Rating: 
Summary: What a bore!
Review: Maybe Wagner is just not for me. But I have to say that I'm bored dead by this dvd recording. The drama is presented in such a lifeless way that the acts seem to be interminable!The singing also doesn't give much joy and the acting is in most parts rudimentary. This recording certainly won't be of any help to convert me to Wagner.
Rating: 
Summary: A production that fails to inspire
Review: I bought this DVD production a few weeks ago and have watched it a few times already. However, I have to say that I'm quite disappointed by it, for the production simply fails to inspire. I enjoy traditional stagings of opera, but the singers here are not well-directed at all. Given that some of the singers aren't very good actors, the result is dramatically very pale indeed. As far as the singing is concerned, not all the singers are up to their task. Some are evidently over-parted while others are already past their prime. The conducting of Levine also leaves much to be desired as there is insufficient foward drive in his musical making. The Met's orchestra performs well.
Rating: 
Summary: A Powerful Evocation
Review: This is a brilliantly conceived and powerfully executed recording of Wagner's Ring. The sets, costumes, camera work, and direction all evoke Wagner's conception, from the waters of the Rhine to earth and gods in conflict. It is convincingly acted and beautifully sung. Morris is a superb Wotan; Zednick brings his uncanny insight and humor to Mime. Salminen is extraordinary as Hagen. I was only somewhat disappointed in Ludwig as Fricka. Levine's conducting is intense, and the sound quality is excellent.
Rating: 
Summary: Caveats
Review: Traditional staging and rather blah. More interesting staging has been tried in the Chereau/Boulez Industrial Revolution "Ring" and the Barenboim laser-light show. But what makes Wagner are the performances, and the Met usually commands the finest. But after seeing Jeannine Altmeyer and Peter Hofmann (Sieglinde & Siegmund) in the steamy, nearly R-rated Chereau "Walkure", Jessye Norman's Sieglinde looks kind of ridiculous. This is no comment on her singing. She probably does great on record, and probably pulls it off on stage. What the Met needed to do was scrounge up a young-Isola-Jones type. No doubt the Met wanted to trot out some of its finest players for so massive an undertaking as the "Ring", but it leaves one scratching one's head about Siegmund's immediate attraction. I've often defended opera as the most democratic of media -- it doesn't matter how old you are, how fat you are, or the color of your skin; only the quality of one's voice matters. I may have to revise this thinking with the availability of dvd. For a workmanlike "Ring" that doesn't challenge, this one's fine. James Morris, a long-time favorite of mine (his "Don Giovanni" made me an opera fan way back in the '70s) is a good Wotan, and from his entrance he carries the show admirably. Heinz Zednik (one of several carry-overs from the Chereau version) is a Mime who is both funny and pitiable. The rest of the cast is as good as the Met makes them. For for a "Ring" that is more intellecutally and emotionally challenging, try to Chereau version.
Rating:
Summary: Rather liveless and indifferently performed
Review: I am one of those conservative opera-goers that enjoy operas being produced in 'traditional stagings'. So this production should have appealed to me. Unfortunately, I'm rather disappointed by what I see, as the performance is quite lifeless. I suppose the stage director is to blame, for he has failed to ignite much fire and passion on the stage despite all those high drama inherent to the work. This is not helped by the indifferent acting and singing of the cast. I admire the Met's orchestra, though, who is captured here on top form. Yet, Levine's ponderous musical direction is not at all to my taste. I can therefore only give this set a qualified welcome.
Rating:
Summary: An earth-boung production
Review: It seems that the views as regards this production have been rather polorised. Well, instead of analysing the merits and faults of this production, which other reviewers can evidently do better than I can, I would only say that I'm rather bored when watching this monumental cycle on DVD. The point is that there're very few places in this production where the drama or the music really lifts off. For most of the time, the production remains resolutely earth-bound. The singing and acting are mostly mediocre, and the camera work is quite unimaginative. In fact, I enjoy listening to the Ring cycle on audio CD more than when watching this DVD set. Others may of course have a different view. But for me, I'm more than a little disappointed by what I see and hear.
Rating: 
Summary: Get both this one and the Bayreuth version
Review: My advice if you really want to 'get in the ring' is simple. Start buying the Met version and then move on to the Chereau version. Off course both versions are not perfect, hence the four stars, but they are as good as it gets now. Each version has its strongholds. Here is a quick comparison per Act/Scene:
RheinGold I (Bayreuth wins staging and singing)
RheinGold II (Met wins)
RheinGold III (Met wins)
RheinGold IV (Met wins)
Walkuere I - III (Bayreuth wins landslide)
Siegfried I (Bayreuth again)
Siegfried II (Bayreuth wins narrowly)
Siegfried III (Met wins convincingly)
Goetterdaemmerung (Matti Hagen wins this one for the Met) Pretty even to me and good reason to get both sets.
