Product Details

• Actors: Lothar Zagrosek, Robert Gambill, Angela Denoke, Jan-Hendrik Rootering, Luana DeVol
• Format: Box set, Classical, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: German
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 7
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Tdk DVD Video
• DVD Release Date: November 16, 2004
• Run Time: 900 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00068WRH0
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #108,739 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  #72 in	Movies & TV > Musicals & Performing Arts > Classical > By Composer > Wagner, Richard
  #86 in	Movies & TV > Boxed Sets > Musicals & Performing Arts

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Richard Wagner (1828-1880): The Ring Cycle - Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried, Götterdämmerung As a special offer, TDK presents the hugely successful Ring cycle from the Staatsoper Stuttgart in a box set of seven DVDs. "Four operas – four stage directors" was the artistic idea behind the 1999/2000 cycle in Stuttgart. Appreciating the individual operas of "Der Ring des Nibelungen" without having to relate to the previous or following storylines enabled the stage directors – handpicked by the successful Stuttgart Opera team surrounding Artistic Director Klaus Zehelein – to express their individual insights into the well-known drama of Siegfried and Wotan. In 2002 German critics voted Stuttgart’s Staatsoper "Opera House of the Year" for the fourth time in five years. Picture Format: 16:9 • Sound Format: LPCM Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Misconceived Ring Cycle, April 2, 2005

By	Bruce M. Stigers (Westchester, IL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It's no secret that opera in Europe is suffering from directors who are described as avant-garde, when in fact they are very probably just incompetent. I bought this DVD set through Amazon and as a former opera singer and musician and an aficionado of opera, I am not sorry I did because it is very interesting academically though I consider it an artistic travesty. Wagner conceived these characters as mythological archetypes and suffused the music he composed for them with incredible grandeur. It is difficult to view Brünnhilde's horse Grane as magnificent when it is represented on stage by a hobby horse, a cutout horse head on a stick! Albert Bonnema, the Siegfried in Götterdämmerung was by the end of the opera unable to sustain his high notes on pitch. Having all the men in contemporary business suits but carrying swords and spears was ludicrous. But the last straw was ringing down the curtain when Brünnhilde ends the Immolation and during all the final music depicting the burning of Walhalla and the surging of the Rhine over its banks, the collapse of the old order, to project a written description onto the screen. The fact that the casting of the four pieces and the direction of each were utterly unconnected makes Wagner's intention completely ignored. Only a seasoned Wagnerite should see these productions because they will understand how to evaluate them against proper and correct renditions. A novice will be driven away. They should buy the Met production from 1990 as they make sense.

32 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Warning!..Read the individual reviews before you purchase!, November 16, 2004

By	J P Falcon (Fords, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews

If you are looking to purchase a complete version of Wagner's Der Ring Des Nibelungen, then I would advise that you consider either the Boulez/Patrice Chéreau "Industrial Age" version, or the more traditional James Levine MET production...I only reviewed Das Rhinegold in this Stuttgart series, and once I discovered that the remaining 3 operas were no better, I saved my money rather than endure anymore of the nonsence I initially witnessed...I urge you to at least read the reviews of each opera that are posted here at Amazon, before plunging into this purchase...I'll summarize how the four operas were rated...Das Rhinegold averaged a 2star rating, with one-1star, three-2star and one-3star review.... Die Walkure averaged a 2 1/2 star rating with two-1star, one-2 star, one-3star, and one-5star review....Siegfried averaged a 2 star rating with three-1star, one-2star, and one-4star review, and finally, Gotterdammerung had a 3 1/2 star average rating with two-2star, one-4star, and one 5star rating....so there you have it, and I should point out that most professional magazine reviews criticized the Stuttgart production as well, so it is not simply the Amazon reviewers who feel this way...obviously the decision comes down to your own tastes, and there were a few reviewers who liked these performances, so who knows?...if you do not mind the investment of the money, and you are an adventurous soul who wants his Wagner way way off the beaten path, with generally average artists, then you might find something to enjoy here...you will be in the minority if you do, so consider that before discovering that you bought something that you will be selling at auction one day for a bargain basement price....not at all recommended!

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars onother point of view, May 1, 2006

By	Amadeo Figari Internet (Santiago, ME Chile) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Dear sirs:
Looking at the titles that you are offering in DVD, I realize that the 4 operas of the Wagner's Ring from Stuttgart ( Zagrosek version) are considered with 2 ? stars, extremely bad evaluation according to me (and several friends).
I think that it is very important to point out that the musical and singing level of the production are wonderful, no matter that the super modern staging can be offensive to the opera lovers to day.
If this Ring is considered a bad production for reasons other than musicals, opera goers will be induced to avoid it.