An Excellent Recording! Must Have!
08/05/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Though some would argue that there are still greater recordings i.e. Solti conducting, Karl Bohm and the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, but Karajan, noted conductor and greatly admired, delivers here an excellent recording. The highlights include the great scenes from the four operas in Wagner's Ring cycle. The incredible Ride of the Valkyries here, especially, is very good, and the cast includes talented singers, among them Edda Moser. Karajan, always trying to perfectionize his works, does not really sway from the intense drama of the opera. The Immolation scene, in which Siegfried has been slain by Hagen and Brunhilde is left with the ring, standing over his funeral pyre and eventually throwing herself in it, is exceptional. The cries of "Zuruck Vom Ring" by Wotan as the majestic music of the finale reaches climax is superb. Karajan has outdone himself again."