Just some precisions : RHEINGOLD has been played 4 times at Covent Garden from 1949 to 1951 : 12/05/1949, 8/06/1950, 4/5/1951 and 7/5/1951. Wotan was sung 3 times by Hans Hotter and just 1 by Andreas Boehm on the 8th of june 1950.. Fricka was only played by Edith Coates (from archives of CG), never by Constance Schacklock. At last, Mime was sung 3 times by Peter Klein in 1949 and 1951, but in june 1950 (this recording), Mime was The well-known Erich Zimmermann who played in Bayreuth before the war. All these Information come from the archives of the Royal House Covent Garden.

Mickey Mouse, not Mickie - sorry, Disney fans!

I'm guessing that these extended excerpts were taken from a broadcast, some of which hasn't survived. The excerpts are:1. Prelude and first five minutes of Scene 12. Last three minutes of Scene 1 through Wotan's "Vollendet" speech.3. Giants' entrance through most of Scene 2.4. Last few minutes of Scene 2 through most of Scene 3 (with a brief break halfway through the scene.5. Most of Scene 4, breaking off after Erda's monologue.The singers are very good as is Rankl's fluid conducting. Grahame Clifford is good as Alberich though his voice doesn't really have enough depth for the part. Shacklock is excellent as Fricka as is Andreas Boehm as Wotan (a pity we don't get to hear his final apostrophe to Valhalla). Jean Watson's contralto is perfect for Erda, the Rhinedaughters make a solid team.There is considerable bump and whistle from the original transcription discs. There are also some intermittent pitching issues, comically in Scene 3 where for about four seconds Svanholm sounds like Mickie Mouse! These discs are more for diehard Wagnerians who know the music well and are listening for the unique performance rather than an average listening experience. This set may be rough sounding and incomplete, but I'm very grateful it was preserved and made available all the same.

I am the daugther of Andreas Boehm.He died when I was a little girl of 13 years.I did know nothing about this registration and you may understand my happiness coming by chance to know about this.Oviously to my opinion he had a wonderful voice and was a great interprete.Very rare also the fact that he had studied in Italy il bel canto ,which means that you understand every single word.Hope you liked my story

Here if ever there was a testament to Karl Rankl's time at Covent Garden, it is this performance. The cast for the time is very good indeed and the sound for the date is not bad at all.Webster and Rankl started Covent Garden Opera with next to nothing and yet it shows that within just over 2years that they could give this standard of performance.Along with excepts from Rosenkavalier and Mastersingers at the same period Covent Garden wasn't as awful as critics stated, and this was in no due measure to Karl Rankl who never got his proper place in the history of the Royal Opera House.

Karl Rankl was a favorite whipping boy of London critics during his tenure as music director of Covent Garden but one would be hard-pressed to guess why on the basis of this "Rheingold." It's a steady, granitic performance that matches or excels the efforts of some other, more famous conductors. The recording, somewhat distant, is complete save for Scene 1 and everything after Erda's disappearance (holy anticlimax, Batman!), minus a few side-turnovers. Andreas Bohm is lighter Wotan than is accustomed to in the part but he holds the fort staunchly. He's helped immeasurably by Set Svanholm's debonair Loge. The lesser gods are assigned to house singers, to varying effect. Peter Klein is an able Mime but Grahame Clifford's Alberich wouldn't scare a small child. Ludwig Weber and Marian Nowakowski, who clomp around imposingly on stage, are giants worthy of the name. A young Monica Sinclair is Flosshilde. This set may be mainly of interest to scholars of Wagner performance but there's plenty worth hearing, especially in terms of Wagner singers who have fallen into obscurity.