Customer Reviews

The Ring Disc: An Interactive Guide to Wagners Ring Cycle (Solti, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra)

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If this disc is ever reissued, grab it! It is not an audio CD as described by Amazon. It is a CD-ROM with the entire Solti Ring in one disc (computer sound, of course). On video you get the score (piano reduction), the text, an English translation, and commentary. All the leitmotivs are marked, and you can stop anywhere and get all the instances of a leitmotivs, from first to last, and go to any point and hear any that you want. When they showed it to Solti, he was just amazed how much is on this one disc. (Issued with his approval.) This disc is hugely helpful if you want to get under the skin of the Ring and really get to know it.

This CD is amazing in that it presents the entire Ring Cycle -- all 14 hours or so -- in very acceptable (albeit mono) sound on a single computer disk. The recording used is the famous one George Solti made with the leading Wagners singers from the late 1950s and early 60s that is considered one of the best recordings of these works. The software side of the disk is great, in that you can instantly choose the opera you want to go to, along with act and scene within the act. You can follow the operas in three ways (simultaneously if you want) -- there is a piano score, the libretto, and (very nice) a part of the screen that lists the leitmotifs that are being played. You can readily move through any part of the opera with a scroll bar, and there are lots of hyperlinks that take you to musical examples and some (almost a 100) very nice short essays on the Ring and its characters. This really is a great piece of software if you are interested in the Ring, and is a good value at...the list price..., and a truly unbelievable value at the [price] Amazon is now asking for it.

This CD-Rom is the best guide I've come across in 18 years of studying the Ring music dramas. The highly compressed music (14.5 hours on 1 CD!) is recorded in mono, but still sounds okay. The CD plays on my Windows 98 PC with no installation, no technical hassles at all. There are numerous hyperlinks so you can go to any section of the 4 operas in one click. Most impressive of all is the thorough cataloging of the leitmotifs. The commentary here is especially inciteful, illustrating how leitmotifs are developed and related to other leitmotifs, musically and dramatically. The explanation of the "love-curse" motif (usually mislabled the "renunciation motif) is particularly good.
I can't recommend this highly enough. (...)

The sound quality on this issue is pretty similar to that ofthe CDs, given that both are digitally remastered from original analogtapes. It would be well worth investing in higher quality computer speakers to take full advantage of the fine audio quality of this release. I have seen this package offered for sale only once outside of Amazon.com, and as I recall the retailer was asking a great deal more. The additional features of this issue make it very valuable for music study, the piano scores bought separately cost a fair sum. It is also very helpful to have the leitmotives (or as Wagner called them, Gedachnismotiven, meaning motives of memory) almost musically dissectable from the scores. All in all, this is one of the most attractive options available of acquiring the complete Ring. The Solti is not my favourite cycle, either as a whole or in part, but at this price, with all the extra features and conveniences, it would be very hard to give this set anything less than a full recommendation. Those who have already invested in other versions of this cycle on CD, including Solti's very popular recording, should not be too concerned about the costs of duplication. The extra and unique features of this issue make it well worth the outlay.

When I was a graduate student in college, I took a two-semester course on the operas of Richard Wagner: the first semester was on his "other" operas and the second was on "Der Ring des Nibelungen". The second semester was spent in Germany, where we attended a performance of the complete "Ring" at Bayreuth (glorious!). Finding a copy of this Ring Disc ... was a real treasure (I must have bought the last one available, unfortunately, as it now available only as a used CD). This program really allows me to dig into the Ring once again, after so many years. It's a shame that the audio quality isn't any better, but 14.5 hours on one CDR is still remarkable. I recently purchased the new DVD set of the Ring, with Pierre Boulez (That's another review entirely!), and find the Ring Disc a helpful supplement. It is a shame that it seems to POP, but at the original ... list price, no wonder.

If you can find a copy, all you Wagner fans, buy it!

I am very grateful for those who helped create this CD-ROM.

It is an indispensible asset for any musicologist, music student, music teacher, music lover...heck, Wagner Lover!

This forms an extremely vital part of my Wagner discography, it's an important reference I always have on hand when wanting to study the epic Ring Cycle.

Thanks for choosing the Solti version and I guess those of us that were impressed by this are looking forward to further Wagner/Solti CD-ROM's hopefully dedicated to keeping Solti's Wagner legacy alive!

This is an incredible product! For those that like to follow the manuscript, the music and the translation of the libretto, this is excellent. I would love to see more of these. I will buy.

I agree with all the other glowing reviews of the Ring Disc! In 2003, I had the opportunity to perform excerpts from the Ring (I'm an orchestral violinist) but did not know a thing about the opera cycle except for maybe Ride of the Valkyries. Fortunately, my violin teacher owned the Ring Disc which she lent me, and with it I basically gave myself a crash course on the Ring in the space of a week. I really felt that its features helped me begin to understand, in a relatively short period of time, one of classical music's most daunting masterpieces. I now love the Ring and can't wait to attend my first Ring cycle!

Fantastic, overwhelming . . . superb guide. Easy to use, fine reproduction of the music (the entire Ring all on one CD!), running commentary with hypertext notes on themes and characters, notes on the leitmotifs with sound bites, images, etc. -- can't say enough, really. Only suggestion would be to have additional navigation by "track" (as on a conventional CD, if possible) -- but this is a quibble.
Buy this -- you will not regret it one bit -- this is the guide to the Ring you have always wanted.

This is a most successful case of applying technology and musicology to music appreciation. In a nutshell, this CD-Rom contains

1. Compressed digital sound of the entire Solti's Ring Cycle Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Ring Cycle) / Sir Georg Solti,
2. Complete Ring vocal/piano score reduction,
3. Complete libretto with English translation,
4. Comprehensive analysis, including detailed analysis of all leitmotifs,
5. Hyperlinks between scores, analysis and leitmotifs.

2-4 can be played concurrently with the music. When a hyperlink is clicked, the short analysis or the leitmotif will pop up. You then have the option of clicking at the "More" link to stop the music and go to the full analysis. Then one click at "return to music", you are back to exactly where you were.

On the "musicological" side, this is most complete and sophisticated guide to Wagner's tetralogy known to me. The author apparently has studied and loved the Ring dearly. For most part, the traditional terminology and conventions are used. Only occasionally, an alternative term is proposed and explanation given to justify the deviation from the "norm". An example is the "love-curse" motif in place of the usual "renunciation" motif.

Technologically, this piece of software is a marvel of coding and design! It is small and nimble, and works flawlessly on any PC. During my many years of use, I have never encountered any problem with the software. Not even once has the software ever crashed on me. Furthermore, you can save the entire disc on your hardisk and (in case of a notebook computer) take it with you wherever you go.

In conclusion: This is a most amazing guide to Wagner's tetralogy and it belongs to any Wagnerite's collection. My hat off to the author/creator Monte Stone!

Highest recommendation.

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P.S. You can buy the CD-Rom from the seller Montague, screen name for the author Mr. Stone. (I got my copy from him ~6 years ago.) Don't make copies, unless it is for your personal use. Mr. Stone's efforts deserve our support!