Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen Super Deluxe

The virtues of Decca's 1958 -1965 recording of Wagner's Ring are well-known.Later stereo recordings have their advocates, but this is the standard against which all are judged.A classic, and pretty much beyond criticism.Decca/Universal has issued this recording in six different packages, though only three CD remasterings are involved:[hint: for ease of navigation, read the review though to the end, then come back and click on the links.]1) 1984 remastering:  Wagner: Der Ring Des Nibelungen, Das Rheingold, Die Walkure, Siegfried, Gotterdammerung 2) 1997 remastering:  Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Ring Cycle) or 1997 remastering:  Wagner: The Operas  (part of a 36 CD box of ten Wagner operas)3a) 2012 remastering on CD + Blu-Ray:  Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Super Deluxe)  reviewed on this page3b) 2012 remastering on Blu-Ray only :  Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen [Blu-ray Audio ]3c) 2012 remastering on CD only:  Wagner: Der Ring Des Nibelungen [16 CD/DVD Combo ]SOUND QUALITY:The overall consensus view is that Version 3 (2012) is the best-sounding remastering.There are dissenters (read the other reviews).That being said however, there is not a great deal of difference between the three CD remasterings.But Version 3a also included a separate Blu-Ray Audio remastering: the entire Ring on one Blu-Ray (versus 14 CDs).Version 3b is the Blu-Ray, but no CDs.Version 3c is 14 CDs, but no Blu-Ray.It's not uncommon to find ordinary CDs remastered at "24-bit/96 kHz", but the CD medium is incapable of accurately reproducing everything on the master.Compromises are made in the conversion to CD.You need SACD or Blu-Ray Audio to realize the full potential of the original master tape.The only real advantage of Blu-Ray Audio over the older SACD technology is a longer playing time - The single Blu-Ray Audio disc of Solti's Ring plays for fifteen hours.You don't need a special Blu-Ray Audio player..Blu-Ray Audio plays on any Blu-Ray Video player.Keep the video output connected to your TV to read the disc menu.Connect the audio to your Hi-Fi system.The 14 standard CDs sound fine.Blu-Ray Audio is almost certainly an improvement, but it's hard for me to judge.My landlord won't allow concert hall realism in his building.Playing Blu-Ray Audio with the volume turned down is self-defeating.CD RECOMMENDATION:If you want Solti's Ring on CD, you have a choice between Version 1, 2, 3a or 3c.Version 3c is your best buy:Most critics prefer this CD remastering, plus it costs less than the others.+ Libretti and translations in CD-ROM format.+ 2 CDs devoted to Deryck Cooke's "Introduction to Der Ring Des Nibelungen".+ Excerpts from John Culshaw's 1967 book 'Ring Resounding'.If you have a lot of money and want the Deluxe Edition, buy Version 3a.The CD remastering is identical, plus you get a lot of extras (including the Blu-Ray, just in case you are curious).BLU-RAY RECOMMENDATIONIf you want Solti's Ring on Blu-Ray, you have a choice between Version 3a or 3b.Version 3a (reviewed on this page) is the Deluxe CD + Blu-Ray Edition: 14 CDs + 1 Blu-Ray + 3 bonus CDs + 1 DVD+ Libretti and translations in book format.+ John Culshaw's 1967 book 'Ring Resounding'.+ 2 CDs devoted to Deryck Cooke's "Introduction to Der Ring Des Nibelungen".+ 1 DVD of "The Golden Ring", the 1965 behind-the-scenes BBC documentary about Decca's Ring project.+ 1 CD devoted to Solti's Vienna Philharmonic recordings of orchestral Wagner + "Kinderkatechismus"+ a selection of contemporary advertising material (32 pages) from Gramophone Magazine, recording session photos, and Solti's annotated score of The Ride of the Valkyries.Version 3b is the Basic Blu-Ray Edition: 1 Blu-Ray+ Libretti and translations in book format.If you are under age 50, I recommend you look into one of the Blu-Ray versions (3a or 3b).If you are over age 50, your hearing is not as good as it used to be, and 3c is good enough.One exception: I am 66 years old, but obsessive compulsive.I need to know that I am listening the best possible version even if I can't tell the difference.Aargh.Two drawbacks to Deluxe Edition 3a:1) It's expensive2) It's big and bulky - practically the same size and weight as the 1960s LP mega-box. It won't fit on my CD shelf, It barely fits on my bookshelf.EXTRAS:The "extras" included with Deluxe Edition 3a are all very nice, but if you are willing to do without the contemporary advertising material, photos, and Solti's annotated score of The Ride of the Valkyries, you can get the really important "extras" for very little money.Save money by buying Version 3b (blu-ray) or 3c (CD), and add the extras you want:1) John Culshaw's book 'Ring Resounding' is available in hardcover and paperback for under $10. I especially recommend the Time-Life version (available singly and in a slipcase with other books about Wagner). It comes with a lot of extra photographs.2) Two-CD set of Deryck Cooke's  An Introduction To Der Ring Des Nibelungen (2 CD)  (already included with Version 3c)3) DVD of  The Golden Ring  - Solti's nickname in the 1960s was "the Screaming Skull" - watch this DVD to find out why.4) Solti's 1962-65 Vienna Philharmonic recordings of  Wagner: Overtures / Siegfried Idyll 5) Wagner's "Kinderkatechismus" which may or may not be conducted by Solti:  Wagner: Overtures & Preludes see my review of this dated May 27, 2015 for more information about "Kinderkatechismus",and who I think the conductor really is.COST:As of May 2015, these are the lowest prices on Amazon:Version 3a = $210 (CD + Blu-Ray Deluxe Edition)Version 3b = $55 (Blu-Ray Basic Edition)Version 3c = $55 (CD Basic Edition)----------------------------------------------------------Decca's English translation of Kinderkhatechismus:SOLO: Tell me, children, what is it blossoms in May?CHILDREN'S CHORUS: The rose, the rose, the rose in May.SOLO: Do you know, too, what blossoms at Christmas?CHILDREN'S CHORUS: The cosy, the cosy, the cosy Mama Cosima!SOLO: If the rose of May has faded, it blossoms anew in the bosom of Christmas.CHILDREN'S CHORUS: Rose in May, cosy in May, dearest loveliest Cosima!Yecch.

