01-Solti-RingArguably the most illustrious achievement in Decca’s history, and in the industry’s, was the realization of a staged for stereo production of Wagner’s The Ring of the Nibelungen featuring the world’s eminent Wagnerian voices to be supported by the incomparable Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. EMI had recorded the Karajan cycle live in Bayreuth in 1951 but getting it to market didn’t get beyond the planning stage. Some years later a tentative release date for the complete cycle was announced but the project was shelved when, as I understand the situation, EMI was unexpectedly required to pay all the musicians involved with a fee equal to what they would be paid if they were to record it at this later date. Fortunately, EMI secured the rights and issued the Furtwangler Ring recorded in Rome in October and November 1953. The story of getting that cycle to disc is a saga in itself.

In addition to engaging singers the Decca project required a conductor of stature. Hans Knappertsbusch was considered but Georg Solti was the final choice. John Culshaw was the producer who led the Decca team responsible for everything necessary to get some 16 hours of intense music making onto a finished tape. To commemorate the 200th anniversary of the composer in 2013 and the conductor’s 100th this year, Decca has assembled an extraordinarily opulent edition with many extras that are listed at the bottom of this review.

Das Rheingold was recorded in the Sofiensaal during September and October 1958 with an all-star cast including George London (Wotan), Kirsten Flagstad (Fricka), Set Svanholm (Loge), Paul Kuen (Mime), Gustav Neidlinger (Alberich) and other luminaries of the day. The closing scene following Donner’s summoning the thunder is most impressive with London the perfect Wotan who has unknowingly set in motion the inevitability of the far off twilight of the gods. Many of us looked forward to London’s Wotan in Walküre and Siegfried but it was Hans Hotter who sang the role in both.

Initially, there were very real concerns as to whether demand at retail would be large enough to make the project worthwhile. After all, there had never been an undertaking of this magnitude. Decca/London’s classical manager in the United States, Terry McEwan, was very positive about the sales potential and it is claimed that his enthusiasm and initial first order ended any doubts about the future of the cycle. The three LP set of Das Rheingold was issued in 1959 to universal acclaim, both artistically and sonically. No one had ever heard a recording to match the realism of Decca’s “Sonic Stage” stereo sound and such opulence from the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. It was a milestone. It has been in the catalog ever since as LP, then tape and finally CD ... well not quite finally as related below.

In Die Walküre the real story begins as Sigmund (James King) and Sieglinde (Regine Crespin) are thrown together, discover that they are brother and sister, fall madly in love and run off into the woods and conceive Siegfried. Hunding is sung by Gottlob Frick, Wotan by Hans Hotter, Birgit Nilsson is Brunnhilde and Christa Ludwig is Fricka. The eight Valkyries include Brigitte Fassbaender and Helga Dernesch who would later be Karajan’s Brunnhilde in his cycle for DG. Die Walkure was recorded after Siegfried during October and November 1965. Siegfried had been set down in May and October in 1962. The legendary Wolfgang Windgassen is really into the role of Siegfried who knows not fear, slays the dragon Fafner (Kurt Bohme), kills Mime (Gerhard Stolze) then learns of and finds the sleeping Brunnhilde thanks to the Wood Dove (Joan Sutherland).

Nowhere better is the opulent sound and full glory of the Vienna Philharmonic heard than in Götterdämmerung, where all the machinations are paid for, all the principal mortals killed off, Loge has his revenge on the gods as Valhalla burns and the gold is restored to the Rhine Maidens.

There are, of course, many passages in this recording of a very long and complex work that the listener may wish to compare favorably or unfavorably with another performance or performances. That’s what collectors and music lovers do and enjoy.

The Solti Ring is a living tribute, a monument, to everyone involved; the singers, the orchestra and to Solti himself and of course Wagner, the librettist and composer. All perpetuated by Decca who had the remarkable foresight to hand over reigns to producer John Culshaw and a totally enrolled support team.

I must comment on the single Blu-ray audio disc that contains the entire cycle. There is a total absence of any processing artifacts and the listener is immediately and unmistakably right there in the acoustic of the Sofiensaal, witnessing the nuances and dynamics of a live performance. I have heard every iteration from the stereo LPs on, and this sound really is a fresh experience.

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