As always the service is excellent, any delays are down the the various postal services, so not Opera Depot's fault. Currently playing through the Ring, sound quality very good and bringing back memories of old friends and performances. This is the most dangerous site I have ever been on ..... there is always something to tempt me and just as I think I am safe, more gems get added. Keep up the good work. Rosalind Lee

I have 23 complete 'Ring' cycles in my recording collection and numerous singletons from the 4 operas involved. THIS Horst Stein cycle from Bayreuth in 1970 has leapt handily to the top of the pile.The sound is excellent, everything I like about my favorite broadcasts from Bayreuth. Vivid, clear and natural, splendid balance between singers and orchestra. Orchestral details are there but not over-highlighted as so many over-engineered commercial releases. The great advantages of this set... 1. Horst Stein's conducting. He was one of the great conductors at Bayreuth, or anywhere else for that matter. Equal to Krauss, Karajan, Furtwängler, Knappertsbusch and Carlos Kleiber.Stein has the best cast of all the recorded cycles I've heard from there. Only Hans Hotter surpasses all Wotans. Here, Thomas Stewart lacks the basso undertones notes of his illustrious predecessor's voice. Otherwise his Wotan is a great performance, one of the solid highlights of this cycle.Their are other magnificent singers at work here. Roughly in order of impact... Berit Lindholm. This under-rated, under-utilized and under-recorded artist almost steals the show, which is saying something in this cast.She is astonishing. The power, steadiness and steely edge when needed is there but never tiresome on the ear as Nilsson could be. Her voice is truly beautiful and feminine, soft and subtle at key moments when Nilsson was relentlessly hard at times. I love Nilsson, but I like Lindholm more.Gustav Neidlinger, 25 years after his debut at Bayreuth, turns in a fine Alberich, as good as he was with Krauss in 1953. Karl Ridderbusch is splendid as Fasolt, Hunding and Hagen. Highlights: Act 1 of Walküre. Helge Brilioth and Gwyneth Jones are fabulous twins. Act 2 is also stunning. Lindholm's ''Todesverkündigung" is awesome and chilling. Joneses primal scream when Hunding kills Siegmund is one for the annals in all Wagner performance.Act 2 of Siegfried is another highlight. Jean Cox is one of the best heroes. His voice is strong, youthful, flexible and heroic. The Mime/Alberich squabbling in front of Fafner's cave is hilarious and menacing at the same time. Stein's leadership is particularly succinct and subtle in this opera. Cox is as fresh at the end of the Love Duet as he was in Act 1, and Lindholm doesn't hold back anything. Her high Cs are spectacular.Act 2 of Götterdämmerung is amazing. Norman Bailey's Gunther is, for once, strong, virile and equal to Hagen. It has to be remembered that Hagen is younger than Gunther and Gutrune and, yes he's a menace but he's also immature and insecure, hence all his bluster. Bailey's King stands up to Hagen and doesn't back down. Great singing from all the Gibiching's. Janis Martin's Gutrune and Fricka 1 are towers of strength and vocal beauty. The Vengeance Trio is riveting.Lindholm's Immolation is 2nd to none.The rest of the cast are excellent. All the tenors, in particular, are super. Esser's Loge, Paskuda's Mime (particularly) and Kollo's Froh are all wonderfully characterized and sung.If you don't have this cycle the fact that you are considering it at Opera Depot is strong enough reason to buy it. I was delighted by this purchase. It's half-price now(grrrr I paid full price two weeks ago) but it is still a valued addition to my library.

Very rare recording of a great Wagner and Strauss-conductor in my youth-time in our Vienna national operahouse...now one jewel in my huge collection of live recordings of great Performances!...

...but worth the wait. A so-so Rheingold, nothing to get excited about. Sound rather less good than you might hope for. Then Walkure, with Jones and Brillioth outstanding. Lindholm even more so. What a performance! Jean Cox is a revelation in Siegfried, and the stereo sound is a big improvement. Everything comes together in Gotterdammerung. Outstanding performances all round, the orchestra on fire, Stein’s shaping of the long acts never neglects the detail, and lively sound. Now I must go back and listen again in the light of that Gotterdammerung!

