Ring des Nibelungen recordings

Chris

If only it was that easy - a woman who grew up on the edge of the Indian reservation is not interested in jewelry.

It's funny, when I first read your reply I started thinking, 'What version of the Ring would she like? Karajan or Knappertsbusch?'

And if the more solemn lines of Fricka cannot convince her, you may try the lighter Aria from Gounod's Faust, known as the "Jewel Song" (Oh Dieu! Que de bijoux...). She may be carried away...

Parla

Difficult to say about the "finest" Loges, Naupilus. Most opt for a good tenor/actor to portray well the difficult and strange character (Kempe with G. Stolze or Haitink with H. Zednik). However, a great voice tenor can give another perspective to the role (Solti with Set Svanholm or Levine with S. Jerusalem).

Theilemann's Rheingold is good enough, maybe among the very competitive ones, at least among the more modern ones.

Parla

I'm glad Parla's mentioned Zednik. His Loge on the Bayreuth/Boulez DVD Ring (still my favourite on DVD) is both well acted and well sung. The latter requirement is often overlooked in favour of the former. 

Loge is a really difficult rôle to sing well. On the one hand he is a trickster, oily, unreliable rogue, but he is also a god. A great singer is needed to do justice to the part. Svanholm was one such (as Parla suggested). Even finer (for me) is Windgassen, in Böhm's Bayreuth performance.  He manages to catch both sides of the character perfectly. A great Loge makes a big difference to a performance of Das Rheingold.

Chris

    As my first contribution to the forum, may I be allowed to offer a few thoughts apres the Solti ring, considered over the many years since I first walked out of my local record shop (sadly, now long gone) clutching, Alberich-like, the newly-released Solti Rheingold recording. My feeling today is that this recording was the ideal presentation (as opposed to interpretation) for it's era. Let us not forget that when these complete sets appeared, to the average music-lover, the music-dramas of Wagner were still daunting, not least on account of their sheer length. This recording served to open the doors on a sound world previously only familiar to the specialist collector, finally revealing the great work to the many. Few conductors will ever come near to being all things to all people in this giant canvas, but in Solti we have the benefit of a fairly 'straight' traverse of the score. Yes, there are parts (even complete versions) of the work/s that I now, with the benefit of exposure to the avalanche of subsequent versions of this work, prefer by other maestros. However, had I not been introduced to this work by the Solti recording, I have little doubt that I would not have had the interest to explore further.   Undoubtedly a major factor in the success of this first commercial Ring was the technical prowess of the Decca engineers. There were certainly a few misjudged moments of balance, when a singer would be swamped by the sheer weight of sound from the orchestra, or a touch of over-enthusiastic brass (a Solti trademark,) but nevertheless it was a milestone in recorded sound, and a revelation at the time. (I certainly remember one Gramophone reviewer suggesting, not entirely tongue-in-cheek, I suspect, that to identify the quality of new releases, they should be separated by the tag 'before Gotterdammerung/after Gotterdammerung.')  I think that there is a case for condidering the first commercial recording of this (now) much-loved work almost as an analogy of the music itself, which repeatedly draws the listener back, perhaps, occasionally, almost in spite of reservations. For myself, I now look upon this recording with affection, and with gratitude, as one of the great 'firsts' in my musical life.   David Vickers,  Stoke-on-Trent.