Customer Reviews

Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen [Box Set]

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Over some years now I have been slowly discovering the daunting world that is Der Ring des Nibelungen, beginning - indeed - with Das Rheingold. I came to Wagner's Ring des Nibelungen completely fresh and unknowing, at first (probably) only having ever heard some 'bleeding chunks' of music from the operas (actually, my first real 'confrontation' with music from the 'Ring' was the gorgeous Erato album with Daniel Barenboim conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, which I love, so that probably influenced my expectations about this music ...), and slowly heading on from listening to just the bits and parts I liked best - only casually wandering from one opera to another without knowing the whole intricate and complex poem/text/libretto - to listening to the acts more and more 'from beginning to end', slowly getting a closer grasp of the complex and convoluted (musical) storyline ...
In fact, my sympathy, appreciation, affection and ultimately love for Der Ring des Nibelungen in general is in fact directly related to my love and appreciation for the 'Barenboim Ring', recorded in 1991 (Das Rheingold & Gotterdammerung) and 1992 (Die Walkure & Siegfried). With me, things as big and complex as the 'Ring' have to take time to grow on me, and the Barenboim Ring has captivated me from the start. Why I especially love the 'Barenboim Ring' has much to do with the singing, but more about that a little later. First a word or two about maybe the greatest 'stars of the show' here: conductor and orchestra ...

ORCHESTRA AND CONDUCTOR. From what I have read, Daniel Barenboim seems to be becoming accepted among the ranks of the truly great Wagner conductors. It is of course also a matter of taste what approach one loves best in this music, but anyhow, aside from any 'accepted views', I have just always thought his Wagner the best. Just a matter of taste, indeed.
To me, maestro Barenboim makes the music sound approprately massive and stately, but at the same time does he somehow maintain (how truly special!) an orchestral sound that is somehow crisply articulated, fresh and transparent, but resplendent with saturated color. As a complete musical 'illiterate' (I can't read music) I don't have a grasp of the musical 'reasoning' that undoubtably must lie behind maestro Barenboim's approach, but to me it all 'feels' just right and in complete harmony. A grand but clear-headed vision. A Parthenon or a Pantheon in music. I don't know, but it may also have to do with the (custom built ;-) Bayreuther Festspielhaus' superbly appropriate acoustics, causing a kind of nicely rounded, resounding but polished sound.
Also, maestro Barenboim's tempi are generally exactly right for my own taste: never too fast (why do some people find his tempi too slow?) but always 'charged' with the right amount of dramatic tension. (But then again, I can't read music, so how would I know what would be the 'right' tempo? Oh, well ...) A clear-headed, but at the same time sweeping, grand vision of Wagner's music that does not revel in the music for its own sake, but above all things lets the music speak as a purely dramatic narrative to underline and focus on the drama that is going on on stage, with some of the most beautiful and at the same time dramatic singers I ever heard.
The orchestra must also, in a sense, be able to 'speak for itself' in this music, and indeed it does so here, as eloquently as one could ever wish, I believe, and sometimes so enthousiastically, that voices are slightly drowned out, even, by its sheer power in climaxes :-)

THE SINGERS. Often, emotions color my view of what I see and hear on certain moments. It's just how (and who) I am. And also, matters of personal taste come 'in the way'. I will not try to apologize for either ;-) But I will try to describe as clearly as I am able - however lacking and personally biased the end result may be - what I find so wonderful about this recorded performance of Der Ring des Nibelungen.
Well, most of the singers are to my ears simply the best for their parts, utterly convincing, and often very moving. All of the 'main characters' are singers that I like or indeed love. We have, among many others, the towering talents of the excellent actor-singer Graham Clark (Mime), the energetic and heroic Siegfried by Siegfried Jerusalem, the enormously expressive, deeply resounding, deeply emotional Wotan by John Tomlinson, and we have the beautifully humane and warmly sympathetic Brunnhilde by Anne Evans. I truly adore Anne Evans' sweet but intelligent Brunnhilde. Her singing is engagingly sympathetic and completely captivating. In climaxes her voice really soars (for example the 'immolation scene'), and she never sounds strained, but she is I think at her best especially when allowed to really show all her nuanced beauty and color during softer passages like Brunnhilde's 'duets' with Wotan or Siegmund (take for example "Siegmund! sieh auf mich!"). I am very fond of Siegfried Jerusalem's Siegfried, and singing together with Anne Evans' Brunnhilde in Act III of Siegfried and Act I of Gotterdammerung, they sound like the true 'dream-pair' to me, reaching - in 'threesome' with the orchestra - highest states of harmony and ecstacy. Also, the 'duets' of Wotan and Brunnhilde in Die Walkure are powerful, but at the same time deeply emotionally engaged. (Seeing them together on the DVD's certainly adds to the experience!) Furthermore, I very much enjoy Linda Finnie's full-voiced, bitingly aggressive Fricka (just great in her emotional confrontation with Wotan in Act II of Die Walkure) and Birgitta Svenden's resounding and melancholy Erda ...

