Richard Wagner - Der Ring des Nibelungen - Flagstad, Hotter, Windgassen, Svanholm - Solti 1958-65, Decca 1997Das Rheingold - 1958 - 146min. - Ira Malaniuk, Kirsten Flagstad, Claire Watson, Set Svanholm, Waldemar Kmentt, Eberhard Wächter, Paul Kuen, Hetty Plümacher, Oda Balsborg, Kurt Böhme, Gustav Neidlinger, Walter Kreppel, Jean Madeira, George London
Die Walküre - 1965 - 229min. - Vera Schlosser, Vera Little, Claudia Hellmann, Helen Watts, Birgit Nilsson, Christa Ludwig, Brigitte Fassbaender, Gottlob Frick, Régine Crespin,
Helga Dernesch, James King, Hans Hotter, Berit Lindholm, Marilyn Tyler
Siegfried - 1962 - 237min. - Hans Hotter, Birgit Nilsson, Wolfgang Windgassen, Gerhard Stolze, Gustav Neidlinger, Kurt Böhme, Dame Joan Sutherland, Marga Höffgen
Götterdämmerung - 1964 - 265min. - Wolfgang Windgassen, Helen Watts, Maureen Guy, Dame Gwyneth Jones, Lucia Popp, Christa Ludwig, Claire Watson, Gottlob Frick, Birgit Nilsson, Gustav Neidlinger, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Anita Välkki, Grace Hoffman
De-hissing The Ring
When we were asked to investigate the possibility of reducing the inherent tape noise in these analogue recordings, we were hesitant. Most 'de-hissing' devices introduced in the past decade removed not only the noise, but also many of the over-tones and much of the ambience of the original tape. To parody the Slogan of a sister Company: 'No noise, no sound!'
When, after all, does tape noise end and music begin? Does the 'hiss' create a false impression of extra overtones on the old recordings? The answer is very subjective but we feit that with discretion and careful monitoring CEDAR's latest device, the DE-HISSER DH2, could significantly lessen the hiss without damaging the musical end result.
To add to the challenge we must remember that The Ring was recorded over an eight-year span and several improvements in recording technology within that period would require constant adjustment in our procedures as we moved from Rheingold (1958) to Siegfried (1962), Götterdämmerung (1964) and finally Walküre (1966). New tape formulas were introduced and, most significantly, in 1964 a new, quieter mixing console was installed in the famous Sofiensaal recording studio.
What we found in re-examining this epic undertaking was a remarkable consistency of sound. Throughout the four recordings, the placement of the orchestra, the focus of the voices and the 'bloom' of the Sofiensaal remained intact. We were also surprised by the number of studio noises left in by the original engineers. Squeaking chairs, exhorting conductor, perhaps even the famous studio cat, all were present beneath the old analogue noise-floor. We have left them there since removing them would have compromised the low end of the considerable dynamic ränge of the original tapes. In this era of sanitised recorded sound, where every page turn must be eliminated, surely we can greet these extra noises as friendly ghosts from a glorious past.
James Lock Spring, 1997
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