Customer Reviews

Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen [Box Set]

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I really enjoyed listening to this Ring Cycle. It's one of the earliest extant Ring recordings (Naxos has put out a so-called "cycle" from the 1930s and 1940s which is actually four separate performances over a period of years packaged together, and really isn't a true cycle), and given that it dates from 1948-9, the sound is pretty good.

It was recorded much the way Furtwangler recorded his Ring Cycle for RAI a few years later (you can check on Amazon.com to see my review of that recording). He performed "Das Rheingold," which doesn't have an intermission, complete, and the other three operas one act at a time. This means that the singers are a lot fresher than they would be if they were doing a complete performances in a theater. When it comes to the end of "Gotterdammerung," when the soprano can sound exhausted, this can be a real asset.

I liked the conductor's way with the score, and the cast, although not the big names you get on other recordings, are really terrific.

But should it be your first choice? That depends. Offhand I would say no -- almost everyone's first choice for a Ring Cycle would be Georg Solti's, and for once the conventional wisdom is correct. Second would be Karl Bohm on Philips, especially if you can find the slimmer edition that doesn't have jewel cases and costs ...less than the bulkier model.

So this recording of "Der Ring des Nibelungen" is really for the Wagner completists or the ones who have a love for historical recordings. Like me. But if you already own a bunch of Ring Cycles, you've got some money to throw around, and historical mono sound doesn't put you off, you could do a lot worse than buy this set. It's arguably the equal of any of the more famous live recordings from that era by bigger-name conductors such as Furtwangler and Knappertsbusch.

Rudolf Moralt's 1948 Ring cycle from Vienna is a true find. First appearing on the Myto label (still available), and now on Gebhardt, Wagnerians will want this, if only because it offers a wonderful opportunity to hear the largely-unknown and underappreciated Gertrude Grob-Prandl (Brunnhilde in the Siegfried and Gotterdammerung). She is phenomenal--something of a cross between the tremendous power of a Nilsson and the melting beauty of a Flagstad. Others stand out as well, including Ferdinand Frantz' Wotan/Wanderer.

In short, a Ring cycle worth acquiring, not as a first choice, perhaps, but, at such cheap prices, necessary nonetheless.

A previous reviewer on Amazon.uk is fair in his criticisms of the slapdash way the first, complete, post-World War II "Ring" to be recorded (in concert performances) has been transferred on to 18 CD's but his two stars really do not do the sound, conducting or singers any justice; the other reviewers on Amazon.com are much nearer the mark. You can pick this up very cheaply and with it a valuable representation of some of the finest Wagner singers of the era, singing in an older tradition which values legato, with crystalline diction and a fine sense of drama. The sound is excellent for a venerable mono recording; minimal background hiss and great clarity.

Moralt's conducting is masterly; you have only to listen to the climax of "Die Walküre" to appreciate that he knew exactly how to pace this music: never rushed but always grand and propulsive. Some find Frantz's Wotan to be rather coarse; it is true that he is not as nuanced or subtle as Hotter or Terfel but his is a fine Heldenbariton more in the George London mode but huskier of tone, with a thrilling ring and admirable stamina - although it helped that this was recorded an act a night. I do not agree with either of the assertions that Frieda Leider was unquestionably the best Brünnhilde ever or that Helena Braun is necessarily inferior to her; similarly the largely forgotten Gertrude Grob-Prandl is a formidable Brünnhilde in the last two operas. Günther Treptow was good enough to impress Fürtwängler so much that he immediately signed him up for his La Scala "Ring" the following year. All have big, dark, firm Wagner voices and the supporting cast features many a Wagnerian stalwart of that epoch, such as the stentorian and highly versatile Rosette Anday, who sings four roles: Erda, Fricka, Waltraute and First Norn. Hilde Konetzni is a radiant if occasionally slightly acid-toned Sieglinde; virtually unknown singers like black-toned bass Herbert Alsen as Hunding and Fafner and better remembered stars like Ludwig Weber as Hagen are extraordinarily effective and dramatic.

I am inclined to say that this is not the set to introduce the novice to Wagner but production issues such as the complete absence of documentation, clumsy fades and mono sound apart, this is a wholly absorbing, wonderfully sung "Ring" in which little disappoints. The big orchestral moments such as the crossing of the rainbow bridge to Valhalla come across vividly even if they cannot compete with the John Culshaw treatment given to Solti's set.