AS A SIDE NOTE. Anyone who loves this specific audio-only version of Der Ring des Nibelungen, but has never before seen it (like I myself until recently), should also try the magnificent DVD's of these operas. I for one was truly enraptured, at last also being able to SEE all of the artists that I have come to love, singing (and acting) together within this flabbergastingly evocative stage design! The design is often quite bare, with completely dark background (indeed a feeling of a 'road into nowhere'), which causes, with this particular viewer at least, a sense of timelesness, puzzlement and even of mystery(!), which IMHO is quite appropriate for these larger-than-life operas, the abstractness of the design leaving a lot to your imagination and making them feel more timeless or 'pure', above and beyond any 'Zeitgeist', allowing the listener to focus more on their essential ideas and (inter-personal) emotions.
Talking about emotions, what an enormous 'bonus' to see for example John Tomlinson sing/act his part! His expressive acting does add even more depth to his already deeply moving, highly charged singing. Now that I am finally also able to see this 'Ring' on DVD, it really IMHO enhances the experience of listening to 'just' this audio-only version, which to me is also a 'complete and full' experience in itself, using a bit of imagination (but then again, how much imagination does one need with this great music, so gorgeously performed?), being able to visualize with the mind's eye the close interaction between Wotan, Brunnhilde, Siegfried, et al.

THE RECORDED SOUND. Just a few comments about the sound on these CD's to end this review. I think it is the best ever for this format (and for as far as I have ever heard). It really fills up the whole aural stage lengthwise and sideways! The effect is as if you were sitting front row seat, I guess. Every orchestral nuance and inflection is brilliantly and sumptuously captured and reproduced on CD.
The recorded sound has always been so deep, sonorous and full as to really at some moments take your breath away, especially in the way that the singers' voices are clearly defined (almost three-dimensionally) within the acoustic space (the depth of the Bayreuth stage is almost palpable). But have they maybe remastered it? It seems to me that the sound on this re-issue is even clearer and finer than the original 1993 Teldec issue, with the acoustics of the Bayreuth theatre almost palpable, enhancing the characteristicly sonorous sound of the Bayreuther Festspielorchester. It is as if orchestral textures are even more velvety and clear and finely balanced. The singers seem to be even more in focus as well. (This also means that we are able to hear a little bit more of the whispering of the prompter in Gotterdammerung, which for some could be a distraction, I can imagine.)
Also, I personally think that it is a blessing that this is a 'studio'-recording, so that the sense of mystery (and 'suspension of disbelief') is never broken by intruding audience noises. This I find especially necessary during the softer passages and intense dialogues between for example Brunnhilde & Siegmund and Wotan & Brunnhilde ...

All in all, a magnificent set, this 'Barenboim Ring' - truly a musical milestone - and truly indispensable (beside the likewise indispensible DVD's)! For better or worse, I have really fallen in love with this 'Ring', mostly for the gorgeous (exquisitely recorded) orchestral sound under Daniel Barenboim and the magnificent leading roles. And now, last but not least, you can have the whole 'Barenboim Ring' on 14 CD's (+ bonus DVD with highlights) for the price of no more than about 4!
(Postscriptum: the customer image I added is taken from the DVD of Siegfried, and not from the bonus DVD in this set.)

Okay, so we numerous recordings for Wagner's epic Ring Cycle: Furtwangler, Keilberth, Solti, Bohm Janowski, Levine, etc. And it's true that every Ring has its ups and downs. Here we have Daniel Barenboim in a live performance with the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra

It's hard to describe Barenboim's Ring. I believe that he uses a little bit of everything: bombast, lyricism, intensity, beauty, fast tempi, slow tempi, measured phrasings, yada yada yada. And he uses all of them so well, that this Ring ranks with Furtwangler, Krauss, Bohm, and Janowski as one of the greats.

Do I really have to tell you that Bayreuth in the really 90's still went strong after all these years? Do I really have to tell you that the brass and percussion are kept under control, and that the strings and woodwinds outstrip Berlin and Bavarian Radio? Do I really have to tell you that almost everything is as it should be? . . . Fine.

