Richard Wagner - Der Ring des Nibelungen - Hotter, Nilsson, Windgassen, Uhde - Kempe, Covent Garden 195713CDs Testament SBT131426, released 2008
Richard Wagner's complete 'Ring' cycle led by Rudolf Kempe, recorded live at the Royal Opera House in 1957 in new transfers made using high-quality source material from Lord Harewood's collection. The annual "Ring" cycle at Covent Garden in the late 1950s was highly regarded by audiences and critics alike for presenting the leading Wagnerian singers of the day in outstanding performances, most of which at that time were conducted by the much-admired Rudolf Kempe.
Performers
* Hermann Uhde (Baritone)
* Hans Hotter (Baritone)
* Joan Sutherland (Soprano)
* Sylvia Fisher (Soprano)
* Birgit Nilsson (Soprano)
* Wolfgang Windgassen (Tenor)
* Georgine Milinkovic (Mezzo Soprano)
* Ramon Vinay (Tenor)
* Otakar Kraus (Baritone)
* Kurt Böhme (Bass)
Conductor
* Rudolf Kempe
Ensembles
* Royal Opera House Covent Garden Chorus
* Royal Opera House Covent Garden Orchestra
This 1957 Covent Garden "Der Ring des Nibelungen" led by Rudolf Kempe is a very fine, at times even great, cycle. The cast features the masterful Hans Hotter as Wotan, the heroic Wolfgang Windgassen as Siegfried, and the magnificent Birgit Nilsson as Brünnhilde. A favorite with London audiences and musicians, German conductor Kempe coaxes the best possible playing out of the orchestra, making the most out of the tetralogy's moments of high drama without letting the music lose tension in its extended passages of exposition. Taken on only its own merits, this "Ring" has much going for it. The end of "Das Rheingold" is tremendously thrilling; the big climaxes between Siegmund and Sieglinda in Act I of "Die Walküre" and between Siegfried and Brünnhilde in Act III of "Siegfried" are both amazingly exhilarating; the sense of momentum in the last two acts of "Götterdämmerung" is truly involving. Compared to the other great "Rings" of the '50s -- the 1950 and 1953 Furtwängler, the 1953 Krauss, and the 1956 Knappertsbusch cycles -- Kempe's "Ring" comes off as dramatically and musically persuasive but nowhere near as overwhelmingly compelling. For dedicated and determined Wagnerians, this 13-disc set may be mandatory listening, but for novice Nibelungens, the Solti "Ring" remains the best combination of blazing performance and staggering sound. James Leonard, All Music Guide
