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Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Milan, 1950)
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About Wagner: Der Ring Des Nibelungen
Amazon.com Wilhelm Furtwangler's only live opera house recording of the complete Ring is indispensable for serious Wagnerians. (A 1953 broadcast concert series from Rome had an inferior orchestra and lesser singers.) This 1950 La Scala Ring with the house band and chorus and a stellar cast of mostly German Wagnerians sports crude recorded sound, but the Music & Arts transfer is far superior to its previous incarnations. Furtwangler's conducting is incandescent. His command of structure is awesome; you sense the long, overarching lines of each of the operas even as you revel in telling details. The big moments have tremendous power, but also a nobility that often eludes Wagnerians. Time and again Furtwangler draws sounds from the orchestra and portrayals from his singers that reveal key passages in a new light, and he inspires his cast members to outdo themselves. Kirsten Flagstad, though a bit past her prime, is a magnificent Brunnhilde, with warmer timbre and more pointed phrasing than heard on her earlier recordings. Gunter Treptow is a fine Siegmund in Walkure; Set Svanholm and veteran Max Lorenz are compelling Siegfrieds. Ferdinand Frantz's Wotan and Josef Herrmann's Wanderer are excellent without effacing memories of Hans Hotter. This is a Ring that captures the white-hot intensity of a live opera house performance under a great conductor at his peak. --Dan Davis