You know, it's kind of sad that the great voices of the Ring can no longer be heard in modern times. But we still have some goodies here in this 1991-1992 recording. The rough, deep voice of John Tomlinson should keep people up during the night. You can tell right away after his entrance in Rheingold that he will be flawless later on in Walkure and Siegfried. No, he is not Hotter. And no, he is not horrible.

It sure feels like a cycle when Anne Evans sings as Wotan's favorite daughter. In Walkure, she sounds like a young girl, but as the story progresses, so does she. Her voice and personality changes dramatically during the Gotterdammerung Prologue and especially during the final days of the Gods. Absolutely striking.

Poul Elming and Nadine Secunde make a so-so Walsung pair. You wouldn't expect the mighty voice of James King or the sweetness of Gundula Janowitz; it doesn't happen here in Walkure. But they're not at all horrible, they're certainly better than other, more recent Sieglindes and Siegmunds *cough* Stuttgart Ring *cough*.

Have you ever seen Siegfried Jerusalem on the Levine/Metropolitan DVD? Well, here he is again. But this time, he sounds tired in this version. It's probably because he's sung as Siegfried so many times before this production. It could've been better here.

Gunther von Kannen doesn't completely eclipse Neidlinger and Wlaschiha, but he joins in with Nimsgern and Hammond-Stroud for his humane performance. "Bin ich nun frei?" was good, but not great.

Graham Clark is like Peter Schreier and Heinz Zednik. he's very VERY good. He can actually sing, and not screech his lines whenever he's present in a scene. It's a very entertaining performance here. Kudos to Barenboim for choosing a great Mime, but as Loge? Well, he's no Gerhard Stolze, but he does stay in tune with most of the music in Rheingold. "Immer ist Undank Loge's Lohn" will certainly be somewhere in the top.

The rest of the singers are a given. Philip Kang is an incredible Hagen; he has that Salminen-like deepness that other Hagens don't have. The Three Norns of Gotterdammerung sound lovelier; James Levine's Norns can't hold a candle here. The Valkyries and the Vassals are also a plus.

I don't want to sound too arrogant right now, but this recording should be on every Wagnerite's shelf. And that's if you already have the recordings by Krauss, Solti, Bohm, Karajan, Haitink, Janowski, Levine . . .

This CD set is excellent musically and vocally. It is a live Bayreuth recording from 1991/92. It was also filmed, a bonus 59 min DVD is included with excerpts from all four operas. If you are brainwashed by the Solti fans or old recordings from the 50's you might say no one can match the singers of that "golden" time. But if you want to hear Wagners music as he intended it to be heard THIS IS IT! Every detail is audible, yes, there are some stage noises here and there but that is to be expected. For me Barenboim's tempi are just about perfect, not slow like "Knappertsbusch".
The singers are as good as you will find for 91/92, Tomlinson's Wotan is the equal of Hotter in my view, Anne Evans' Brunhilde is more subdued when compared to Nilsson or Varney but not in a negative way, her tone is more beautiful and she doesn't need to scream to make her points, her voice is clear and shows great understanding of the text. Siegfried Jerusalem as Siegfried may not be the equal of Windgassen then again who is? But he is very good indeed. Waltraud Meier is perfect as Waltraute.
But the real star of this set is Barenboim and the Bayreuth orchestra!They make Wagners music sound like it should with the full range of sound in excellent clear stereo, one example is the opening storm section of Die Walkure is just awesome in it's power and beauty.

Robert Levine summed up the merits of this Ring recording in his eloquently written review. I will include an excerpt here and will have a say on what I think about this essential document of Wagner's tetralogy.

"I guess that Ring Cycles fall into categories: the tense and intense (Clemens Krauss, Karl Böhm, Joseph Keilberth, Pierre Boulez); epic, broad, and architectural (Wilhelm Furtwängler, Hans Knappertsbusch, Reginald Goodall, James Levine); colorful, poetic, and chamber-like (Herbert von Karajan); big-boned and volatile (Georg Solti); literal (Bernard Haitink, Marek Janowski). And then there's this Bayreuth Ring led by Daniel Barenboim, recorded in 1991 and 1992. To be sure, it has most in common with the epic group, with a flow as deep and secure as the Rhine, but it is nowhere near as slow, measured, and self-conscious. It has occasional intensity like the first group, but without the speedy tempos; it can be as powerful as the Solti (the close of Rheingold and opening of the third act of Siegfried are huge) and as specifically tinted as Karajan (the strings at Brünnhilde's awakening are silvery as nowhere else). The orchestral fabric has the transparency of Böhm and Keilberth but is certainly not as chilly as the former and isn't as exciting as the latter; no-one would accuse this reading of being less than epic but it never seems bloated. It simply seems ideally balanced, with the intimate moments precisely that and the grand statements grand. It isn't a page-turning tale in the Keilberth/Krauss manner, but we're always aware of the story being unfolded. In other words, it is very much of no school at all, and it is possibly the most satisfying of modern--that is, non-historical--Ring recordings."

