"Lost" Ring Cycle released on Vinyl..

[Richard Nichola]

From the Diverse vinyl mailshot. I'm sure Vuk have some comments...

We’re delighted to add yet another label to our catalogue this month, and what a way to start! Testament are one of the leading Classical recording
labels in the UK, in both quality of releases and range of titles. You’ll notice there’s a few titles listed on the Forthcoming page, with more to come
next month. Obviously just one line on a list doesn’t really do justice to these fantastic releases, so please call for any further details. As with all our
classical catalogue entries, more information about the release can also be found on our website.
With out any further ado, we must bring your attention to the pinnacle of Testament’s current releases, “Der Ring
Des Nibelungen”. Testament’s release of the first ever stereo recording of The Ring Cycle, featuring Wagnerian
superstars Hans Hotter, Astrid Varnay and Wolfgang Windgassen. This is the famous “lost” Ring, recorded at the
Bayreuth Festival in 1955, conducted by Joseph Keilberth. These “live” performances were taped by a Decca
team led by Peter Andry and including the noted engineers Kenneth Wilkinson and Roy Wallace, with Gordon
Parry as assistant. Decca’s recording vividly captures in wonderful stereo sound the unique acoustic and stage/pit
balance of the Bayreuth Festival theatre with its sunken orchestra, in addition to preserving the leading singers
from a Wagnerian golden age in “live” performance. The set comprises all four volumes of the ring cycle LP box
sets, making a total of 19 180g LPs altogether. The LPs are immaculately presented in four individual boxes, which are in turn housed in a gold
embossed outer presentation box. The price for the limited set is £450 plus postage (the individual box sets are available separately – call for
details).

 

[Tantris]

Caveat emptor - there is a lot of marketing hype surrounding this 'lost' cycle, and before coughing up £450 for the vinyl, or ~£150 for the CDs, I'd recommend that you check first that the quality of the performances and the recording match your expectations. Siegfried is the pick of the cycle, but neither Das Rheingold and Die Walkure could in any way be described as first choice.

 

[vuk]

richard.

i picked up siegfried (on CD) last week and it is very good--the performances are excellent and the sound far surpassed my expectations: this appears to be the best old school recording available. will try another of the operas soon.

btw--the hype people should be wary of is that which surrounds the "legendary" solti ring.

vuk.