For anyone who, like me, feels that Wagner's music—and The Ring in particular—is less than half complete without voices, any compilation of purely orchestral chunks can be only partly satisfying. That said, the excerpts have been chosen to evoke several key episodes in the drama, and the BPO have ample opportunities to demonstrate their special musical qualities. Klaus Tennstedt is as passionate and expressive as one could wish—and the engineering aspects reach spectacular heights in the climaxes. The CD version takes everything that the brass and percussion can throw at us cleanly, and yet the quietest murmurings remain beautifully audible against a silent CD background. Hi-fi buffs should enjoy programming their CD player to piece together their own selection of demonstration passages. For more serious listeners, the disc should be listened to straight through—helped by the ''foreshortened summary'', as William Mann describes his booklet-notes—as an absorbing introduction to Wagner's masterpiece.'