This review sums up basically what is the most satisfying aspect of this Ring--a balance on the different sound worlds that can be potentially created from this massive score. Barenboim through this Ring and his leadership of Wagnerian operas like Tristan, Parsifal, and Meistersinger has shown that he is a formidable musician who is a master of Wagner's musical idiom. He is also able to draw out minute and fine details from the score while adding layer after layer of color, tension, and vibrance to this fresco-like opus, in the way that we could only imagine Gustav Mahler or Richard Strauss doing so with such passion and intelligence. His Ring is not a historical document in the sense that it rounds up the greatest exponents of Wagnerian singing. However, what it does is presents the most globally complete, satisfying, and musically alive reading of Der Ring des Nibelungen.

The care that he invests in bringing out the detail reminds one of Hans Knappertsbusch or Wilhelm Furtwangler's treatment of Wagner's music. However, Barenboim is able to bring more textural clarity, precision, and transparency to the music. Like Solti's, it is rhythmically correct and undeniably brimming with energy, but devoid of the tiresome oom-pah-pah that sometimes rears its head into Solti's conducting. It is lyrical and beautiful like Karajan's and Levine's, but it also has a dramatic impetus that makes it much more alive than those two. Like Bohm and Keilberth, it is a narrative Ring with plenty of drive, but it is not as cold and missile-like as the former nor as plain as day as the latter. The closest with whom Barenboim's unique style of conducting is associated is Clemens Krauss, a master of Germanic conducting whose 1953 Bayreuth Ring is carved for the ages as one of the most lasting and unforgettable monuments of this great cycle. Barenboim, however, exceeds Clemens Krauss in the sense that he brings a more modern, warmer, and more exacting sound to his orchestra and treats us to what is in my opinion the greatest orchestral rendition of Wagner's Ring Cycle.

From the embryonic bars of Das Rheingold to the crossing of the great Rainbow Bridge to Walhalla to the storm-like mood of Walkure and the intimate dialog between Wotan and Brunnhilde to her final farewell, Barenboim is able to coerce the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra into setting the mood right with a gossamer sound unheard from all the other Rings from the Green Hill. Siegfried and Gotterdammerung are even better. Where there is plenty of tension and interaction between Mime and Siegfried and the Wanderer in the first act, Barenboim injects humor and wisdom and invokes ghostlike reminisces of Valhalla, Nibelheim, and the Wälsung worlds. The forging scene is a spectacle of accuracy and excitement. The second act is revelatory, especially during the more hushed segments like the Forest Murmurs. The third act is tremendous in the beginning and sublime in the end, capping one of the best recorded Siegfried's since Solti's glorious recording on Decca. The Gotterdammerung, however, is the crown jewel of this Ring. The singing, the conducting, the dramaturgy, the orchestra, and the spectacular Bayreuth sound all work together to produce one of the most vividly real readings of the Ragnarok on disc. The prologue that signals the interaction of the dreaded norns is treated with a balance of mystery, dread, awe, and wonder, and the duet between Brunnhilde and Siegfried is pure rapture. The Gibichung scene is a less exciting but still injected with alert and immediate musical insight. Waltraute and Brunnhilde's scene in this opera has never been bettered on disc either. Act II is outstanding, not only for the singing, but the extreme tension, rage, hurt, and anger that Barenboim is able to express through the medium of the orchestra. And to cap it all off, Barenboim finishes an already strong Act III with the most powerful Immolation Scene since Furtwangler.

As for the cast, Barenboim's choice presents one of the most interesting bunch of singers to take on these epic roles. They are not Wagnerian stars in the line of Flagstad, Nilsson, Varnay, Schorr, Hotter, Melchior, Klose, Thorborg, Frick, Greindl, or Windgassen, but they deliver the goods excellently. Siegfried Jerusalem sings the most mellifluous, fluent, poetic, and heroic Siegfried in my mind, surpassing even the milestone that Windgassen committed on disc decades earlier. His refulgent tone and youthful exuberance is perfect for the part, and he is musically spot-on.

