As I hear music more and more using streaming services, I discovered this Ring recording. OK, I must admit that I came to it, because I like Hans Hopf, thinking of him as one of the last true Heldentenors of this time, but this would be another topic for some days…
First, the nice thing about this Ring is, that it sound great in comparison to the older live recordings from Bayreuth like the Krauss recording from 1953. In my view, it is quite astonishing to see how the recording technique developed in less than 10 years. OK, the Böhm recording a few years later is even better, but for me this should not be a showstopper anymore.
Further, the interesting thing here is to have an alternate cast to the classical cast from the 50s. It’s someway the next generation starting here, but not totally, as some singers were only exposed for 3-4 years (Hopf for instance as Siegfried, or Otakar Kraus as Alberich, or his name fellow Herold Kraus as Mime). Frick (as Hunding and Hagen) was to become a classic, as of course Birgit Nilsson as Brünnhilde. Varnay, who sings Brünnhilde in die Walküre) belongs to the generation before, even if she has the same age than Nilsson.
Of course, Kempe belongs also to the next generation, and the cast corresponds to his wishes. And, it is definitively great. From the conducting, for me it’s on the “very nice” side. A lot of nice details may be heard that you can’t hear at others, which corresponds a lot to the way Kempe conducts, liking the different timbres to work together to an alchemy. You won’t find the energy that Böhm or Solti have, even if there is nothing lacking here, or the long arches Furtwängler or Knappertsbusch were insuflating in this music, or the astonishing balance Krauss had in my view.
From the singer point of view, nothing is really bad at the end. As a fan of Hopf, I was a little disappointed by his Siegfried. It’s very well sung of course, but there is to much wobble in it from my point of view, especially in Siegfried. It’s better in the Götterdämmerung. And the cause is not the recording quality. To continue on the less convincing side, I’m not found of the Wotans from Hines. The voice is gorgeous, and it’s probably not possible to sing it vocally better. But, it’s to polished for Wotan for me. Hotter had shown what can be done with the role, working a lot more on the dynamics that may be needed. Milligan as Wanderer is interesting, and even if it’s a pity he died so young, his vibrato is a little annoying to me here. As said, it remains a pity, the potential to become a great Wotan was certainly there. Uhl as Siegmund is very good, better as Hopf as Siegfried at the end, but it’s a little on the uninteresting side. Like Hines.
Otakar Kraus, is really a great Alberich. He has not the same kind of voice as Neidlinger, the classical Alberich from this time, but he is as great in my view. The same for Herold Kraus, who is a perfect Mime in my view, like Küen before or Stolze later. Mime is a quite surprising role, as it is a little comic, but needs a singer capable to sing as “heldish” as Siegfried in the forge scene. This is really greatly mastered by H. Kraus. Stolze as Froh is great either, but this is not surprising, nor Frick as evil bass. I was a little disappointed by Stewart, who I like very much in the later recordings, but like Milligan, a little to much vibrato in my view.
On the woman side, only superlatives in my view. Varnay is a little less fresh than in the earlier recordings, but she is a really great Brünnhilde. Nilsson, in the two later Brünnhilde is different, the voice is as always just cutting through the orchestra. I was astonished to hear even a warmer tone here as I had in mind. Crespin as Sieglinde is as everytime gorgeous, the timbre of the voice is for me always astonishingly rich for a soprano. Resnik as Fricka is great, just as everytime I hear her. Magda Höffgen is a very interesting Erda, less dark as typical perhaps, but this is not a critique.
So, what to say at the end? There is no perfect ring, for this, the Ring is too complex (it’s not so organic musically as for instance Tristan even if I remain astonished by this achievement by Wagner), too long… It’s a very very good ring in all cases, but not a reference in my view. Listen to it (or buy it) if you already know other ones, like I do from time to time, as you may discover aspects of the music that over recordings did not show…
