The Absolute Sound
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<p>
How many versions of Richard Wagner’s <em>Ring </em>cycle do you own? Whether the answer is one, two, five...or zero, this 14- CD box set, recorded at the 2008 Bayreuth Festival and reasonably priced at $139, deserves the strongest consideration.</p>
<p>
For the past several decades, <em>Ring </em>productions have been identified primarily by their directors—the Chéreau <em>Ring</em>, the Kupfer <em>Ring</em>(s), the Metropolitan Opera’s Otto Schenk <em>Ring</em>, and so on. This Opus Arte release clearly belongs to the conductor. Christian Thielemann, now Bayreuth’s “chief musical advisor,” maintains the sense of a dramatic juggernaut for 15 hours without ever seeming to rush—he makes the most of each theatrical moment but always knows exactly where he’s going. The famous set pieces consistently satisfy; for example, “Siegfried’s Funeral March” has never sounded more tragically powerful. But Thielemann lavishes the same sort of careful attention on Wagner’s just- so orchestral sonorities for every bar, assuring that the composer’s ideal parity of voices and instruments is achieved. The subtle increase in the complexity of Wagner’s harmonies that occurs midway through <em>Siegfried</em>—the composer took a 12-year hiatus to write <em>Tristan </em>and <em>Die Meistersinger </em>at that point—is quite apparent in Thielemann’s hands. The Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, drawn from many fine European ensembles, is the conductor’s accomplished partner.</p>
<p>
The roster of singers is as good as the current Wagnerian universe can provide. The roles are kept constant from opera to opera, so we can hear how an artist develops a particular character. For example, over the three dramas she appears in, the American soprano Linda Watson effectively traces Brünnhilde’s trajectory from warrior to love-struck consort to redeemer of humankind. Albert Dohman is a warmly regal-sounding Wotan/Wanderer, his bass-baritone both agile and satisfyingly substantial. As Siegfried, Stephen Gould doesn’t have a huge voice, but it doesn’t have to be in the 1900-seat Bayreuth theater, and his is an exceptionally sympathetic rendering of the (initially) bone-headed hero of the second half of the tetralogy. Other treasureable performances include Hans-Peter König’s darkly menacing Hagan, Gerhard Siegel’s crafty yet somehow clueless Mime, Eva-Maria Westbroek’s wounded and vulnerable Sieglinde, Arnold Bezuyen’s lyrically sung Loge, and Michele Breedt’s thankfully unshrewish Fricka. Truly, there’s not one representation of the <em>Ring</em>’s four-opera, thirty-plus roles that’s wide of the mark. <em>The Ring</em>, of course, is mostly one person singing at a time, but the Rhinemaidens please collectively and the “Vengeance Trio” that closes Act II of <em>Götterdämmerung </em>is electrifying.</p>
<p>
The sound is another attraction of this set. With two-channel stereo, Opus Arte manages to evoke the singular acoustic of the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, an enveloping aural experience with the voices embedded in Wagner’s luxuriant orchestral fabric. The sound is expansive yet detailed. You hear everything as the composer intended—for example, the extravagantly augmented brass section, complete with Wagner tubas.</p>
<p>
Opus Arte and the Bayreuth Festival have announced a long-term partnership that bodes well for Wagnerians at all levels of devotion. “<em>Ring</em>-nuts” will surely find this set essential, but it can also be heartily recommended as a first introduction to the endlessly fascinating phenomenon of <em>Der Ring des Nibelungen</em>.*</p>
[Source: http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/wagner-der-ring-des-nibelungen/]
How many versions of Richard Wagner’s <em>Ring </em>cycle do you own? Whether the answer is one, two, five...or zero, this 14- CD box set, recorded at the 2008 Bayreuth Festival and reasonably priced at $139, deserves the strongest consideration.</p>
<p>
For the past several decades, <em>Ring </em>productions have been identified primarily by their directors—the Chéreau <em>Ring</em>, the Kupfer <em>Ring</em>(s), the Metropolitan Opera’s Otto Schenk <em>Ring</em>, and so on. This Opus Arte release clearly belongs to the conductor. Christian Thielemann, now Bayreuth’s “chief musical advisor,” maintains the sense of a dramatic juggernaut for 15 hours without ever seeming to rush—he makes the most of each theatrical moment but always knows exactly where he’s going. The famous set pieces consistently satisfy; for example, “Siegfried’s Funeral March” has never sounded more tragically powerful. But Thielemann lavishes the same sort of careful attention on Wagner’s just- so orchestral sonorities for every bar, assuring that the composer’s ideal parity of voices and instruments is achieved. The subtle increase in the complexity of Wagner’s harmonies that occurs midway through <em>Siegfried</em>—the composer took a 12-year hiatus to write <em>Tristan </em>and <em>Die Meistersinger </em>at that point—is quite apparent in Thielemann’s hands. The Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, drawn from many fine European ensembles, is the conductor’s accomplished partner.</p>
<p>
The roster of singers is as good as the current Wagnerian universe can provide. The roles are kept constant from opera to opera, so we can hear how an artist develops a particular character. For example, over the three dramas she appears in, the American soprano Linda Watson effectively traces Brünnhilde’s trajectory from warrior to love-struck consort to redeemer of humankind. Albert Dohman is a warmly regal-sounding Wotan/Wanderer, his bass-baritone both agile and satisfyingly substantial. As Siegfried, Stephen Gould doesn’t have a huge voice, but it doesn’t have to be in the 1900-seat Bayreuth theater, and his is an exceptionally sympathetic rendering of the (initially) bone-headed hero of the second half of the tetralogy. Other treasureable performances include Hans-Peter König’s darkly menacing Hagan, Gerhard Siegel’s crafty yet somehow clueless Mime, Eva-Maria Westbroek’s wounded and vulnerable Sieglinde, Arnold Bezuyen’s lyrically sung Loge, and Michele Breedt’s thankfully unshrewish Fricka. Truly, there’s not one representation of the <em>Ring</em>’s four-opera, thirty-plus roles that’s wide of the mark. <em>The Ring</em>, of course, is mostly one person singing at a time, but the Rhinemaidens please collectively and the “Vengeance Trio” that closes Act II of <em>Götterdämmerung </em>is electrifying.</p>
<p>
The sound is another attraction of this set. With two-channel stereo, Opus Arte manages to evoke the singular acoustic of the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, an enveloping aural experience with the voices embedded in Wagner’s luxuriant orchestral fabric. The sound is expansive yet detailed. You hear everything as the composer intended—for example, the extravagantly augmented brass section, complete with Wagner tubas.</p>
<p>
Opus Arte and the Bayreuth Festival have announced a long-term partnership that bodes well for Wagnerians at all levels of devotion. “<em>Ring</em>-nuts” will surely find this set essential, but it can also be heartily recommended as a first introduction to the endlessly fascinating phenomenon of <em>Der Ring des Nibelungen</em>.*</p>
[Source: http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/wagner-der-ring-des-nibelungen/]