To encapsulate the Ring orchestrally in 67 minutes is an ambitious undertaking. But there is an obvious market for Wagner without voices, and if I am in danger of being critical of such a requirement I always think of EG's classic description of the contribution of a soprano (who shall be nameless) to a recording of The Flying Dutchman, who seemed to him more reminiscent of The Flying Scotsman. Henk de Vlieger describes his symphonic synthesis as an ''orchestral adventure'' and states his intention ''to unite the most important orchestral parts of the Ring in order to create a solid one-part symphonic work'' in which ''the main plot lines, as in a symphonic poem, are clearly recognisable''. He has striven to avoid a potpourri effect and wherever possible to adopt the fragments in their original form. In this he has been, on the whole, successful and if the ''slight alterations in the transitional interludes'' where ''different modulations have been applied'' at certain places ''or a more fitting orchestration'', this has all been done with fair skill even if it is momentarily not Wagner.
The music is grouped into four movements, relating to the four operas of the Ring, and each subdivided into titled but continuous sub-sections. Thus in Die Walkure the ''Ride of the Valkyries'' leads directly into the ''Magic Fire Music''. Alas, in Das Rheingold the 18 anvils, over which John Culshaw took such trouble in his complete Decca recording, here tinkle like amplified glockenspiels. On the other hand the ''Entry into Valhalla'' is impressively grand and later the ''Forest murmurs'' of Siegfried are very evocative. In the passage from the same opera described as ''Brunhildes Erwachen'' there is a wonderfully ethereal passage from the high violins (track 9—entering at 2'21'') and the brass entry (at 428'') is a superbly managed interruption, leading at 5'56'' to a glorious splurge of passion. The final section dealing with Gotterdammerung is almost entirely successful. ''Siegfried's Funeral music'' has superb grandeur and a venomous attack on the powerful repeated chords; even if the half-cadence at the end, before the join to ''Brunnhilde's immolation'' is less than an ideal solution, the exciting closing scene of the opera has a consistently high level of tension.
Edo de Waart's pacing is always convincing and the Netherlands Radio orchestra play very well, especially the brass (even if they are not the Berlin Philharmonic). The snag is that the acoustic of the empty, and very reverberant Concertgebouw brings a muddying of the sound (immediately obvious in the misty opening Prelude to Das Rheingold), which the microphones occasionally emphasize to the point of congestion. This is especially noticeable in the section called ''Brunnhilde and Siegfried'', at the beginning of the Gotterdammerung sequence, and the following ''Rhine journey''. The documentation, too, is wholly inadequate. Surely in a venture like this the inexperienced listener needs to know what is happening. The booklet devotes nearly five pages to the arrangement, two to the performers, and just 23 lines to the synopsis.'