CD Deutsche Grammophon (DG) Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen ( Karajan - Dernesch, Moser, Ridderbusch, Dieskau ) BluRay Audio

1968 - 1970

1. Das Rheingold

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau ( Wotan ), Zoltán Kelemen ( Alberich ), Josephine Veasey (Fricka ), Gerhard Stolze ( Loge ), Erwin Wohlfahrt ( Mime ), Martti Talvela ( Fasolt ), Karl Ridderbusch ( Fafner ), Donald Grobe ( Froh ), Simone Mangelsdorff ( Freia ), Helen Donath ( Woglinde ), Edda Moser ( Wellgunde ), Anna Reynolds ( Flosshilde )

2. Die Walküre

Jon Vickers ( Siegmund ), Martti Talvela ( Hunding ), Thomas Stewart ( Wotan ), Gundula Janowitz ( Sieglinde ), Josephine Veasey ( Fricka ), Régine Crespin ( Brünnhilde ), Liselotte Rebmann ( Gerhilde ), Ingrind Steger ( Waltraute ), Daniza Mastlovic ( Helmwige ), Cvetka Ahlin ( Grimgerde ), Carlotta Ordassy ( Ortlinde ), Lilo Brockhaus ( Schwertleite ), Barbro Ericson ( Sigrune ), Helga Jenckel ( Rossweisse )

3. Siegfried

Jess Thomas ( Siegfried ), Thomas Stewart ( Der Wanderer ), Gerhard Stolze ( Mime ), Helga Dernesch ( Brünnhilde ), Karl Ridderbusch ( Fafner ), Oralia Dominguez ( Erda ), Catherine Gayer ( Waldvogel )

4. Götterdämmerung

Helga Dernesch ( Brünnhilde ), Helge Brilioth ( Siegfried ), Karl Ridderbusch ( Hagen ), Zoltán Kelemen ( Alberich ), Thomas Stewart ( Gunther ), Gundula Janowitz ( Gutrune ), Christa Ludwig ( Waltraute ), Liselotte Rebmann ( Woglinde ), Edda Moser ( Wellgunde ), Anna Reynolds ( Flosshilde ), Lili Chookasian ( First Norn ), Christa Ludwig ( Second Norn ), Catarina Ligendza ( Third Norn )

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra ( dirijor - Herbert von Karajan )



The entire Karajan Ring in lossless 24-bit / 96kHz HD Audio on one Blu-ray Audio disc. Deluxe 400-page hardback book edition in a slipcase, with original cover art includes rare artist photos from the recording sessions and from the rehearsals for the live Salzburg productions. Karajan was concerned with beauty, lyricism and structure, and for his Ring cycle he assembled a world-class cast of singers who possessed instrumental tone and were able to deliver a vivid and clear performance.

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I compared it side by side with the 1998 Originals issue and the difference was immediately apparent. That earlier incarnation was a vast improvement on the first CD mastering; opening out the sound, deepening the perspectives and enriching the tonal palette. This time around the change is more subtle but deeply satisfying to my ears. Gone is the metallic sheen on the strings, the congested glare at climaxes. The brass gleams rather than sizzles while the bottom end has more weight and presence. Voices and instruments are firmly focused within the acoustic space and their specific timbre is rounded and solid.

These enhancements should be clearly audible on modest systems. Using Sennheiser’s mighty HD800 headphones I could hear deep into the mix and uncover details previously hidden in the noise floor. Unfortunately faults in the original source material are also audible under such forensic examination – Karajan’s recording crew indulged in some strange shifts and manipulations of perspective and balance at his behest. That said, it is a pleasure to hear this great if flawed recording at its very best, for so long unfairly overshadowed by the Solti extravaganza – at a time when there were only two studio recordings of the Ring available, critics looked a gift horse in the mouth. Ignore the sniffy putdowns of chamber-music approach and Wagner-lite voices – Karajan consciously avoided the “old Wagner cannons”. Listen to Gundula Janowitz and Jon Vickers in Act 1 of Die Walküre and be seduced.

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