Wagner, Richard (1813 - 1883)

[oliver sudden]

As is the case with many an inexhaustible masterpiece, I've reached the conclusion that you need at least Solti and Karajan to get anywhere near full appreciation of the marvel that is The Ring, with Solti/Culshaw edging it in the dramatic stakes, but HvK winning in purely musical terms with a concert perspective rather than an overly stagey one, if that makes sense. Culshaw. of course, wrote extensively on the production aesthetics of the Decca set, prioritising drama and taking Wagner's precise instructions literally, which pays dividends in scenes such as the ugly subterranean shenanigans involving Mime, Siegfried and Fafner, whereas Karajan's singers and the BPO often outshine their Viennese counterparts in tenderly ecstatic passages. The Karajan set is very light on any of Wagner's meticulous demands for sound effects, as if HvK thinks they're not especially "refained" e.g. Donner's damp squib of a hammer-blow at the Rainbow Bridge, where Solti/Culshaw, especially on LP, threaten to blow the cones from the speakers.

Next, when time allows, I'm going to have a crack at the 66/67 live Bayreuth/Böhm.

I don't generally get along with either Karajan or Solti in other repertoire and yet I have the Karajan Ring on LP as well as Rheingold on CD. The Solti on the other hand I've never returned to after giving it an unsuccessful try many decades ago. Since I'm a big fan of his Salome and Elektra, clearly I need to revisit it. But the constant flow of new remasterings keeps getting in the way of picking a version!

[smittims]

Like many people I was thrilled to bits with the Solt i whenI first encountered it, after reading 'Ring Resounding' . But this was before I heard Furtwangler. Now I think the Decca is still remarkable for the many details of the score which are brought out, sometimes better than in some digital recordings, quite something when one considers they began in 1958. But above all it's the playing of the Vienna Philharmonic that has me returning to this set repeatedly, and it's interesting that they've never recorded it again. The great 'might-have-been' for me is therefore the 1950s studio Ring began by HMV , conducted by Furtwangler and rpoduced by Lawrence Collingwood, of which only the Walkure was made at the end of the conductor's life; in fact it was the very last occasion he conducted.

Despite the many recent recordings, it need not be surprising that so many of us hark back to historic ones . I've even wondered if it's possible to achieve the 'epic' interpretations of the past. We don't live in an epic age, and this may be why so many recent productions give a 'modern-political-allegory' view of the work, which can be traced back to Bernard Shaw's 'socialist' (or 'Fabian') interpretation.

[Roger Webb]

My first encounter with the Solti Ring was its being played as 'music while you work' in an electronics factory making test equipment for Concorde! Some of my co-workers had pestered the management to have music playing, and this was it. It didn't last, and except for a couple of us, by popular vote it was silenced!

I now have Solti, Böhm, Janowski and Goodall on CD, Keilberth '55 on Testament LPs, Levine/Met and Boulez on DVD.

Still love the Solti but find the Böhm mid-60s live Bayreuth very exciting - Culshaw slates this unmercifully.....maybe because he wasn't invited to record it!

The great live recording that the Decca team did record is the one above, now on Testament, conducted by Keilberth in 1955 in amazing stereo sound. This recording had almost mythical status after the release was prevented by contractual difficulties - well here it is, listen and be amazed!

One wish: that Humphrey Burton could be persuaded to do a Director's Cut of the Golden Ring, including much more of the three hours or so of material that ended up on the cutting room floor!

[gurnemanz]

My first encounter with Solti's Ring was borrowing the the LP set of Götterdämmerung from the library. Odd, perhaps, to start at the end. It may have been because I was studying the Nibelungenlied as part of my German degree. I recorded it onto reel-to-reel tape for future use, making longhand notes with tapecount numbers to give index points. Maybe I should have got out more. I never actually got around to borrowing the rest of the cycle.

I have seen two complete Ring Cycles on stage - about 40 years apart: Joachim Herz, Leipzig, mid-70s and Pappano, ROH, 2018. I doubt if I shall see another one.