Rating:
Summary: Not entirely satisfactory production
Review: Having viewed the entire DVD several times, I can say that I'm not that satisfied with what I see and hear. It's great to have a production with traditional sets, in particular as we're often nowadays treated to so many stupid productions with all those irrelevant "up-dates". Unfortunately, the stage direction here is insufficiently lively and often unimaginative, thus making several of the scenes fall flat. On the musical side, there are a number of flaws in the casting with several singers either past their prime or are physically unconvincing in their roles. The orchestra of the Met does a great job, but the effort is marred by Levine's rather stodgy conducting. I think it is still worthy to get this DVD recording. Yet, all those reservations cannot be overlooked.
Rating:
Summary: Worth buying and worth experiencing
Review: To buy or not to buy Der Ring des Nibelungen, and which one to buy: Met or Bayreuth? The Ring des Nibelungen is arguably the greatest work of art ever created by a single individual. If you know about and love music enough to be reading this, then you have no choice but to buy one. Like other reviewers, I recommend the Met version to start, because it is most faithful to Wagner's stage directions, so you get a better idea about the work's original conceptualization. However, I would expect that you would want to follow up later with the purchase of the Bayreuth Chéreau Ring :o) I own and have listened to both many times. Overall, the Met Ring is very satisfying. The first two acts of Die Walküre were the least effective of the entire set of four operas, in my opinion. I did not feel the chemistry that must occur between Siegmund and Sieglinde, although Jessye Norman sang beautifully. For me, these two acts in the Chéreau production (including Gwyneth Jones' Brünhilde) are worth the price of the entire Bayreuth set. However, the poignant and powerful third act farewell scene between Wotan and Brünhilde in the Met production make it easy to overlook the first two acts. Also notably powerful in the Met performance (besides Matti Salminen's astounding Hagen) was the scene of the swearing of the oath on the spear by Brünhilde and Siegfried in Götterdamerung, which Behrens (as a relatively light and clear voiced Brünhilde) sings with great power and dramatic intensity. To those of you who are uncertain if you want to invest the time, money, and emotional energy in exploring this work through the available DVDs, I agree with many of the harshest critical reviews, at a technical level. However, DO NOT let any reported shortcomings of either set stop you from purchasing one or the other! The tone of most of these criticisms suggests that they come from people who are passionate about the Ring, but for whom the reality of the performances captured on DVD simply do not measure up to the Ring they have idealized. The point is this: the Ring is worth learning about and experiencing, but there will never be a flawless live performance of a complete cycle, and individuals will never agree on the impact and quality of any given performance. Both the Met and Bayreuth sets have strengths that can overwhelm and weaknesses that can be overlooked. This is because flawed performances, however objectively or subjectively perceived and evaluated, are simply all that can be expected from flawed human beings striving toward an ideal. "True Wagnerites" :) should appreciate this point as one the Ring itself makes overwhelmingly. In short, I would purchase the Met Ring for starters, but I would first read the Thomas & Kane or Russell et al. comic book version to understand the basic story. I would then listen to the Met Opera CD set of four lectures, Talking About the Ring, to understand how the story is represented musically. Finally, I would read through Bryan Magee's, The Tristan Chord: Wagner and Philosophy, to understand WHY the story is what it is, and something about why it has such power to move us. After experiencing the Met Ring, I would purchase the Bayreuth Chéreau Ring, if for no other reason, but to experience Jeanine Altmeyer and Peter Hoffman as Sieglinde and Siegmund in Walküre.
Rating:
Summary: Best choice for most listeners
Review: The praise and criticism of the two DVD Ring cycles make for interesting reading, but I would recommend the Met recording for the majority of mainstream opera listeners, particularly those who have not previously seen a live production. The staging and set design conform reasonably to Wagner's original descriptions (and he was quite explicit about these details), and the vocal and acting performances are satisfactory. Matti Salminen's Hagen was a singular performance highlight for me. The Met orchestra plays splendidly throughout with tighter miking which allows details of quieter passages to be heard more easily. I found myself frequently adjusting the volume of the Bayreuth set as the dynamics varied; but that orchestra performs brilliantly as well, and Boulez does generally move things along more briskly than Levine. I honestly think that both readings are acceptable interpretations of the score's dynamics. Those who have seen "traditional" Rings may prefer the novelty of Chereau's Bayreuth sets; but for me, the industrial settings drain the mythological feel of the work in an annoyingly distracting way. The Bayreuth vocal and acting performances are superb, so I did come to tolerate it; but seeing Hagen and the vassals carrying spears while wearing coats and ties ultimately seems rather silly. One can hope that the best features of both sets will be combined for an "ultimate" 5-star DVD Ring in the future. For now, I think that most users will be quite satisfied owning the Met Ring.
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