Georg Solti – Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Great Scenes)

Posted on by keepsmealive Posted in posts by aaronTagged ,

Not sure I needed to plunk for the full Wagner Der Ring des Nibelungen cycle, this Georg Solti (and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra) collection of orchestral excerpts from the great scenes was quite cheap, and it scratched my immediate itch to hear Wagner.

I’m not even an opera fan, but there’s no doubting the sincerity in the music. These renditions are wonderful. There’s a clarity to it all, and it’s incredibly powerful. Dammit, now I’m going to need the full thing.

15 thoughts on “Georg Solti – Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Great Scenes)”

  1. Pingback: The Wagner Album | keepsmealive
  2. Reply
    KamerTunesBlog (by Rich Kamerman) says:

    I have a couple of (Sir) Georg Solti-conducted orchestral recordings, and I have at least one Wagner CD (always one of my favorites, since I prefer German opera over Italian opera), but not a combination of the two. This seems like a good one. Glad you enjoyed it.

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    1. Reply
      keepsmealive says:

      Hi Rich! Yeah, this Solti Wagner is quite good. If I saw any of his other stuff I’d grab it up no problem.

      Opera is not something with which I’m not much conversant. What do you like in German opera over Italian? The music, the stories? Both? Something else?

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      1. Reply
        KamerTunesBlog (by Rich Kamerman) says:

        My minor in college was Music and I took a lot of classes on classical music. For some reason I responded more to German opera (Wagner & Weber were my favorites). I guess it appealed to the prog fan in me, whereas Italian opera tended to be sweeter & more romantic. I’ve come around to Italian opera more as I got older but it’ll never have the same impact on me as the German composers. Then there’s French composer Berlioz, who wrote one of my favorite classic pieces: Symphonie Fantastique. I also prefer the musical portions of most operas, while opera singing gets old very quickly for me.

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        1. Reply
          keepsmealive says:

          Great answer, Rich, thanks! Agreed on the Berlioz… I had a higlights disc of his stuff years ago, I know the Fantastique was on it. Sadly it isn’t here now. Time to replace!

          I hadn’t considered opera analagous to prog! haha. I don’t tend to think of opera as sweet and romantic – the singing usually puts me off in large doses (I could survive this 1CD collection just fine, but a full Der Ring in one sitting? Nope!). But I fully agree on the musical part being better. Very epic and grand.

          This is one area in which I know I am severely lacking. I’ll want more (like the Wagner), but I’ll be treading lightly and not going headlong into it!

          What are your thoughts on Pavarotti?

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            1. Reply
              keepsmealive says:

              Awesome, thanks for this! On impulse, I snagged a 2LP Best Of Pavarotti (in perfect nick) at work one time for $1, and was even then still leery of playing it… with your recommend, I think I can venture into it with more confidence. 🙂

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