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Rating: 
Summary: A technological triumph!
Review: If this disc is ever reissued, grab it! It is not an audio CD as described by Amazon. It is a CD-ROM with the entire Solti Ring in one disc (computer sound, of course). On video you get the score (piano reduction), the text, an English translation, and commentary. All the leitmotivs are marked, and you can stop anywhere and get all the instances of a leitmotivs, from first to last, and go to any point and hear any that you want. When they showed it to Solti, he was just amazed how much is on this one disc. (Issued with his approval.) This disc is hugely helpful if you want to get under the skin of the Ring and really get to know it.
Rating:
Summary: A technological triumph!
Review: If this disc is ever reissued, grab it! It is not an audio CD as described by Amazon. It is a CD-ROM with the entire Solti Ring in one disc (computer sound, of course). On video you get the score (piano reduction), the text, an English translation, and commentary. All the leitmotivs are marked, and you can stop anywhere and get all the instances of a leitmotivs, from first to last, and go to any point and hear any that you want. When they showed it to Solti, he was just amazed how much is on this one disc. (Issued with his approval.) This disc is hugely helpful if you want to get under the skin of the Ring and really get to know it.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful resource
Review: The sound quality on this issue is pretty similar to that ofthe CDs, given that both are digitally remastered from original analogtapes. It would be well worth investing in higher quality computer speakers to take full advantage of the fine audio quality of this release. I have seen this package offered for sale only once outside of Amazon.com, and as I recall the retailer was asking a great deal more. The additional features of this issue make it very valuable for music study, the piano scores bought separately cost a fair sum. It is also very helpful to have the leitmotives (or as Wagner called them, Gedachnismotiven, meaning motives of memory) almost musically dissectable from the scores. All in all, this is one of the most attractive options available of acquiring the complete Ring. The Solti is not my favourite cycle, either as a whole or in part, but at this price, with all the extra features and conveniences, it would be very hard to give this set anything less than a full recommendation. Those who have already invested in other versions of this cycle on CD, including Solti's very popular recording, should not be too concerned about the costs of duplication. The extra and unique features of this issue make it well worth the outlay.
Rating:
Summary: Hooray, I wish I could have bought this 10 years ago
Review: The sound quality on this issue is pretty similar to that ofthe CDs, given that both are digitally remastered from original analogtapes. It would be well worth investing in higher quality computer speakers to take full advantage of the fine audio quality of this release. I have seen this package offered for sale only once outside of Amazon.com, and as I recall the retailer was asking a great deal more. The additional features of this issue make it very valuable for music study, the piano scores bought separately cost a fair sum. It is also very helpful to have the leitmotives (or as Wagner called them, Gedachnismotiven, meaning motives of memory) almost musically dissectable from the scores. All in all, this is one of the most attractive options available of acquiring the complete Ring. The Solti is not my favourite cycle, either as a whole or in part, but at this price, with all the extra features and conveniences, it would be very hard to give this set anything less than a full recommendation. Those who have already invested in other versions of this cycle on CD, including Solti's very popular recording, should not be too concerned about the costs of duplication. The extra and unique features of this issue make it well worth the outlay.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent way to enjoy the Ring -- Incredible value too!
Review: This CD is amazing in that it presents the entire Ring Cycle -- all 14 hours or so -- in very acceptable (albeit mono) sound on a single computer disk. The recording used is the famous one George Solti made with the leading Wagners singers from the late 1950s and early 60s that is considered one of the best recordings of these works. The software side of the disk is great, in that you can instantly choose the opera you want to go to, along with act and scene within the act. You can follow the operas in three ways (simultaneously if you want) -- there is a piano score, the libretto, and (very nice) a part of the screen that lists the leitmotifs that are being played. You can readily move through any part of the opera with a scroll bar, and there are lots of hyperlinks that take you to musical examples and some (almost a 100) very nice short essays on the Ring and its characters. This really is a great piece of software if you are interested in the Ring, and is a good value at...the list price..., and a truly unbelievable value at the [price] Amazon is now asking for it.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent way to enjoy the Ring -- Incredible value too!
Review: This CD is amazing in that it presents the entire Ring Cycle -- all 14 hours or so -- in very acceptable (albeit mono) sound on a single computer disk. The recording used is the famous one George Solti made with the leading Wagners singers from the late 1950s and early 60s that is considered one of the best recordings of these works. The software side of the disk is great, in that you can instantly choose the opera you want to go to, along with act and scene within the act. You can follow the operas in three ways (simultaneously if you want) -- there is a piano score, the libretto, and (very nice) a part of the screen that lists the leitmotifs that are being played. You can readily move through any part of the opera with a scroll bar, and there are lots of hyperlinks that take you to musical examples and some (almost a 100) very nice short essays on the Ring and its characters. This really is a great piece of software if you are interested in the Ring, and is a good value at...the list price..., and a truly unbelievable value at the [price] Amazon is now asking for it.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful resource
Review: This CD-Rom is the best guide I've come across in 18 years of studying the Ring music dramas. The highly compressed music (14.5 hours on 1 CD!) is recorded in mono, but still sounds okay. The CD plays on my Windows 98 PC with no installation, no technical hassles at all. There are numerous hyperlinks so you can go to any section of the 4 operas in one click. Most impressive of all is the thorough cataloging of the leitmotifs. The commentary here is especially inciteful, illustrating how leitmotifs are developed and related to other leitmotifs, musically and dramatically. The explanation of the "love-curse" motif (usually mislabled the "renunciation motif) is particularly good.
I can't recommend this highly enough. (...)
Rating:
Summary: A graduate level course on Wagner's "Ring"
Review: When I was a graduate student in college, I took a two-semester course on the operas of Richard Wagner: the first semester was on his "other" operas and the second was on "Der Ring des Nibelungen". The second semester was spent in Germany, where we attended a performance of the complete "Ring" at Bayreuth (glorious!). Finding a copy of this Ring Disc ... was a real treasure (I must have bought the last one available, unfortunately, as it now available only as a used CD). This program really allows me to dig into the Ring once again, after so many years. It's a shame that the audio quality isn't any better, but 14.5 hours on one CDR is still remarkable. I recently purchased the new DVD set of the Ring, with Pierre Boulez (That's another review entirely!), and find the Ring Disc a helpful supplement. It is a shame that it seems to POP, but at the original ... list price, no wonder.If you can find a copy, all you Wagner fans, buy it!
Rating:
Summary: A graduate level course on Wagner's "Ring"
Review: When I was a graduate student in college, I took a two-semester course on the operas of Richard Wagner: the first semester was on his "other" operas and the second was on "Der Ring des Nibelungen". The second semester was spent in Germany, where we attended a performance of the complete "Ring" at Bayreuth (glorious!). Finding a copy of this Ring Disc ... was a real treasure (I must have bought the last one available, unfortunately, as it now available only as a used CD). This program really allows me to dig into the Ring once again, after so many years. It's a shame that the audio quality isn't any better, but 14.5 hours on one CDR is still remarkable. I recently purchased the new DVD set of the Ring, with Pierre Boulez (That's another review entirely!), and find the Ring Disc a helpful supplement. It is a shame that it seems to POP, but at the original ... list price, no wonder. If you can find a copy, all you Wagner fans, buy it!
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