This recording easily earns a place among the very best Bayreuth Ring Cycles. What makes it so notable for me is its sense of drama and pace. Stein's tempi are mostly quick, but he knows when to slow down, and he has a great sense of the narrative line running through the work as a whole and each of its parts. Among the singers, Stewart is a warm, intelligent Wotan, and Lindholm and Cox sound fresh and agile. The overall impression is of the work being as well acted as it is well sung. The sound is nicely balanced between stage and pit, and the sound quality is excellent.

Stein's 1970 cycle is swift, taut, often more cleanly played than the Philips set under Boehm--compare the shapeless string crescendi in the latter's Rhine Journey. Also its cast is better balanced: among the oldsters Neidlinger (Alberich) and Hoeffgen (Erda) are still robust, and 3 of the newbies are superb--Stewart's all-encompassing Wotan, unique for his trenchant line readings, handsome midrange, and ringing top; Lindholm's warm, hochdramatische Bruennhilde, her "Ewig war ich" actually steadier and better tuned than Nilsson's on Philips; Ridderbusch's Hagen, calling the vassals with quality singing instead of Greindl's belting and blaring.The others are worthy if less notable. Jones (Sieglinde) is restrained and lovely early on, then tremulous when pushing at the break (e.g., the G5 on "bis zum Heft"). Cox's Siegfried also has passaggio issues: scooping and raw tone on open vowels. Otherwise he's bright in timbre and a smarter percussionist than Windgassen, who regularly made a hash of "Schmiede, mein Hammer." Elsewhere Paskuda has patches of sagging pitch but sings more decently than many a Mime; Brilioth's Siegmund is intense and imaginative, though taxed by the Todesverkundigung; Esser offers more sound and vigor than Loge often gets. Plus we have major voices in minor roles: Bailey and Martin as Gibichungs, Reynolds as Fricka & Waltraute, Bode as the Woodbird.In sum a potent, tightly knit RING, topping the Philips set and rivaling Krauss 1953 and Keilberth 1955!

In the decades following Wieland Wagner’s death, Stein was a huge stabilizing factor at the Bayreuth Festival. After Böhm and Nilsson withdrew from Wieland’s RING, Wolfgang’s earlier one was revived in 1970, and Stein played the rescuer as he frequently did during his underpublicized career. He leads a swift, exciting cycle that’s often more cleanly executed than the familiar Böhm recordings issued by Philips—compare the shapeless string crescendi in the latter’s Rhine Journey.As for Stein’s cast, it’s likewise better balanced, the old hands always impressive here: Höffgen’s Erda was still the most sonorous around, Neidlinger’s Alberich even richer and firmer than on Decca’s pioneering SIEGFRIED (try “dann zittre der Helden”). Meanwhile Ridderbusch has taken over Fasolt, Hunding & Hagen, and it’s a relief to hear him call up the vassals with quality singing rather than Greindl’s belting and blaring. Two others from the later generation are also remarkable. In his 4th Bayreuth season as Wotan, Stewart offers an array of valuable assets: stamina … volatile temperament … handsome midrange … ringing top … lucid diction … lovely mezza-voce effects (e.g., “Wen ich liebe” in SIEGFRIED II) ... and power exactly where needed, from D4 to F4 in the ragings of WALKÜRE III ii; here he rides the orchestra with a fire and security beyond heavier voices (contrast the Teldec set, where Tomlinson is strained, under pitch, and behind the beat). In sum Stewart is the nearest thing to an all-embracing Wotan since Hotter in the 1940s. Lindholm (Brünnhilde) was Stein’s second ace in the hole—a true hochdramatisch soprano in prime estate and an authentic alternative to Nilsson: fluent top notes, centered intonation, plus a rounder, warmer sound with an enriching yet well-regulated vibrato. Compare her “Heil dir, Sonne!” with Nilsson’s on Philips: Lindholm is better tuned, steadier, more radiant, all characteristics of her work back then. True, her low notes are wiry at times, and her career achievement can’t match Nilsson’s, but her 1970 Brünnhilde is the genuine article and a continual pleasure. The other newbies are less exceptional though still of interest. Gwyneth Jones’s vocal problems began in 1970, both with Kundry on DG’s PARSIFAL under Boulez and here with Sieglinde. She’s restrained and lovely until I iii, then the upper middle turns tremulous when she pushes (e.g., the F#5 on “bis zum Heft”), and in Act II she can be screechy and scratchy, regaining some control in Act III. In the main she’s no less listenable than Rysanek, “Du bist der Lenz” and “O hehrstes Wunder” being largely attractive, but the firm, fresh instrument of the 1960s was never to return.Cox (Siegfried) has similar problems around the passaggio—raw tone on open vowels plus scooping and sliding. Elsewhere he is bright in timbre, energetic, phrases smartly, and woos Brünnhilde with plenty of voice left; and while Windgassen regularly made a hash of “Schmiede, mein Hammer,” Cox is vastly more adroit as both blacksmith and percussionist. Among the other tenors, Kollo is deluxe casting as Froh … Paskuda has patches of sagging pitch but furnishes more actual singing than many a Mime … Esser (Loge) owns a B-list heldentenor with, even so, more sound than the demigod often gets … and Brilioth’s Siegmund is intense and imaginative, through squeezing and struggling at the climax of the Todesverkundigung. Finally, we’re blessed with several major voices in minor roles: Bailey and Martin as the Gibichung siblings, Reynolds as a shrewdly etched Fricka and Waltraute, Bode as a full-throated Woodbird, the young Rundgren as a Fafner with all the low notes. In short this is a rousing, tightly knit, potently sung cycle, among Bayreuth RINGs superior to the erratically cast Philips set, and, thanks to its Wotan and Brünnhilde, in a class with Keilberth 1955 and Krauss 1953. Opera Depot’s sonics—mono in the first two works, stereo in the rest—are clear but without atmosphere or aroma. However they’ll do till Orfeo gets around to an audiophile issue of the Bavarian Radio tapes. For the performance alone this easily rates 5 stars.—F. P. WalterAlbuquerque