Dame Anne Evans is revelatory as Brunnhilde. Without missing a single trick written in the score, she sings the character and develops an understanding of the part that progresses through the remaining thirteen hours of the Ring after Das Rheingold. Her hojotoho's are spot-on and her dialogue with Tomlinson far exceeds the wonderful work that Nilsson does with Solti and Bohm. Her Siegfried Brunnhilde has no equal today, and the woman that emerges as the savior of the world in Gotterdammerung is exquisitely vocalized and histrionically woven with truth and lyricism. No, she is not a conventional hochdramatische soprano, but what a voice and what an actress!

John Tomlinson's performance as Wotan is another contribution that makes this Ring a definitive entry in the discography. The immense voice that he equips his throat with is used to starry effect and creates a three dimensional and human Wotan that the world hasn't seen since the days of Hotter. Vocally, he is not as lyrically gorgeous as James Morris, but his commitment to the text and his dark instrument places him among the echelon of great Wotans that began with Schorr and Hotter. His Wanderer is perfect, as is his Walkure Wotan. I find his Rheingold Wotan slightly imposing, but that's just a personal quibble.

The other standouts in this cast are Waltraud Meier's poignant, intelligent, and intense Waltraute, Philip Kang's snide and malevolent Hagen (not as secure, insightful, or elemental as Tomlinson or Salminen, but certainly in the same rank as Greindl) and Fafner, Matthias Holle's enormous, imposing, and vocally rich Fasolt and Hunding, Birgitta Svenden's wise and beautiful Erda, Nadine Secunde's sympathetic Sieglinde, Gunter von Kannen's black Alberich, Linda Finnie's shrewish and wise Fricka (not nearly as good as Ludwig or Meier), and Graham Clark's standout Loge and Mime.

Poul Elming is not nearly on this level, but he sings a good enough Siegmund. The Gibichungs are not nearly as well cast, and one could have a quibble or two about the minor gods in Rheingold, but everyone else including the Norns, the Valkyries, and the Rhinemaidens are vocally secure and theatrically vivid.

As Robert Levine said, this could very well be one of the greatest modern Rings, if not the greatest. With Barenboim's insight, the Bayreuth Orchestra's outstanding contribution, and the highly sophisticated ensemble work from the cast, I don't see why this shouldn't be part of your collection.

I've had this box for several years now, and I am reviewing it on the occasion of my first live Wagner opera -- I saw the Met HD Live broadcast of DAS RHEINGOLD today, with Bryan Terfel as Wotan, an incredible production and performance, with the indefatigable James Levine!

I gradually worked my way up to a complete recording of The Ring, starting with a 2-disc set of highlights from Bohm live at Bayreuth in 1967, and then listening to the four 1-disc highlights of Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried, and Gotterdammerung from this cycle, Barenboim recorded at Bayreuth in 1991/92.

After familiarizing myself with Wagner's soundworld, reading about Wagner, particularly Bryan Magee's excellent The Tristan Chord: Wagner and Philosophy, and investigating the various options for a complete Ring Cycle, I decided on this Barenboim box.

While I tend to listen to the four highlights discs from this set rather than the entire operas, it is great to have for occasional listening *and* because it contains the entire libretto, which the highlights discs do not include.

I recommend it without reservation to anyone interested in hearing Wagner's Ring! (Though out of stock at the moment, it is still available from Amazon.co.uk, AND a reissue is scheduled for January 25, 2011).

(verified gift)

Ok, first the good. I thought Barenboim's conducting was very good to excellent. He seems to possess a keen understanding of Wagner's difficult score with only the occasional lapse in execution. Also, the recording sounds magnificent with the Bayreuth acoustic, so ideal for Wagner's operas, finally captured adequately so as to reveal every nuance, every detail of this remarkable music.

Now for the bad news. The cast range from mediocre to poor pretty much across the board. In Die Walkure, Poul Elming makes for a pretty weak Siegmund (he conspicuously misses the high note on "Walsung" at the close of Act I) and Nadine Secunde, as his Volsung twin, is simply dreadful. Off pitch and strained, she clearly was picked because of her good looks, not her singing talent. The same can't be said about Anne Evans who typifies the modern light, girlish take on Brunnhilde. She gives probably the strongest performance in this entire cycle, but with this cast that's not really saying much. John Tomlinson is impressive dramatically as Wotan but he often resorts to Rex Harrison speak through style to get through the long stretches such as Wotan's narration. Overall a pretty forgettable entry in this most popular of Ring operas.

