Original CD version of Solti's Das Rheingold

[Conchis]

And while I'm on the subject - is there any point in acquiring the Blu-Ray if you don't have a 'wet dream' surround sound stereo system?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

And while I'm on the subject - is there any point in acquiring the Blu-Ray if you don't have a 'wet dream' surround sound stereo system?

Saves space?

[Braunschlag]

And while I'm on the subject - is there any point in acquiring the Blu-Ray if you don't have a 'wet dream' surround sound stereo system?

Maybe, it wasn’t mastered for surround sound anyway. There is a difference in quality, I’m not saying that it’s HiRes credentials make it a better option (I don’t buy into the HiRes fad but all those arguments have been covered enough elsewhere). On the grounds that it’s convenient on one disc and that there are no ‘side breaks’ then it has certain advantages according to your wallet contents.
Many folks now have a Blu Ray player for film (and they are not expensive at all, mine being a cheap Sony) so one might as well take advantage of the extra things these machines do.

[BBMmk2]

Which issue do you mean - the Blu-Ray or the CD?

The CD version. I normally do not buy visual forms

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The CD version. I normally do not buy visual forms

The Blu-ray is audio only.

[Braunschlag]

The Blu-ray is audio only.

Indeed, it’s one of those Blu Ray audio discs.

[Petrushka]

Indeed, it’s one of those Blu Ray audio discs.

I don't have a Blu-ray player but being able to hear the Solti Ring without side breaks is a powerful enough argument in itself to get one. I was one of those who took out the Britannia subscription to get my £20 box in 1996 and it still sounds good.

[Braunschlag]

I don't have a Blu-ray player but being able to hear the Solti Ring without side breaks is a powerful enough argument in itself to get one. I was one of those who took out the Britannia subscription to get my £20 box in 1996 and it still sounds good.

Brittania must have secured a good deal on that Ring, I know many folks who joined just for that set. It still worked out as a bargain once you’d bought the minimum number of subscription CDs and promptly cancelled the sub.

[Petrushka]

Brittania must have secured a good deal on that Ring, I know many folks who joined just for that set. It still worked out as a bargain once you’d bought the minimum number of subscription CDs and promptly cancelled the sub.

I carried on with Britannia for a year or two then I started to get the inevitable discs I'd never ordered and demands for payment of discs I'd neither had nor ordered which was all a bit sad really but that Ring box still has pride of place on my shelves.

[Lordgeous]

Maybe of interest to the technically minded, the one-off mixing desk that Decca had built for recording the Solti Ring has just come on the market:

"Arguably one of the most unique and outstanding recording consoles ever built: The Decca WSW console. It was special built for the Decca recording studios in the Sofiensäle Vienna and only ONE console was ever made. It was installed in April 1964 and was the most modern recording studio in Europe at the time. It was used for about 15 years, stored for 35 years and then completely restored with a few thousand hours of work. The console consists of 264 modules, all of which have been cleaned inside & out, repaired, serviced, recapped, aligned and measured. Each module will come in technically new-like condition. About 3000 parts (all caps, all rectifiers, out of specification resistors, all PSU powertransistors, copperbands, a few knobs, some connectors, many cables, .....) are renewed in the console/PSU. €150K worth of parts & labour alone has been spent on this refurbishement.

Decca used the console to record many world reknown records such as “The Golden Ring” by Wagner.

All Decca recordings from the Sofiensäle Vienna from 1964 till 1975 were recorded with this console."

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Maybe of interest to the technically minded, the one-off mixing desk that Decca had built for recording the Solti Ring has just come on the market:

"Arguably one of the most unique and outstanding recording consoles ever built: The Decca WSW console. It was special built for the Decca recording studios in the Sofiensäle Vienna and only ONE console was ever made. It was installed in April 1964 and was the most modern recording studio in Europe at the time. It was used for about 15 years, stored for 35 years and then completely restored with a few thousand hours of work. The console consists of 264 modules, all of which have been cleaned inside & out, repaired, serviced, recapped, aligned and measured. Each module will come in technically new-like condition. About 3000 parts (all caps, all rectifiers, out of specification resistors, all PSU powertransistors, copperbands, a few knobs, some connectors, many cables, .....) are renewed in the console/PSU. €150K worth of parts & labour alone has been spent on this refurbishement.

Decca used the console to record many world reknown records such as “The Golden Ring” by Wagner.

All Decca recordings from the Sofiensäle Vienna from 1964 till 1975 were recorded with this console."

John Culshaw referred to its commission and construction In Ring Resounding. Das Rheingold and Siegfried had used the old stereo mixing console, so having this ready for Gotterdammerung was an important development.

I'd quite like to buy it.