Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Blu-Ray)
Deutsche Grammophon reissues Karajan's monumental Ring in a digipack with a 48-page booklet, with the entire cycle in lossless 24-bit / 96kHz HD Audio on one Blu-ray Audio disc.
Remastering by Emil Berliner Studios.
Digipack, 48-page booklet, with original cover art.
Essays in English and German from Karajan biographer Richard Osborne.
Rare artist photos from the recording sessions and from the rehearsals for the live Salzburg productions.
According to Karajan’s own account, it was during the summer of 1965, while he was working on Boris Godunov, that he had a vision of the future: “I suddenly sensed a burning desire to stage and conduct Wagner in Salzburg.” His dream – very much in the spirit of Wagner himself: “My baton shall teach future ages which road they have to take.”
Karajan’s Wagner was concerned with beauty, lyricism and structure, and for his monumental Ring cycle he assembled a world-class cast of singers who possessed instrumental tone and were able to deliver a vivid and clear declamation of the text; and his Berliner Philharmoniker were more than capable of rising to the occasion, conveying a rich, colourful, transparent, in many moments almost chamber music-like orchestral sound that is still unrivalled today.
Wagner: Der Ring Des Nibelungen
Das Rheingold
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Wotan) ∙ Zoltán Kelemen (Alberich) ∙ Josephine Veasey (Fricka) ∙ Gerhard Stolze (Loge) ∙ Erwin Wohlfahrt (Mime) ∙ Martti Talvela (Fasolt) ∙ Karl Ridderbusch (Fafner) ∙ Oralia Dominguez (Erda) ∙ Robert Kerns (Donner) ∙ Donald Grobe (Froh) ∙ Simone Mangelsdorff (Freia) ∙ Helen Donath (Woglinde) ∙ Edda Moser (Wellgunde) ∙ Anna Reynolds (Flosshilde)
Die Walküre
Régine Crespin (Brünnhilde) ∙ Thomas Stewart (Wotan) ∙ Gundula Janowitz (Sieglinde) ∙ Jon Vickers (Siegmund) ∙ Martti Talvela (Hunding) ∙ Josephine Veasey (Fricka) ∙ Danica Mastilovic (Helmwige) ∙ Carlotta Ordassy (Ortlinde) ∙ Liselotte Rebmann (Gerhilde) ∙ Ingrid Steger (Waltraute) ∙ Barbro Ericson (Siegrune) ∙ Helga Jenckel (Rossweisse) ∙ Cvetka Ahlin (Grimgerde) ∙ Lilo Brockhaus (Schwertleite)
Siegfried
Jess Thomas (Siegfried) ∙ Thomas Stewart (Der Wanderer) ∙ Gerhard Stolze (Mime) ∙ Helga Dernesch (Brünnhilde) ∙ Karl Ridderbusch (Fafner) ∙ Zoltán Kelemen (Alberich) ∙ Oralia Dominguez (Erda) ∙ Catherine Gayer (Waldvogel)
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)