In Siegfried, Jerusalem gives a decent account of the title role. The problem is that his voice is just too small and, for all its expressiveness, lacks the heroic ring required for the climaxes. John Tomlinson gives another dramatic performance as the Wanderer, as he once again sacrifices musical priorities for dramatic ones. Graham Clark is not bad as Mime though his performance won't efface memories of classic Mimes such as Paul Kuen (Keilberth, Krauss), Gerhard Stolze (Solti), and my personal favorite Erwin Wohlfahrt (Bohm). Likewise, Gunther von Kannen makes for a decent Alberich, though he's no Gustav Niedlinger(Solti, Bohm, Keilberth, Krauss)... but then again who is?

My cast comments above hold true for Gotterdammerung. A triumph in sound and orchestral execution brought down by the mediocre singing. Anne Evans is passable in the final Immolation scene. Overall, another forgettable entry.

I saved Das Rheingold for last because here the singing is (surprisingly) almost uniformally good. This is by far the best of the Barenboim ring operas and really the only reason to buy this set... unless you just need another set of librettos.

You may argue I am exaggerating quite a lot when I affirm this may be the greatest achievement of Daniel Barenboim as Wagnerian conductor until this date, but I think I am right. And you know as well as I, about the countless and praising epithets around the world.

This superb collection must be included as an obligated reference at the moment you decide to have one of the most complete and extraordinary documents in the Opera History. There is any hole; a superb cast Tomlinson is one the greatest Wotan, the memorable stages, the ravishing illumination, the impressive level of expressiveness of every single character, the incisiveness of the main motifs, the grimace language, the superb eloquence of every little line and the absorbing dramatis personae make of this excellent set a must-have.

Don't miss it under any single pretext this portentous and so long expected Ring.

As Teldec and its parent company bid farewell to the CD era by shoveling out their back catalog at bargain prices, please go straight to the DVDs and forget this.

This Ring's acting is committed, for which the director, Harry Kupfer, gets the credit. Occasionally Maestro Barenboim balances an orchestral chord or two in a novel way, for which he can take credit. Otherwise this is poor stuff.

Daniel Barenboim, for all his idolatry of Wilhelm Furtwangler, has never figured out how to get from here to there with any feeling of naturalness or inevitability. His awkward pacing makes him no better than mediocre among the Wagner conductors of the last 50 years. He is not at all competitive with Krauss, Keilberth, Kempe, Konwitschny, Bohm, Sawallisch, Solti or Karajan, all of whom make better sense of Wagner's ebb and flow. He is not even competitive with Leinsdorf or Leitner or Hollreiser. A few pretty sounds from the pit do not compensate for a persistent inability to make one section of music follow organically from another.

The singing in this production is bearable on TV, but not so on CD. Siegfried Jerusalem acquits his parched, undersized Siegfried with dignity. However, Anne Evans sounds tremulous and small as Brunnhilde and John Tomlinson declaims brutally at the expense of the musical line, to the utter destruction of Wotan's Farewell. The two of them sound like an Annina and Baron Douphol out of "La Traviata" who've been encouraged by treacherous management to stray out of their league.

Nadine Secunde as Sieglinde is in terrible vocal shape, and Poul Elming has trouble with the top notes as Siegmund, the lowest lying tenor part Wagner ever wrote.

Watch them on DVD instead, and if you must have a CD set, pick up the Bohm at a bargain price, where only a few singers have wobbles instead of all of them, and most have vocal reserves to call upon instead of sounding like they're about to die at any minute. The end of "Walkure" Act One makes for a devastating comparison - Leonie Rysanek and James King are far better.

Then save up your lunch money and get the Keilberth Ring on Testament. Listen to Hans Hotter actually sing Wotan's Farewell, and compare it to John Tomlinson's parlando bellowing. Hotter is so far superior, they're not in the same Valhalla.

A Ferrari and a lawnmower can both do 4 mph. But one can open up with security and confidence and dazzle you, while the other can't ever do any more than 4 mph. That's the difference between Birgit Nilsson's all-enveloping Immolation Scene, where she sounds like she could do the whole thing over again as an encore, and tiny-voiced Anne Evans, who sounds like she'd collapse just at the suggestion.

This set and the Boulez should both survive into a long future as DVDs, but the CDs for both are inadequate, even annoying souvenirs of the weakest part of their productions, the singing.