[Sergeant Rock]

WOW PSmith08 you actually  like Bernstein's account??...

Gramophone's Alan Blyth agrees with Smith: "Even more than before, I think this is the most rounded and consistent Tristan since Furtwängler's." I like it too, much more than Furtwängler's but not as much as Kleiber's or Karajan's (Vickers is incomparable). Since I'm not a fan of Nilsson (I prefer a more vulnerable, more feminine voice in this role), I'm not much moved by Böhm's acclaimed version. I'm not dissing your preferences, Marvin; they are solid and can't be faulted. I just happen to prefer other performances.

Sarge
   

[Sergeant Rock]

You guys were right. That Furtwangler Rheingold sounds like crap.   

We told you so! ...well, I didn't  You'd made your choice before I saw this thread. Still, the true Wagnerite must own at least one Furtwängler Ring. My choice is Rome RAI because the sound is much better (so fine in its latest incarnations that Alan Blyth suggests it could be a first choice), the balance between singers and orchestra more consistent and the audience as quiet as church mice. And too, there were cuts made in the La Scala performance and that rules it out for me. Pace Marvin, the occasional brass flubs don't bother me...not when the overall conception and execution is so fine.

But Dave, you really should hear Haitink's Rheingold (of the choices you gave us).

Sarge

[marvinbrown]

Gramophone's Alan Blyth agrees with Smith: "Even more than before, I think this is the most rounded and consistent Tristan since Furtwängler's." I like it too, much more than Furtwängler's but not as much as Kleiber's or Karajan's (Vickers is incomparable). Since I'm not a fan of Nilsson (I prefer a more vulnerable, more feminine voice in this role), I'm not much moved by Böhm's acclaimed version. I'm not dissing your preferences, Marvin; they are solid and can't be faulted. I just happen to prefer other performances.

Sarge
   

  A difference of opinion is always welcome Sarge  .  If all of us had similar tastes it would be a very boring world now wouldn't it?

  marvin

[MN Dave]

But Dave, you really should hear Haitink's Rheingold (of the choices you gave us).

Sarge

At least it will sound decent.

[Sergeant Rock]

  A difference of opinion is always welcome Sarge  .  If all of us had similar tastes it would be a very boring world now wouldn't it?

  marvin

Indeed...and we'd have no use for internet forums...and then what would we do with our time? 

Sarge

[ChamberNut]

At least it will sound decent.

Dave, take it from this Wagner Neophyte.....try the Solti Rheingold! 

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Dave, take it from this Wagner Neophyte.....try the Solti Rheingold! 

Well, take it from this Wagner veteran, he's better off avoiding Solti.

I can well imagine the pure visceral thrill of Solti attracting many a Wagner fan. But the effect wears off after time and all that's left is Solti's trademark adrenalin. Where's the nuance? The subtle turns of phrase? The whispery modulations & transitions? Etc...

No, for me, Solti isn't a first choice in Rheingold.