Enough has been said about the wonderful quality of this deluxe package. In my view it is one of the few marketing driven CD packages that has been worth the hype and the high price. But I really want to sing the praises of Culshaw and the Decca recording team and to praise their philosophy of stereophonic recording.In my experience few people are reliable guides to the quality of recording as a facsimile of live sound. Musicians tend to hear through the music and focus on minor performance details that are often not noticeable to even the more experienced concert goers. They usually care little about good audio equipment or realistic sound. Conversely, most people do not even have properly set up stereo systems. This is not a question of high end or audiophile sound. Most people do not even set up their speakers so that one hears proper stereo separation and effectively use their systems as "Fat Mono." The appeal of surround sound (which on the average DVD is poorly recorded) is that it gives people some of the spaciousness they should have been getting from their stereo system in the first place. Producers have not helped by often recording operas so statically that one might as well hear it as a radio broadcast of a concert performance. Tjhey too tend to record Fat Mono.Culshaw appreciated the potential of the new stereophonic recording system in its infancy and wanted to recreate in the home the feeling of being in an opera house. The "gimmicks" he produced that some reviewers have decried were deliberately part of a strategy of simulating movement and front to back spaciousness that would be experienced from a good seat in the orchestra (at least if one were seated twelve feet in the air where the microphones were located). The balance also tended to favor the orchestra more than older recordings which were always too voice forward. I remember talking to a friend who accompanied me to a live opera for the first time. Though he had a huge collection of great opera recordings he had never gone to a live performance and he said, "At first I kept wanting to turn up the volume on the voices." Both the orchestra and the singers are clearly audible in these recordings and times when voices slightly fade are consistent with a deliberate desire to simulate onstage action.Few other companies took the trouble to emulate Decca and today almost no opera is recorded as meticulously as these were. More's the pity. The appeal of live recording is not just the spontaneity of a good night but also the feeling of space that these can bring. But few producers are sensitive enough to provide that space so that the listener can close his eyes and get a **consistent** image of where people are on the stage and how they relate to the rest of the group. This recording is hardly perfect by any means -- not in its recording, nor its performance -- but it is a wonder nonetheless. The sound is both spectacular and realistic in an idealized way. I have yet to hear a digital operatic recording from the last quarter century that has the impact, the transparency, and the stereophonic quality of this one. To take just one example, I love the Janowski Ring, and it sounds beautiful and clear -- clearer in many ways than the Solti Ring and it lets me hear things I'd never heard before. But spatially, it seems flatter and gives one less of a feeling of a great live performance recreated in your home than the Solti-Culshaw version. Contrary to some reviewers who dismiss the Culshaw era, I daily pray for a new producer who will revive his recording philosophy and strive to outdo old Decca using modern, state of the art equipment.

All the five star reviews have pretty much covered anything one might want to say already. A splendid and sumptuous deluxe set indeed. You might need a magnifying lens for some of the text (I kept my Ring Resounding book, glad I did so as this deluxe version is a bit microscopic!). Great photos included and it sits proudly next to my complete first edition vinyl boxed-set issues. There have been many discussions regarding the remastering and these do go into much detail, at times the discussions of bit-rates becomes a little wearying! Suffice it to say that it still sounds as splendid as on its first release, I have compared them, and no-one need fear that anything negative has been done to that trademark and ground-breaking Decca Sonic Stage. If anyone hasn't mentioned it already this set is in a run of 7000 copies. It's a heavy beast of a box so beware when you open the package. I notice that Decca have now released a stripped down version on Bluray but this doesn't contain all of the considerable extras included in this edition.

