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From Amazon.co.uk:
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 equalled 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 re-release 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 fortieth anniversary. --Christian C. Rix
Amazon.com essential recording:
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
Un Essentiel amazon.fr:
À l'issue de la création de la Tétralogie en 1876 à Bayreuth, le concept même d'opéra fut sérieusement remis en cause. Plus de trente personnages, près de seize heures de musique, les colossales dimensions du Ring réduisirent en miettes toute forme préétablie de musique et de théâtre. "Festival scénique en un prologue et trois journées" - l'Or du Rhin, la Walkyrie, Siegfried, Le Crépuscule des dieux -, le Ring permit l'abolition des frontières entre les arts en même qu'il consacra les procédés formels et compositionnels wagnériens : importance accrue de l'orchestre, où se mêlent plus de quatre-vingts leitmotive, chromatisme sans cesse croissant, abandon de la structure classique de l'opéra (récitatif/air) obligeant un discours mélodique continu, voix de plus en plus "solides" face à des effectifs orchestraux tonitruants... Pour approcher ce monument de l'art occidental, l'intégrale de sir Georg Solti - la première de l'histoire en studio - n'a pas son pareil. Les voix sont celles qui connurent leurs heures de gloire au Festival de Bayreuth dans les mêmes années ; elles représentent l'apogée de ce que fut le chant wagnérien, que l'on dit tant sur le déclin de nos jours. --Pierre Massé
Tremendous Music, Tremendous Bargain:
You can argue about the best version of the Ring Cycle but no reasonable individual can disagree with the proposition that the Solti Ring is superb. The cast is simply incredible, featuring the incomparable Birgit Nilsson as Brunnhilde and a wonderful Wolfgang Windgassen as Siegfried. A galaxy of other great singers give outstanding performances. These recordings were made over a period of years but Solti maintains a remarkable consistency of style and interpretation. The great Vienna Phimharmonic has ravishing sound. Transferred to CD from the original stereo recordings, the engineers did an excellent job of preserving the wonderful sound. These recordings have a bit more noise than modern digital recordings but the quality of the music is appropriately preserved. A bonus is that this is the most reasonably priced Ring set available.
Forging something more:
This CD set is the finest recording one might find of Wagner's whole ring series. The forging scene from Siegfried rivals the live one that I recently witnessed at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, as the hammer is more artfully, and subsequently, more powerfully pounded. This CD set captures the pawky and peerless power of Wagner's work superbly. BRAVO.
Difficult to call.:
I feel that the tempo, casting and general style of Solti's Ring is great. The performances and the quality of recording are of a particularly high standard. Of course there is Nilsson but I think Gerhard Stolz is great, as Mime, as Aegithus in Solti's 'Elektra', as Herod in Solti's 'Salome'. He always plays the revolting characters with great drammatic effect. For me the first act of Siegfried embodies all that is great in Solti's Ring Cycle, appropriately paced with the drammatic tension created by the discourse between Siegfried and Mime keeping you totally hooked. Solti's Ring also has problems. When it comes to the big scores such as 'Ride of the Walkyries', 'Siegfried's Funeral March' (in particular) and the finale to Twilight of the Gods, Solti's bombastic style can be quite irritating. He seems to have a habit of placing undue emphasis on the brass which has the effect of drowning out the strings. Such pieces are played too loudly and lack subtlety. 'Siegfried's funeral march' for me is particularly disappointing. Indeed I have noticed a trend in many of Solti's works to drown out the strings; 'Salome' and 'Elektra' for example. The orchestral emphasis (in particular on brass)in these recordings serves to make it difficult to discern the lyrics. So, in some respects I think this is a brilliant recording but for the big scores Solti completely messes up. Whilst I have not heard any other of the 'classic' recordings I would imagine Bohm's rendition is worth its salt if his 'Tristan und Isolde' is anything to go by. I feel that Bohm produces a better orchestral balance than Solti on the whole.
An utter masterpiece.:
No conductor does Wagner like Solti. I've heard numerous recordings of the Ring and this one tops them all. Solti brings not only beautiful music, but tension and drama to this recording of the grand epic. The sound effects are a large part of what makes the drama. Examples are: -"Das Rheingold" - Donner's hammer. -"Die Walkure" - Wotan striking the rock. -"Siegfried" - forging of the sword. -"Gotterdammerung" - crackling of the immolation fire. I first became introduced to the Ring through Levine's rendition. I was only focused on the music, as I knew nothing of the story, and I must admit that Levine's recordings of this work are musically perfect. But as I became more familiar with the story, I expanded my listening repertoire to other recordings, seeking to hear more than mere music as I went. Solti's recording offers everything a Ring fanatic could wish for, including a cast of some of the best singers in operatic history. Through this superb combination of sound effects, creative tempo variation, brassiness, and singing voices that are as powerful as they are accurate, we sense, as Wagner intended, the world burning down before us--a sense that we do not get while listening to Levine's version. I highly recommend this recording not only for Wagner fans, but for anybody with an appetite for serious drama.
Amazing!:
If you like Birgit Nilsson's Brunnhilde, you must listen to her Elektra and Salome with Solti. Those are astounding performances that will leave you breathless. Even if you do not have any affinity for the music of Richard Strauss, you must listen to Nilsson's Elektra and Salome. They are simply performances for you to hear and marvel at. She is stunning from start to finish, and it is not just singing everything loud. While other sopranos sing everything loud and make the performance unattractive, Nilsson is able to control her voice so that she is able to take top B's both fortissimo and piannisimo. Her phrasing is astounding. Don't miss it. Of course, this most famous of Ring is mandatory for any opera colection. You will be poorer without this legendary set in your collection.
| Binding: | Audio CD | | EAN: | 0028945555522 | | Format: | Box set | | Format: | Compilation | | MPN: | 455555 | | Number Of Discs: | 14 | | Original Release Date: | 1997-10-14 | | Release Date: | 1997-10-28 | | Running Time: | 876 minutes | | UPC: | 028945555522 |
Tracks:- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Rheingold
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Die Walküre
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Siegried
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
- Gotterdämmerung
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