Wagner One Ring to rule them all...

[marvinbrown]

I don't like the singing on any modern recordings I have heard, whole or in part, though see below*. I can take the orchestra on the Furtwängler (it does sound better on the Gebhardt than the EMI), the Krauss or the '53 Keilberth, because of the total vision of the work. It may help that I have experienced the work in the theatre several times. I cannot abide Solti, frenetic and brassy, singers too old (Hotter, Windgassen) or too brilliant and cold (Nilsson). *On DVD I did enjoy the Copenhagen Ring taken as a whole. The Chereau/Bayreuth is an amazing visual interpretation, I certainly take Boulez's conducting over Solti's any day, but most of the singing...(discreet curtain is drawn)...
                                                                   Just to say where I am coming from.
If you enjoy great singing, then the 1949 Moralt may be for you: Treptow is very good, ditto Franz, and Grob-Prandl is exceptional as Brünnhilde. The orchestra is not bad at all for the time. All can be found here: http://maisumadofalsario.blogspot.com/search/label/Wagner

Choose mediafire - the rapidshare is no longer active.

  Hello mjwal  Thank you for posting the link  Out of curiosity I downloaded Moralt's Das Reingold and I noticed that on iTunes the tracks do not play gaplessly. Are you able to get them to play gaplessly, IE no breaks between tracks?  If so how?

  marvin

[mjwal]

I'm afraid there is a short but noticeable gap between the tracks on all my players (VLC, Movieplayer and Rhythmbox) - no such thing as a free lunch after all 
mj

[DavidRoss]

Of all the Rings I have, the Keilberth is the biggest disappointment after all the hype, though I do not dislike it, and the Karajan is the most pleasant surprise, along with the Janowski.

Jeremy

Welcome to GMG, Jeremy. I, too, am rather fond of Janowski's Ring.  How nice to see it even mentioned here among the usual suspects.  I've not heard Karajan's (I'm hardly fanatical about Wagner, and less so about Herbie), but it would not surprise me if it were to my taste since some of Karajan's opera recordings are among my faves.

[WagnerNut]

Welcome to GMG, Jeremy. I, too, am rather fond of Janowski's Ring.  How nice to see it even mentioned here among the usual suspects.  I've not heard Karajan's (I'm hardly fanatical about Wagner, and less so about Herbie), but it would not surprise me if it were to my taste since some of Karajan's opera recordings are among my faves.

Thanks, David. The Rings I keep coming back to as favorites are Janowski's, Karajan's and Barenboim's, each with their own weaknesses and strengths, of course. However, I love Solti's Gotterdammerung and Leinsdorf's Walkure more than any other. I often dream for a Leinsdorf Ring, and wonder, if only...

[Sergeant Rock]

I don't like the singing on any modern recordings I have heard...

How many have you heard?

Sarge

[Sergeant Rock]

I downloaded Moralt's Das Reingold and I noticed that on iTunes the tracks do not play gaplessly. Are you able to get them to play gaplessly, IE no breaks between tracks?  If so how?

I don't know which is worse: a gap between each track or no gaps at all, even between scenes and acts. On my copy of the Moralt Ring



all the tracks run together. But mjwal is correct: if you enjoy singing this is a must-have Ring, featuring stars of the golden age (30s, 40s). The singers lead. Moralt indulges them by molding the orchestra around their phrasing. Definitely one of my favorite Rings and the sound (except for Act III Walküre) is very good for the time (1948/49).

Sarge

[mjwal]

How many have you heard?

Sarge

After hearing/seeing Boulez plus most of the Decca Solti (whose Ring I saw at Covent Garden in the 60s) and DG Karajan on LP at other people's places - only in excerpts on the radio or TV: Böhm, Levine, Haitink, Barenboim. I am rather old fogeyish, I admit, but also have neither the time nor the money to acquire and/or listen to the whole thing with people like Behrens, Marton et al. It's different in the opera house, where I have put up with a lot over the years - but there's always at least one really good singer, as in Berlin recently with Rheingold, where Kränzle was the best Alberich in (my) memory. But if you as a lover of good singing can recommend a recent recording on CD/DVD to me, I will try it (by hook or by crook).

[Mandryka]

I am rather old fogeyish,

Who's your favourite Siegmund?

