Wagner - The Ring
Vienna State Opera Chorus; Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Georg Solti
Decca 455 555-2DMO14 Buy now
(14h 36’ · ADD · T/t)
Das Rheingold
George London bass-bar Wotan; Kirsten Flagstad sop Fricka; Set Svanholm ten Loge; Paul Kuen ten Mime; Gustav Neidlinger bass-bar Alberich; Claire Watson sop Freia; Waldemar Kmentt ten Froh; Eberhard Waechter bar Donner; Jean Madeira contr Erda; Walter Kreppel bass Fasolt; Kurt Böhme bass Fafner; Oda Balsborg sop Woglinde; Hetty Plümacher mez Wellgunde; Ira Malaniuk mez Flosshilde
Die Walküre
James King ten Siegmund; Régine Crespin sop Sieglinde; Birgit Nilsson sop Brünnhilde; Hans Hotter bass-bar Wotan; Christa Ludwig mez Fricka; Gottlob Frick bass Hunding; Vera Schlosser sop Gerhilde; Berit Lindholm sop Helmwige; Helga Dernesch sop Ortlinde; Brigitte Fassbaender mez Waltraute; Claudia Hellmann sop Rossweisse; Vera Little contr Siegrune; Marilyn Tyler sop Grimgerde; Helen Watts contr Schwertleite
Siegfried
Wolfgang Windgassen ten Siegfried; Hans Hotter bass-bar Wanderer; Birgit Nilsson sop Brünnhilde; Gerhard Stolze ten Mime; Gustav Neidlinger bass-bar Alberich; Marga Höffgen contr Erda; Kurt Böhme bass Fafner; Joan Sutherland sop Woodbird
Götterdämmerung
Birgit Nilsson sop Brünnhilde; Wolfgang Windgassen ten Siegfried; Gottlob Frick bass Hagen; Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau bar Gunther; Claire Watson sop Gutrune; Gustav Neidlinger bass-bar Alberich; Christa Ludwig mez Waltraute; Gwyneth Jones sop Wellgunde; Lucia Popp sop Woglinde; Maureen Guy mez Flosshilde; Helen Watts contr First Norn; Grace Hoffman mez Second Norn; Anita Välkki sop Third Norn
Recorded 1958-65. Also available separately.
As perspectives on the Solti/Culshaw enterprise lengthen, and critical reactions are kept alert by the regular appearance of new, or newly issued, and very different recordings, it may seem increasingly ironic that of all conductors the ultra-theatrical Solti should have been denied a live performance. There are indeed episodes in this recording that convey more of the mechanics of the studio than of the electricity of the opera house – the opening of Die Walküre, Act 2, and the closing scenes of Siegfried and Götterdämmerung, for example. Yet, in general, dramatic impetus and atmosphere are strongly established and well sustained, sometimes more powerfully than is usually managed in the theatre. As just one example one would instance the superb control with which the intensity of Donner’s summoning up of the thunder in Das Rheingold is maintained across Froh’s greeting to the rainbow bridge into Wotan’s own great salutation. At the majestic climax of this scene the power of feeling conveyed by George London’s fine performance counts for more than any ‘artificiality’ in the way the voice is balanced against the orchestra.
Equally memorable in a totally different context is Solti’s management of the long transition in Götterdämmerung between Hagen’s Watch and the appearance of Waltraute. Nothing could be less mannered or unnatural than Solti’s grasp of perspective and feeling for the life of each phrase in this music. On CD the clarity of instrumental detail is consistently remarkable, and while not all the singers sound as if they’re constantly in danger of being overwhelmed, there are some vital episodes, especially those involving Windgassen and Nilsson. Awareness of what these artists achieved in other recordings strengthens the suspicion that they may have been giving more than we actually get here. Windgassen isn’t allowed to dominate the sound picture in the way his part demands, and Nilsson can seem all too relaxed within the comforting cocoon of the orchestral texture.
Factors like these, coupled with those distinctive Soltian confrontations between the hard-driven and the hammily protracted, have prevented the cycle from decisively seeing off its rivals over the years. It’s questionable nevertheless whether any studio recording of the Ring could reasonably be expected to be more atmospheric, exciting or better performed than this one. The VPO isn’t merely prominent but excellent, and such interpretations as Svanholm’s Loge, Neidlinger’s Alberich and Frick’s Hagen remain very impressive.
Above all, there’s Hotter, whose incomparably authoritative, unfailingly alert and responsive Wotan stands up well when compared to his earlier Bayreuth accounts. Nowhere is he more commanding than in Siegfried, Act 1, where one even welcomes Stolze’s mannerisms as Mime for the sparks they strike off the great bass-baritone. Earlier in this act the interplay of equally balanced instruments and voices in relatively intimate conversational phrases displays the Culshaw concept at its most convincing. He would have been astonished to hear what his successors have achieved in renewing his production through digital remastering. One now realises how much of the original sound was lost on the old pressings. In comparison with the 1980 Janowski/RCA version, the approaches are so different they almost seem like different experiences. Culshaw was intent on creating a theatre on record with all the well-known stage effects; the rival version eschews all such manifestations. In general, Janowski presents a much more intimate view of the work than Solti’s.
However many other Rings you may have, though, you’ll need this one.
