Monday, February 13, 2006

Keilberth Ring coming

The 1955 Bayreuth Ring, recorded by Decca, is coming out on Testament. Apparently, Culshaw nixed this one, since the Solti set was in the works. I will buy this one, as it has a fantastic cast and Keilberth was no slouch.

It will be expensive as all get-out, like all Testament releases, but I think it will be worth it. From what I gather, this has sort of lurked around in the mists of Wagner recordings as a might-have-been. There was a magic to Bayreuth from 1951-1976, and I think that the energy of the reconstituted Festspiele adds something to the recordings. I mark the line between good new Bayreuth and the drecky, body-casting "Wolfgang Wagner presents Bayreuth" as the Kupfer cycle. Chereau might have been Eurotrash (ask A.C. Douglas, he will tell you), but it wasn't Harry Kupfer's Star Wars on the Green Hill.

I digress.

2 Comments:

At 6:09 PM, Blogger T. Ambrose Nazianzus said...

Once I have money, I'll be all about that set. It should be wonderful.

 
At 9:28 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

MDT.co.uk is selling the complete set for about $163.00 (based on the rate of exchange on Jan 29, 2008), which includes shipping. A bargain at about $11.60 per cd. I've ordered from them before, and they're a first class outfit.

 

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