I think Schorr is the best Wotan I have ever heard -- due respect to Hotter. But AFAIK the only Schorr's Walkure record  is cut badly.

[bigshot]

The best bargain on a Ring I ever got was the El Anillo Ring. I got it on CDR for ten dollars, and it was a very respectable live performance with a great cast.

[marvinbrown]

I don't know which is worse: a gap between each track or no gaps at all, even between scenes and acts. On my copy of the Moralt Ring



all the tracks run together. But mjwal is correct: if you enjoy singing this is a must-have Ring, featuring stars of the golden age (30s, 40s). The singers lead. Moralt indulges them by molding the orchestra around their phrasing. Definitely one of my favorite Rings and the sound (except for Act III Walküre) is very good for the time (1948/49).

Sarge

  Hello Sarge, a gap between the tracks is DEFINITELY worst than no gaps at all.  In fact I like the idea of having no gaps at all between scenes/acts etc. Gaps between tracks, and they are very frequent distrupts the overall flow of Wagner's work.  That said I just downloaded Die Walkure thanks again to mjwal  .  I really like this Ring!

  amazon.co.uk have used copies of the Moralt Ring for £50, new copies are out of my price range unfortunately.

  marvin

[mjwal]

Who's your favourite Siegmund?

I think Schorr is the best Wotan I have ever heard -- due respect to Hotter. But AFAIK the only Schorr's Walküre record  is cut badly.

Good question. As you mention the Schorr et al. cut version of Walküre, which I grew up with (78s in a big album), it is tempting to say Walter Widdop, whose "grüßt mich in Walhall froh eine Frau?" passage is the most thrillingly heartbreaking rendition I have ever heard. Then there is the Melchior/Lehmann 1.Aufzug plus the later bits, and the exciting live of Act 2. with Reiner , ruined by the radio announcer smoothly signing off just as Wotan is going to sing "Geh hin, Knecht" etc, plus the Leinsdorf, where Melchior is still beyond anything we can hope to hear today, though his tone is beginning to harden and lose its mellifluousness. As you say, Schorr was the greatest Wotan, even in 1936 when his upper register was somewhat challenged: was Melchior the greatest Siegmund? I would have to say yes: heroic, sensitive, perfectly sung and articulated on the line - and we have several recordings that bear witness to it. Nevertheless, I must say I have always been more attracted to the more intellectual, tormented Siegmund of Furtwänglers late, great but flawed Walküre ('54), Ludwig Suthaus, though he was nearing the end of a career that only the denizens of Berlin through the 40s could appreciate the full glory of (see Fischer-Dieskau's memoirs - and if you can listen to the 1947 Tristan 2 + 3, you know how honeyed and almost Tauberesque his legato could be) Unfortunately I've never heard the '51 Fricsay with him. Then, also gripping though not dark enough for me, the two recordings I know with Gunther Treptow , the Moralt Ring of the late 40s and the La Scala Furtwängler of 1950, where he is still exciting if no longer quite at his best (and he could be quite bad, even in the 40s, and never as characterful as Suthaus). After that there was Vinay, so reliable and intensely if unremittingly tragic, Vickers, I suppose, exciting but to my ears annoying, then - nothing. (Peter Hoffmann? Exactly.) I must confess that I have not yet heard Jonas Kaufmann - perhaps he is the promised saviour?
Listening again now to the Leinsdorf "Todesverkündigung" I am impressed by Lawrence and moved by Melchior's interjections - and he really lets it rip for "empfängt Siegmund Sieglinde dort?", where he projects a sort of Promethean agony as he prepares to renounce what Brünnhilde calls "ewige Wonne" (Mödl remains my ideal in this key phrase of the whole cycle: So little do you care for eternal bliss? Zizek is good on this: http://www.lacan.com/zizekopera.htm  - exactly my feelings when I first heard the Furtwängler recording back in the early 60s).

[Sergeant Rock]

Hello Sarge, a gap between the tracks is DEFINITELY worst than no gaps at all.

True, but it is annoying to have to sit there with the remote in hand, trying to beat the player before it goes from Act I Walküre to Act II with no audible break. I need a break at that point; need to take a few deep breaths, have a moment of silence before plunging into the the next act.

amazon.co.uk have used copies of the Moralt Ring for £50, new copies are out of my price range unfortunately.

