Search - Richard [Classical] Wagner, Neeme Järvi, Royal Scottish National Orchestra :: Wagner: The Ring - An Orchestral Adventure [Hybrid SACD]

A feast for Wagner enthusiast:s or a superb introduction to

Bryan Leech | Melbourne, VIC, Australia | 06/19/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I must confess that Wagner is one of my favorite composers, but I promise to suppress bias as much as I can!

As it is hard to find 15-16 hours to sit and listen to The Ring, and as it contains much that is satisfying when arranged without voices, a significantly shorter orchestral reduction is an obvious opportunity for a composer/arranger to exert his skills. There have been a number of attempts at producing such a work, the results varying in quality. They range from sections of The Ring, with the orchestra filling the vocal lines, the sections being joined together with simple links or musical bridges. This provides the listener with the notes Wagner wrote, but as an overall listening experience the result is not totally satisfying as it lacks unity.

The other extreme is to take Wagner's themes and use them as the basis for an extended symphonic poem. This may produce an enjoyable work, but it is no longer a reduction of The Ring. To my mind, the composer faced with this challenge must remember that he is re-creating Wagner, but he must also be aiming to write a musically satisfying work that can stand alone.

The composer/arranger responsible for the work on this recording has done just that. Taking on what seems an impossible task, Henk de Vleiger, in 1991 produced this work which is the best distillation of The Ring that I have heard. In just over 60 minutes we hear a symphonic synthesis that 'samples' all four component operas (and includes nearly all of the most popular extracts) and creates a cogent, musically satisfying whole that is almost entirely pure Wagner (allowing for the orchestra playing the vocal lines). Rather than extracts pasted together, de Vleiger has managed to produce a near-ideal synthesis, yet it contains no hint of music by de Vleiger, what we hear is Wagner, as he conceived it, presented as an orchestral work which pays 100% respect to Wagner and his structures and orchestration. I am sure Wagner would have given complete approval (and in this performance, so would Stokowski!).

Which leads me to the performance itself: there are many people who are unaware of the very high standard of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (which, I suspect, must have had its numbers almost doubled for this recording), and under the baton of Jarvi, give us playing and a performance that could hardly be bettered by any other orchestra. They play with total involvement and dedication. The quieter parts receive the necessary delicacy, but in the 'full-blown' sections the energy and guts of the playing are unsurpassed. You need a good SACD system to fully appreciate this performance, the dynamic range is so wide, and the orchestral textures become so complex in places; but if you lack SACD facilities, still buy this (most SACDs are CD compatible) for it is a musical treasure not to be missed.

And, finally a comment on the sound (5.0 actually, not the 5.1 claimed by another reviewer - which is not really relevant as, normally, an orchestra does not produce frequencies low enough to need a sub-woofer, not even Wagner). Chandos has risen to the occasion and produced a recording of demonstration quality. Although the Producer and engineers have decided to use an approach that tends to place the listener among the performers (something I don't usually like in symphonic music), here it has been done with musical understanding and sensitivity that seems exactly the right approach in this case.

In short, this is a superb recording that should be in the library of everyone who appreciates Wagner. And for the beginner, two recordings need to be obtained: this one, and a recording that includes Anna Russell's 20-minute dissertation on The Ring - one of the funniest musical monologues in existence. So, in summary, buy it."

Awesome Ring of orchestral music

J. Dupont Jr. | 03/18/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I own several versions of Wagner's orchestral ring cycle from conductors like Stokowski,Dorati, Karajan, Ormandy, Maazel, to name a few. What makes this one stand out is the pace of the music, the Scottish orchestra under Jarvi did an excellent job. Tracks 4 & 5 made the hair on the back of my neck rise, equivalent to the "Circus maximus" of Respighi's Roman Festivals. Being that this a 5.1 sacd explains the aural workout to the eardrums. Highly recommended."

Incredible performance, but . . . .

Classical Curiosities | Canton, OH, USA | 11/09/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The current recording is the second of this arranger's version, and on all counts superior to the previous one with the horrid cover photo by some wanna-be Maplethorpe photographer. Embarassing! Anyway, my complaint focusses on one issue only, and that is the arranger's obsession to make a continuous flow of Wagner's music. Maazel tried the same thing in his previous arrangement (on Telarc), making the same mistake. Because of the enormous length of the four operas which comprise "The Ring," wouldn't it have made more sense to create a four-movement symphonic version? So who cares about the length (two CDs of Wagner are always better than one)? Why? Because in both the Maazel version and this one, the incredible final sequence of "Das Rheingold" is totally eliminated, meaning the long, repeated rhythmic motif which closes the work. What should follow this, but silence? In fact, I miss it so much that I have manipulated Maazel's recording to include the "Das Rheingold" finale, despite the "click" on my tape. Try it, you'll like it.



Word is out too, that Henk van Vleiger (sp?), the arranger of the Chandos recording, will soon release his arrangement of "Die Meistersinger" ohne worte . . . Can't wait till it gets here!



MJA

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