anyone downloaded the 2012 remastering of Solti Ring?

[neiltingley]

Here's the story:

http://www.stereophile.com/content/solti-iringi-remasteredagain

[Resurrection Man]

Here's the story:

http://www.stereophile.com/content/s...emasteredagain

Downloaded from where? As far as I can see it is a wallet-wrenching £235 for the whole set of CDs and Blu-Ray...

I was discussing this with a friend who was tempted particularly by the Blu-Ray disc as that meant that he could listen to the whole of Walkure Act 3 rather than it being split across two CDs and thus losing the sense of the performance. I did point out that you can combine the two halves lossless and then burn to CD quite happily...it fits...just.

[neiltingley]

HDtracks. You need a US IP address - use a VPN or proxy.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I am tempted to buy the entire luxury set, though I do not agree that the first CD transfer of Das Rheingold was all that bad. I preferred it to the later dehissed version, which I do find tiring to listen to.

[Flosshilde]

Here's the story:

http://www.stereophile.com/content/s...emasteredagain

The comments suggest that the 'story' is rather more complicated than set out in the original article.

(Oh, and the author's 'entry level system' would set you back $1420 for loudspeaker & stand. I assume he means a pair, & not just one )

[neiltingley]

Oh you should read some of the reviews in Stereophile. Enough to fill several years' worth in Pseuds Corner. They do review some cheaper stuff thank goodness.

This month's edition features $200,000 speakers! The reviewer's own system must have cost at least $150,000.

You wonder where they get the money! And cables ... well lets not get started on $10,000 1M interconnects (burning them in!!).

[Ferretfancy]

I have to confess that I bought the bumper box. What's it like? well, one reason for buying it was that includes Culshaw's book Ring Resounding, and also a DVD of the Humphrey Burton documentary which colleagues of mine worked on, so I have some nostalgia for that.

So far I've only heard Das Rheingold and the first act of Walküre on the single Blu Ray DVD which carries the whole Ring! The quality is stunning, certainly the best mastering yet achieved. Voices are much better placed, and there is extraordinary impact and warmth. This particularly favours the performance of George London as Wotan, and of course the melodramatic moments such as Donner's hammer are even better than before. Much the same goes for Die Walküre, although I find the end of Act One very overdriven in Solti's conducting. I won't put Bruno Walter away just yet. This was always the weakest recording of the cycle, and incidentally the only one to use
Dolby noise reduction.

There are a few design problems with the presentation, which is very handsome in its gorgeous box. However, I prefer to use the libretti with the previous boxed set,because the new one uses an LP size format for the texts.The paper is high quality but the print could do with being a larger font for me.

One other difficulty is that my Blu Ray player and TV are linked in such a way that I haven't yet found a way of turning off the screen display and just listening to the sound.If I turn off the TV, the player turns off as well. The on screen information is excellent and easy to navigate, but I don't want it staring me in the face while I'm listening. Of course this is due to my own particular set up, others might not find it a problem.

Is it worth the expense? Well, given all the arguments that have accompanied this set over the years, I can't be absolutely sure. One thing is certain, and that's that Blu Ray Audio is exceptionally good, and I'd like to see other classic ( and maybe slightly more deserving? ) issues given the same degree of care and presentation at more realistic cost.

[An_Inspector_Calls]

I cut my teeth on the Solti Ring and admire it greatly. But Bohm's Bayreuth Ring has much the same soloists and is a far better performance. As to the Decca recording, the thing I don't like about it is the obvious focussing on sections of the orchestra as they carry the line; why couldn't they just have left the orchestral balance more-or-less alone? So they are forever panning in and out on different sections of the orchestra, sometimes with the tape hiss obviously in tow. It's that that I find very tiring.

I don't see anything wrong with spending a lot on hi-fi, especially the loudspeakers. The investment can (and has) last a lifetime. Better than losing money on new cars.

I'd rather spend money on other recordings of the Ring; the Decca LPs will do quite nicely.

[Stunsworth]

(Oh, and the author's 'entry level system' would set you back $1420 for loudspeaker & stand. I assume he means a pair, & not just one )

They're expensive, but I suspect many audiophiles have spent £900 or more on a pair of speakers.