A luxury this may be, but a beautifully presented edition of this now landmark recording which has (again) been remastered offering even better sound quality than the last (1997?) CD version. It is more transparent and "airier" and belies the fact that the recording is in part over 50 years old! The BluRay disc offers potentially even better sound, but I noticed that the sound was more congested when played on the new Panasonic BluRay recorder/player than when I used an early (but quite esoteric) Pioneer player, in both cases feeding a very good receiver fed directly by HDMI connection. On my system, the BluRay sounds more natural in Stereo than in pseudo-surround mode; I would love to hear the BluRay version played on a high-end universal player with top-quality analogue outputs through my system; only then could I make a fair comparison with the CD version as played through a reference CD player.As far as the performance goes, it still remains one of the first choices for a complete recorded Ring cycle; I do find Solti a little overdriven at times, although many of the tender moments are handled with surprising delicacy. The orchestra is peerless, and of the course the cast generally represents the best Wagner singers of the post-war period. The greatest gain of the latest remastering is the extra sense of presence and transparency of the voices; for example, Hotter sounds much fresher to me, and Nilsson warmer and less relentless...... (just a subjective reaction, no offence to fervent fans of this great soprano.....)Is it worth the money? Well, I'm sure this excellent remastering will be available more cheaply in more basic packaging, but there is something satisfyingly indulgent about owning this special edition; considering the many extras and the nostalgic inducing quality books/booklets etc. then in my opinion it is. The included DVD documentary is available on it's own on amazon for prices up to £38! That makes the remaining 17 CD's plus the BluRay less than £10 apiece............

Gesangs- und Orchesterleistungen der absoluten Superklasse. Solti hat die besten Wagnersänger seiner Zeit (als es solche Sänger noch gab) zusammengebracht und mit einem der besten Klangkörper (Wiener Philharmoniker) ein bisher nicht wieder erreichtes Gesamtkunstwerk geschaffen. Das beste aber ist: alle Beteiligten wußten, was sie da machen und was sie schaffen! Hervorragend bis hierher!Und jetzt kommt die Technik noch ins Spiel. Ich habe gerade die remasterte Version der Aufnahme erhalten, die immerhin schon vor 60 Jahren entstanden ist. Und höre eine solche Orchesterwucht und -genauigkeit, die ich niemals erwartet habe und in den nicht-remasterten Fassungen auch nicht wahrgenommen und erlebt habe. Die einzelnen Instrumentengruppen sind räumlich verortbar, die Sänger glasklar. Alles verleitet dazu, höhere Lautstärken einzuschalten, die dann in bestimmten Passagen geradezu körperlich zu spüren sind - wie im Konzertsaal oder Oper!Also, das führt schon mal zur Sprachlosigkeit. Bewertung daher mindestens 300 Punkte!Andere Aufnahmen sollen hierdurch nicht ausgebootet werden. Kleiberth, Knappertsbusch, Janowski und Böhm haben ebenfalls Ihre unvergesslichen Momente, die ich niemals missen möchte und werde. Decca und Solti sind aber DIE Referenzaufnahme, die dieses große und komplexe Werk technisch und emotional gemeistert haben - und zwar in der Verbindung von Können, Fähigkeit und Leidenschaft! Große Leistung, die meine uneingeschränkte Anerkennung verlangt und bekommt. A really great one, my dear George, whereever your resting in your well-deserved peace nowadays!Einschränkend bewerte ich das übertriebene, zu große Layout der Deluxe Fassung. Das Ding ist zu protzig und auf Beeindruckung meiner Besucher ausgerichtet. Um eine Aufnahme zu hören muß ich ein 6 kg Package bewegen und alles 3 mal öffnen bis ich an der gewünschten CD bin. Das führt dazu, dass ich sicher auf manches Hörerlebnis verzichten werde - weil der Aufwand sehr hoch ist. Alles ist zu groß, zu schwer, zu unhandlich und nur auf Protz aus (das ist bei Janowski's Berliner Ringaufnahme viel besser gelöst). Aus diesem Grunde habe ich mir neben der Deluxe Fassung, die ja Gott sei's gedankt noch antiquarisch erhältlich ist, auch noch die kleine Fassung zugelegt, die schnell verfüg- und handhabbar ist.

Il cofanetto è stupendo, tutto bellissimo, i libri, specialmente quello scritto dal produttore Clushlaw è bellissimo, in Inglese, bisogna saperlo per apprezzato. Peccato che tutto è rovinato dal blue ray che funziona male saltano le tracce. Me ne sono accorto tardi, fuori tempo massimo per la garanzia è Amazon mi ha detto che non me lo cambiano. Chi lo compra controlli tutti i dischi nel primo anno, pensare che non ho ancora provato i dischi dei contenuti speciali. Speriamo bene.

Ich habe die Box für einen guten Freund gekauft und bin selber kein Wagner-Fan. Die Qualität der Box, die Präsentation der CDs, Blue-Rays und Bücher war aber ehrlich gesagt, auch wenn das lobhudelnd klingt, atemberaubend. Angesichts der Referenz-Qualtität der Einspielung selber und der Fülle des Zusatzmaterials juckt es sogar mich, diese Box für mich persönlich noch mal zu besorgen.