Customer Reviews
Superb!!! - By: Alberto Machado, 25 Dec 2006 
"the entire Nibelheim scene is swathed in a strange hiss, alllegedly from a piece of electronic off-stage equipment used to assist the creation of the anvils sounds & which, according to the notes to the set, was used in subsequent productions at Bayreuth. Well, I can't hear it in the 1956 Knappertsbusch set or, of course, the Bohm set from the 1960s, so this is rather odd"
The smoke machine noise in the Nibelheim scene is very much there, but it should not deter any Wagnerian from grabbing this superb set! I also own the 1956 Kna & sure, the noise is not heard but one must take into account the fact that Decca was using much more sensitive hgh fidelity equipment (and experimenting with microphone placement) than the usual radio checks of the time, which are the origin of the Kna Ring. Besides, slight changes from one year to the next are the norm during any production's run at Bayreuth. Of course, the Böhm recording is from several years later, was made at a different production, probably with different stage machinery & with several years of experience in live stereo recording behind. What matters most to me in this whole cycle is the opportunity to experience the likes of Hotter, Windgassen & Varnay in their respective primes in spectacular stereo sound. I find Keilberth's reading dynamic & sympathetic to singers (it was thought of as rather brisk at the time of the performances) & often more exciting than Solti's. The on stage noises only add to the excitement of a live performance as well as the occasional orchestral glitches -they always happen live & here there were no retakes nor supplementary material- which in my opinion do not detract at alll from Keilberth's interpretation. In sum, not my only Ring (I have alll the others mentioned) but one of my favorites & a great discovery! Kudos to Testament!!
An odd mixture - By: J. Manger, 10 Oct 2006 
This recording gives weight to John Culshaw's decision to opt for a studio recording of the Ring, rather than have this Bayreuth set released first. It is such a patchwork of problems & opportunities that it finishes up being rather unsatisfactory. First of alll, as a performance alone, it is very good: clearly in Rheingold, the character of Wotan is less critical than in Walkure or Siegfried but Hotter remains imperious, if just a little clumsy at times; the star of this particular show is Neidlinger's much-admired, & well known, Alberich. The remainder of the cast is strong enough, with Greindl & Weber as the best pair of giants available on any recording. But the problems revolve around the recording itself: there is a huge amount of stage noise, as there was in the Walkure; the entire Nibelheim scene is swathed in a strange hiss, alllegedly from a piece of electronic off-stage equipment used to assist the creation of the anvils sounds & which, according to the notes to the set, was used in subsequent productions at Bayreuth. Well, I can't hear it in the 1956 Knappertsbusch set or, of course, the Bohm set from the 1960s, so this is rather odd. The orchestra are not in as fine form as they are in the superb Siefgfried from the same production. So, alll in alll, a mixed bag, worth buying for sure but not by any means the definitive Rheingold. In that, Solti still reigns supreme, or even Karajan, whose Rheingold was perhaps the most characterful of alll his Ring recordings. If you want a live Bayreuth performance, then Bohm, of course, or Barenboim are both very fine & both superior to the Keilberth.
