Merit - Wagner: Der Ring Des Nibelungen / Knappertsbusch CD

 Old sonics but can't be beat for the price or performances
This mono (not stereo) recording makes much more dramatic sense than any other recording of the Ring I've heard. It additionally features a detailed, interesting, and not always favorable essay on Knappertsbusch, a conductor known both for his interpretive gifts with Wagner's music and his perversity and unwillingness to rehearse. At one point toward the end of Act I of Walküre he and Windgassen (who is in glorious voice) each battle it out for their own tempo and end up nearly three bars apart, with the underrated and superb Gré Brouwenstijn trying to mediate between them... and yet it all works somehow. Hotter is in much better voice than in the later Solti recording, and while Astrid Varnay lacks Brigit Nilsen's precision, she is also lacks Nilsen's "factory whistle" metallic tone. The recording suffers some from distortion during the loudest passages and overall compression of timbre, but it's certainly passable given its age. The set is also an incredible bargain; I paid nearly twice this much, and it was worth every penny.
Submitted by a reviewer (Hanover, NM, USA)
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