How Many Rings Do You Need?

[Barbirollians]

I am evidently too young to have heard them !

I think the problem with the Sawallisch ring - which now seems to be common across all opera reissues at least is that there is no libretto .

Of all works surely one needs it ?

[Mandryka]

I am evidently too young to have heard them !

I think the problem with the Sawallisch ring - which now seems to be common across all opera reissues at least is that there is no libretto .

Of all works surely one needs it ?

Yes, indeed. You NEED the libretto.

Though it should be easily downloadable from the usual sources. You'd do best to avoid Andrew Porter's 'translation', though, which makes Wagner's text sound as ponderous as it's often accused of being.

[amateur51]

Has anyone else got the set conducted by Rudolf Moralt? (mine's not made it on to the shelves yet after my move but I remember it well). It's an exciting (in a good way) set of performances and does not deserve its current lack of acclaim. The sound is acceoptable and there are examples on this blog - good cast too.

http://thewagnerian.blogspot.com/2011/10/wagnerian-podcast-no-2-rudolf-moralts.html

[vinteuil]

Yes, indeed. You NEED the libretto.

.

well, I agree. Actually the Dover scores of the Ring are fairly cheap, and it might be even better to listen avec the score...

[Biffo]

Andrew Porter's translation was made for singing and sounds well enough though as Mandryka points out Wagner's original was often ponderous (or worse). Not that literary translations are always better. Try 'To Neidhohle I have come by night, whom do I descry there in the darkness' from Lionel Salter (DG).

[Barbirollians]

Sorry - what are the usual sources ?

[Karafan]

Can anyone who has heard both the Opera d'Oro and Orfeo versions of the Krauss 1953 Bayreuth Ring give an opinion on the relative remasterings please? I tend to veer towards Orfeo, but they are quite a bit more expensive and I have heard good reports of the Opera d'Oro.

Thanks

[Biffo]

Karafan: I bought the Krauss Ring as a download at a bargain price (less than a tenner); I have no idea which remastering it is. The voices are generally clear and forward but the orchestra is a bit distant and rather boxy sounding. I bought it as a supplement to the versions I already have so the rather iffy orchestral sound doesn't worry me.

Checking Amazon, it is the Archipel version I have.

[Tom Adustus]

I have the Sawallisch "Spaceship" Ring on Laser Disc and like it a lot - apart from the very dotty production 'concept'. It needs to be transferred to DVD so all Wagner lovers can enjoy a particularly silly 'concept'. Not quite as bad as that one set in a public bath house, but almost.

[Barbirollians]

Sorry to ask again but where can I get the libretto by downloading without buying another Ring cycle ??

[LHC]

That said, I don't think the Sawallisch DVD is recommendable, as Harry Kupfer's production struck me then (and strikes me now) as viciously unimaginative (the end of Gotterdammerung consists of Hagen and Brunnhilde basically 'flopping' onto Siegfried's corpse). That said, the singers do not disappoint (Behrens is in this one, as well as the Levine) and Sawallisch keeps it all together nicely (I think he's an underrated conductor). There used to be a an EMI CD box set of this Ring and that's probably the best way to appreciate it.

The Sawallisch ring was produced by Nikolaus Lehnhoff, not Harry Kupfer and has never been released on DVD, only on VHS and laserdisc.

The production is a bit odd. My recollection from the TV showing was that much appeared to be set on a space station. However the conducting was superb and the cast was excellent (Behrens and Kollo as Brunnhilde and Siegfried). I'd certainly want to add it to my collection if it is ever released on DVD.

[Mandryka]

The Sawallisch ring was produced by Nikolaus Lehnhoff, not Harry Kupfer and has never been released on DVD, only on VHS and laserdisc.

The production is a bit odd. My recollection from the TV showing was that much appeared to be set on a space station. However the conducting was superb and the cast was excellent (Behrens and Kollo as Brunnhilde and Siegfried). I'd certainly want to add it to my collection if it is ever released on DVD.

You're right! I can remember borrowing the Rheingold video from the library in around 1992, following the TV showing two years earlier.

I also remember the bbc2 screenings - one act per Saturday night, iirc - were preceded with 'prologue' programmes where the likes of Enoch Powell, Anthony Clare and Julie Neuberger talked about the themes dealt with in that week's 'episode' (Powell on Rheingold, Clare and Neuberger on Siegfried). Truly, it was a different world in 1990, was it not?

[John Skelton]

Sorry to ask again but where can I get the libretto by downloading without buying another Ring cycle ??

Try http://home.earthlink.net/~markdlew/shw/Ring.htm (the translation isn't all that but if you don't read German it's something, and you have to type a simple password, which is given, for each PDF).

[ARBurton]

The Sawallisch ring was produced by Nikolaus Lehnhoff, not Harry Kupfer and has never been released on DVD, only on VHS and laserdisc.

The production is a bit odd. My recollection from the TV showing was that much appeared to be set on a space station. However the conducting was superb and the cast was excellent (Behrens and Kollo as Brunnhilde and Siegfried). I'd certainly want to add it to my collection if it is ever released on DVD.

It has indeed been released on DVD but only by EMI-Toshiba in Japan. You can sometimes get it on HMV Japan`s website. I don`t know whether it comes with English subtitles - I transferred a laserdisc copy to DVD for my own library.

[pastoralguy]

None! Not a single one...