[Beef Oven]

Financially ruined myself as a teeneager buying the Solti Ring.

Bought the Remastered CDs over 10 years ago - more waste of money!

Solti is crass, noisey and has no idea about Wagner's music.

Save your money and buy one of the many alternatives.

My preference is Goodall, but the PC Brigade will not let you enjoy that one

[Flosshilde]

They're expensive, but I suspect many audiophiles have spent £900 or more on a pair of speakers.

I'm sure they have - & a lot more than that. It wasn't so much the cost that bemused me as the use of the term 'entry level'.

My preference is Goodall, but the PC Brigade will not let you enjoy that one

As always, I've no idea who this "PC Brigade" is (unless they're one of Her Majesty's Constabulary). However, if you're referring to Reg's political views I think anybody who's a passionate Wagnerian has probably gone through enough turns coping with his political views (although I think they are more Cosima's) to be able to cope with Reg.

[Beef Oven]

I'm sure they have - & a lot more than that. It wasn't so much the cost that bemused me as the use of the term 'entry level'.




As always, I've no idea who this "PC Brigade" is (unless they're one of Her Majesty's Constabulary). However, if you're referring to Reg's political views I think anybody who's a passionate Wagnerian has probably gone through enough turns coping with his political views (although I think they are more Cosima's) to be able to cope with Reg.

Excellently put into a nutshell!

[Ferretfancy]

[QUOTE=Beef Oven;241680]Financially ruined myself as a teeneager buying the Solti Ring.

Bought the Remastered CDs over 10 years ago - more waste of money!

Solti is crass, noisey and has no idea about Wagner's music.

Well, there's a thing ! There's no doubt in my mind that my youthful enthusiasm for the Solti Ring has diminished somewhat, and I agree that the orchestral balance favours the heavy brass too much, but it's still a remarkable pioneer effort which opened the gates to many other fine achievements in opera recording.

The problems that Decca had recording the 1955 Keilberth Ring at Bayreuth lead Culshaw to veto its issue on technical grounds. Nowadays thanks to Testament we can make our own judgement. Personally I think it's excellent for the performances, but you do need to make allowances for the sound.

I went to the Goodall cycle at ENO and was pretty well bowled over by it, and I still have the LPs, but it is very measured for home listening. If Gordon Parry, James Lock and the rest of the Decca engineers were working on the Ring today, now doubt they would use a less interventionist approach, but remember that Wagner calls for a huge dynamic range, and this and other factors made for a huge challenge when they started the cycle back in 1958. They were the first in the field and to my mind worked wonders.

[Beef Oven]

[QUOTE=Ferretfancy;241753]

Financially ruined myself as a teeneager buying the Solti Ring.

Bought the Remastered CDs over 10 years ago - more waste of money!

Solti is crass, noisey and has no idea about Wagner's music.

Well, there's a thing ! There's no doubt in my mind that my youthful enthusiasm for the Solti Ring has diminished somewhat, and I agree that the orchestral balance favours the heavy brass too much, but it's still a remarkable pioneer effort which opened the gates to many other fine achievements in opera recording.

The problems that Decca had recording the 1955 Keilberth Ring at Bayreuth lead Culshaw to veto its issue on technical grounds. Nowadays thanks to Testament we can make our own judgement. Personally I think it's excellent for the performances, but you do need to make allowances for the sound.

I went to the Goodall cycle at ENO and was pretty well bowled over by it, and I still have the LPs, but it is very measured for home listening. If Gordon Parry, James Lock and the rest of the Decca engineers were working on the Ring today, now doubt they would use a less interventionist approach, but remember that Wagner calls for a huge dynamic range, and this and other factors made for a huge challenge when they started the cycle back in 1958. They were the first in the field and to my mind worked wonders.

If only I could have been as lucky as you to have seen Goodall's cycle (too busy with Led Zep & Deep Purple at the time ).

I have the Keilberth and it is glorious. I have never been fussed about sound quality regarding the ring. Possibly because the first Ring I heard was one of Furtwangler's muddy Italian Radio recordings and that set the scene. For the record, I first heard Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon on Italian Radio (I spent a fair amount of time in Italy when I was young).

[Sydney Grew]

This whole thread . . . Roll on the Revolution!