Yeah, it looks pretty expensive now everywhere. When I first heard about it (five or six years ago), it was available very cheap. I paid something like 22 Euro.
The operas are available individually from Myto. Amazon France has some sellers that aren't charging an arm and leg.

Sarge

[Sergeant Rock]

After hearing/seeing Boulez plus most of the Decca Solti (whose Ring I saw at Covent Garden in the 60s) and DG Karajan on LP at other people's places - only in excerpts on the radio or TV: Böhm, Levine, Haitink, Barenboim...But if you as a lover of good singing can recommend a recent recording on CD/DVD to me, I will try it (by hook or by crook).

You've already heard some of my favorites so there's no point trying to convince you that Behrens (Levine), Vickers, Janowitz and Dernesch (Karajan) and Tomlinson (Bareboim) are worth hearing. We agree about the Solti Ring (along with Haitink the least favorite of the twelve Rings I own); agree about the greatness of Furtwängler Rome.

Sarge

[Mirror Image]

Had a strange dream last night about this set and woman giving it to me telling me I would enjoy it:

[asin]B000068QD8[/asin]

Any thoughts on this set? I've the pluses (great orchestral playing) and the minuses (less than ideal singers), so I was just curious about it.

[Sergeant Rock]

Had a strange dream last night about this set and woman giving it to me telling me I would enjoy it:

[asin]B000068QD8[/asin]

Any thoughts on this set? I've the pluses (great orchestral playing) and the minuses (less than ideal singers), so I was just curious about it.

There's half a great Ring there: Siegfried and Götterdämmerung are superb, and they don't have a problem with stage noise that so bothers you about Barenboim. Sell Danny Boy, buy Jimmy    (If it were anyone else but you I'd recommend first investing in Krauss, Moralt or Furtwängler before Levine. But I know you're not interested in going the historical route.)

Sarge

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Had a strange dream last night about this set and woman giving it to me telling me I would enjoy it:

Any thoughts on this set? I've the pluses (great orchestral playing) and the minuses (less than ideal singers), so I was just curious about it.

Well, Levine's Ring may be devoid of singers with 'star power' but that's not the same as inadequate singing. No worries there.

Overall, to my ears, the singing - prompted by Levine - gets to the heart of Wagner's vision and gives goosebumps.

[Mirror Image]

There's half a great Ring there: Siegfried and Götterdämmerung are superb, and they don't have a problem with stage noise that so bothers you about Barenboim. Sell Danny Boy, buy Levine    (If it were anyone else but you I'd recommend first investing in Krauss, Moralt or Furtwängler before Levine. But I know you're not interested in going the historical route.)

Sarge

Thanks Sarge, yes, I'm not interested in historical recordings, especially Wagner, because I want excellent audio. Interpretatively, Barenboim is excellent, but that damn stage noise was louder than the vocalists and the orchestra, so it was just distracting. I don't want to go on and on about this, but it just made me seek out an alternative quickly, which I'm glad I did. I think Karajan's cycle is my favorite right now with Solti's behind it.

[Mirror Image]

Well, Levine's Ring may be devoid of singers with 'star power' but that's not the same as inadequate singing. No worries there.

Overall, to my ears, the singing - prompted by Levine - gets to the heart of Wagner's vision and gives goosebumps.

Well it's definitely the next Ring I will buy, that is, if I buy another one. Thanks for opinion on this cycle.

[Sergeant Rock]

Well, Levine's Ring may be devoid of singers with 'star power' but that's not the same as inadequate singing. No worries there.

Overall, to my ears, the singing - prompted by Levine - gets to the heart of Wagner's vision and gives goosebumps.

I agree. I like especially Behren's Brünnhilde, Goldberg's Siegfried (a true tenor, sounding much like Windgassen), Wlaschiha's Alberich, Studer's Gutrune.

Sarge

[bigshot]

I second Melchior as the greatest Wagnerian tenor. He isn't thought of as a good actor, but I think that was entirely visual. His narratives on the Walter Walkure act I are amazing.

As for the Levine Ring, my objection is more with the conducting than the singing. The whole thing is boring.