Wagner - 'Der Ring' Ohne Worte / 'The Ring' Without Words

Somebody said here that this would be a great addition to their Wagner collection. I doubt it. However it's a great introduction for a beginner. I bought this because I knew little about Wagner apart from the ride of the Valkyries and I thought I ought to know a bit more. I sat down with a glass of plonk and within minutes I was blown away by the amazing overture and the rest. Within a week I'd bought a 2 cd collection. And now I have the entire ring on CD and have seen die Walkure at the cinema (recording of the Met production). I'm hopelessly addicted. To get your head round the Cycle must take years but it's a great journey and I'm loving it. This was a fantastic introduction and I endorse it totally. My one complaint is the weird and unhelpful descriptions of each piece....it's as if the theatrical German of the late 19th century has been translated literally into English: eg " In The Sound Code, We 'See' His Loving Gaze". Still, don't let that put you off

Very Good Interpretation, Really Good Sound Quality! Wagner's Ring Cycle can be very hard going for some with all the opera singers going full pelt but THIS IS 100% ORCHESTRA ONLY!!! There is NO vocal work here - and I prefer it - You can hear all the Epic arrangements more profoundly (Im sure purists will disagree but Im new to this!)My personal favourite Act is Gotterdammerung - Really heavy and powerful -Siegfried's Funeral is a piece ive had a love affair with since i first heard it used on the 1981 movie, Excalibur (classic).Id recommend this for anyone new to Wagner or Classical generally and its a must if like me you like the darker stuff (Im principally a Metal fan but if you read my other reviews you'll definiteley see how i went from Metallica to this).

This is a relatively minor complaint, but it bugged me quite a bit so I thought I'd mention it. Whoever at Telarc was responsible for taking this recording and putting it out as a product just doesn't know the Ring Cycle. The tracklist is simply guesswork from Maazel's synopsis. The second excerpt may be based on the Valhalla motif, but in fact it is the transition to scene 2 of the drama, and not, as advertised, the climactic 'Entrance of the Gods'. Likewise, while we hear both Wotan's Farewell and the Magic Fire Music, they are not to be found on the same track: the latter is found on the following track, advertised as 'Mime's Fright'. Finally, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that we do indeed hear Siegfried's Forest Wanderings - I say surprised, because the passage in question is advertised as an excerpt from Act 1, when the Forest Wanderings occur in Act 2! My advice is that you ignore the tracklist and follow Maazel's own delightfully eloquent synopsis. Other than that, I suppose I have the usual gripes about exclusion. My main issue is with the Siegfried excerpts. Firstly, there is proportionally much less of Siegfried than there is of the rest of the Cycle, and, most unhappily in my view, nothing from Act 3, where that drama's best music is concentrated (this is more than just 'my opinion' - Wagner began Act 3 with all the experience he had gained from writing Tristan and Die Meistersinger, after all). It would not have been difficult to extend the recording by ten more minutes, or drop the comparatively dull dragon stuff, to include the Act 3 prelude and, most important of all, some of the wonderful climactic love scene. I believe that the music Siegfried and Brunnhilde share there is among the most ecstatic not just in the Ring, but the whole world. That said, however, we do get a good deal of great music. Worth purchasing either if you're new to Wagner, and would like an easy way into the Ring Cycle, or an old hand who fancies the idea of a bite-sized 'Ring Symphony' which can be listened through at one's convenience.The recording does a pretty good job of what it says on the tin. But of course, there's nothing like the full fifteen hours of music drama - after all, if you haven't already heard the Rhinemaiden motif sung by Woglinde and the 'redemption through love' motif sung by Sieglinde, the finale loses half of its power straight away.

I don't know what the purists might think - but for a philistine like me this is one of the greatest pieces of recorded music I own. You do miss the vocal on Ride Of The Valkyries, but you'll just have to get that one elsewhere. A minor gripe. Fabulous, moving and wonderfully evocative of Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd.

This CD arrived quickly and sounded great and was a pleasure to listen to .

Item as described. Quick delivery.Thanks

fabulous album!

Others have commented that this disc has excellent sound. I'm not sure I agree. A number of factors seem to contribute. The sound is a bit dry and lacking in ambience and what ambience there is sounds a little cloudy and incoherent. Then there's the stereo spread and depth. The microphones seem to have been placed quite close to the orchestra (this may also add to the reduced ambience) which leaves the sound picture somewhat disjointed at times, with some instruments (those on the far left and far right) bursting forth from the speakers, yet others sounding distant and slightly veiled. In parts it almost sounds as though different sections of the orchestra were recorded separately and then 'pan potted' together in the manner of rock and pop recordings. The strings (esp. violins) sound as though they have been recorded at a much drier venue and mixed in at a later date. All of which would come as a bit of a surprise given that Telarc are renowned for their sound quality, except that I do have one or two others with less than stellar sonic traits. Maybe it's my system, maybe it's the older AD converters they used? Tonally the recording is quite full, ripe and never harsh sounding, but while sitting further back helps pull the sound stage together somewhat, I can't get passed the cloudy, incoherent sense of space.Musically, I am not sure this was a good choice as my first Wagner disc. I like what I hear, but overall there's no hiding that it's a lash up of bits - there's no overall flow or sense of cohesiveness and I am sure I can here some very bad edits.

Plus d’une heure à travers un monument de la musique sans les voix.Une belle initiation pour les néophytes et un beau retour pour les aficionados.Lorin Maazel et les berliner sont au sommet de leur talent.La prise de son est magnifique.À découvrir

Se trata de una selección de los momentos musicales más conocidos de la tetralogía wagneriana. Toma sonora excelente y dirección orquestal y orquesta sobresalientes. Muy recomendable.

Nachdem ich nun seit ca. 30 Jahren die Solti-CD mit Ring-Orchesterauszügen mein Eigen nenne (bei Amazon am besten eingeben: „Wagner Solti orchestral excerpts“) und durch diese zu einem Wagner-Hörer geworden bin (sh. meine Anmerkungen dort), stieß ich jetzt erst durch einen dort hinterlegten Amazon-Kommentar auf diese Maazel-„Fassung“ eines Instrumental-Rings - und bin begeistert. Man hat den Eindruck, mehr Ring ohne Worte geht nicht. So klug sind die Zusammenstellung und die Überleitungen dazwischen gelungen, ohne eine Note Nicht-Wagner, was ansonsten ja auch ein Frevel wäre. Die Zusammenfassung des ca. 16-stündigen Rings auf 70 Minuten mit vielen seiner berühmten emotionalen Höhen und Tiefen ist ein gelungener Versuch, einen durchgehenden orchestralen Ring zu destillieren. Durchaus geeignet auch als Versuch einer Überzeugung evtl. Wagner-Zweifler. Im Vergleich zu Solti, der mit dem WPO einen etwas zupackenderen Ansatz verfolgt, dokumentiert Maazel mit dem BPO eine „lyrischere“ Auffassung. Beides hat seinen Reiz und seine Berechtigung. Dem „echten“ Wagnerianer fehlen natürlich die Stimmen, so auch mir besonders bei „Wotans Abschied“. Aber das eine schließt das andere in einer Wagner-Sammlung ja nicht unbedingt aus. Ich jedenfalls höre diese CD mit hohem Genuss und kann sie allen (auch Noch-Nicht-)Wagnerianern nur wärmstens empfehlen.

Richard Wagner (1813 – 1883)The Ring Without WordsBerlin Philharmonic OrchestraLorin Maazel (1930 – 2014)Orchestral Highlights from the Ring Cycle.Synopsis of the four operas which comprise Wagner’s Ring CycleRecorded in The Philharmonie, Berlin, December 1, 3 & 4, 1987.Etichetta:Telarc - CD-80154 – 1988I giochi degli gli adulti si chiamano passioni. La mia passione da adulto – oltre la fotografia – è l’audiofilia, la quale mi ha fatto scoprire la grande musica e capire che non c’è musica se il “suono è stonato”. Non amo particolarmente la musica di Wagner, o meglio è tra grandi autori che ascolto meno, semplicemente perché il mio tempo è occupato da Bach, Mahler e Sostakovic, e si sa che le passioni tendono ad essere pedisseque ed a ripetersi. Ma questo disco della Telarc è un gran disco, uno di quei dischi che fa fare bella figura all’impianto, sebbene dimostri quanto “sia nudo il Re”, ovvero anche con una registrazione ai limiti dell’eccellenza si avverte che il suono riprodotto ha meno spazio di quello che servirebbe, e ti immagini come sarebbe stata l’esperienza di ascolto nella sala della Filarmonica di Berlino in quel dicembre del 1988 con i “berlinesi” diretti da Lorin Maazel. Perchè capisci che ci sono “impianti” che proprio non ce la fanno a stare dietro la dirompente dinamica della musica di Wagner, anche se tieni basso il volume come suggerito dalle note del libretto. E’ il caso del mio impianto “da scrivania”, complici le piccole Chario con il bass reflex inferiore, ancora troppo vicine alla parete posteriore. Ed allora mi armo di santa pazienza, spingo in avanti la scrivania e le cose sembrano andare meglio. Ma la potenza del suono dei tamburi all’inizio della traccia 5, è un terremoto incontenibile. Allora mi sposto dall’altra parte della “stanza della musica” e metto in moto l’impianto tutto italiano, casse da pavimento Opera V ed elettroniche della Unison Research. Le cose vanno meglio, la musica ora ha il giusto spazio e mi rendo conto perché la scomparsa della Telarc resta un lutto per milioni di audiofili. Qui c’è tutto il “suono Telarc”, la cui dinamica resta incomparabile rispetto a tutte le altre etichette. Gli archi sono talmente potenti che non riescono ad essere coperti dal suono dei fiati, ed in Wagner i fiati sono talmente straripanti che nessuno impianto al mondo riesce a contenerli fino in fondo. Ma il capolavoro è a 360 gradi: grande musica, un direttore più grande di quello che la storia ci ha raccontato, una orchestra tra le migliori al mondo, la Filarmonica di Berlino come luogo ideale di registrazione e gli ingegneri della Telarc – Jack Renner e James Mallison - con i microfoni della Senneheiser MKH-20 e Schopes MK-21, i processori PCM della Sony ed i monitor B&W 801F nell’editing di una registrazione eccellete. Ma il divertimento non finisce qui, perchè le note del libretto spiegano che durante la registrazione digitale del master ed il trasferimento su disco il segnale ottenuto non è né compresso né equalizzato. Ed è così che la traccia 19 è quanto di più naturale si possa ascoltare nonostante la dirompente forza “percussiva “ di trombe e tromboni con gli archi che si alternano al rullare dei tamburi. E’ la natura che spinge con tutte le sue forze, fino a far vibrare le membrane dei diffusori, che mostrano, visivamente, la forza della grande musica. Questo è Wagner, questa è la Telarc che non c’è più !IMPIANTO DI ASCOLTO DA SCRIVANIAAmplificatore Marantz PM 6006, lettore CD Marantz 6005, diffusori da scaffale Chario Syntar 516 R 89 dB, i Mac, player digitale Audirvana Plus, streaming attraverso TIDAL ed ascolto in FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec: 16 bit/44,1 KHz), cavi di segnale Van den Hul MC D 300 MK III Hybrid in alternativa all’Audioquest Golden Gate RCA da 1 mt, cavi di potenza Van den Hul CS-122 Hybrid da 3 mt, cavi di alimentazione SB3 di Audiocostruzioni, stabilizzatore di tensione Vultech GS-1000 AVR.IMPIANTO DI ASCOLTO DA PAVIMENTOAmplificatore ibrido e CD player della Unison Research, diffusori da pavimento Opera V, pre phono MM/MC Audio Analogue “Aria”, giradischi Clearaudio Emotion, Aurum Beta MM, Sumiko Blue Point, MC ad alta uscita, cavi di segnale Van den Hul MC D 300 MK III Hybrid , Supra EFF-I, cavi di potenza Tenor Audio Golden Plated, cavi di alimentazione di “Audiocostruzioni”, filtro/condizionatore di rete Belkin Pure AV PF 30………. e casa mia.

I have always had rather a schizophrenic "relationship" with Richard Wagner. To begin with, as a child, I heard my parents disparage his music as "too heavy." Then , when I was about seventeen, I acquired a series of albums, in one of which was a recording of the Overture to Die Meistersinger. Wow! It was a revelation. Were my parents nuts?!!! This was glorious music! That recording was accompanied by the article "The Monster" by Deems Taylor, in which Wagner's character as a person was delineated. A fabulous composer, but a loathsome person. How to reconcile these two disparate aspects? I also learned of Wagner's virulent anti-Semitism. But the music! Thus my life-long fight with myself about this giant of the opera world. A fight that has never been resolved. In spite of this, I have recordings of all Wagner's operas...yes, even Die Feen and Das Liebesverbot! Nevertheless, I do sometimes find that listening to the complete operas can get a bit tedious. I also find, that with notable exceptions, I find his orchestral writing more powerful and appealing than his vocal writing! I know, a strange thing to say about one of the greatest of opera composers!!!! Well, hang me in effigy...that's how I feel. This brings me to the recording in question. I have a number of recordings of Wagner's orchestral music... the overtures and other highlights. I bought this particular recording when it first came out, and played it frequently. Then I lost it, and recently re-purchased it. Obviously, I love the album or I wouldn't have bothered. As I listen, the glories of The Ring unfold in my imagination. Knowing the stories, I can "fill in" the gaps. The selections, the performance and the recording are quite wonderful and give a fine overview of the monumental, supreme work of art that is The Ring. As to the personality that was Richard Wagner, that remains a mystery wrapped in an enigma!