What can I say about this Ring cycle which hasn't already been said? It's significantly better that the vast majority of live Ring recordings which have been commercially released. I was unfamiliar with conductor Horst Stein, but his impeccable pacing and no-nonsense style won me over time and time again. Of course he has an excellent cast to work with that features virtually no weak links (well maybe Freia in Das Rheingold, but who cares?). Jean Cox's fresh voiced, tireless Siegfried is beyond criticism, as is the impassioned Brunnhilde of Berit Lindholm. Thomas Stewart, whom I didn't care for at all in the Maazel '69 cycle, seems to have reinvented his characterization and gives a very impressive performance here as Wotan/Wanderer. Special mention must also go to Gwyneth Jones fantastic Sieglinde, a role whose vocal demands suit her much better than that of Brunnhilde. The rest of the cast can hardly be faulted. The sound quality is slightly inferior to the Bohm '66/'67 cycle which was professionally recorded and patched using rehearals, but it's far superior to the previously mentioned Maazel. Unlike Andy, I'm not ready to declare the Stein '70 Ring as my new favorite live recording, but it sure gives the prestigious Bohm Ring a run for it's money!

Other reviewers here have already described the wonders of this particular cycle. The singers are all superb - it was so easy to take them for granted back then. We have fine Wagner singers today, but they generally aren't heard in the same cast at the same time. Gwyneth Jones' singing has already been praised so allow me to give her an unusual compliment: her scream when Siegmund is killed at the end of Walkure Act Two is blood-curdling! Would that we have singers like that today (Anja Kampe comes pretty close, I'll admit.) Bengt Rudgren is a marvelous Fafner in both Rheingold and Siegfried though he contents himself with only one roar at the end of the Fafner/Siegfried battle. Both Lindholm and Martin perform their screams as Wagner requested. Today it's difficult to find even one Brunnhilde who does the scream when Siegfried tears the ring from her finger in Act One of Gotterdammerung. Jane Eaglen never bothered and neither does Evelyn Herlitzius.. For reasons best known to Wolfgang Wagner, the role of Fricka is split between Janis Martin (Rheingold) and Anna Reynolds (Walkure). Reynolds would perform both Frickas the next year. Otherwise the characters that reappear are cast with the same singer throughout the cycle (other than Waltraute in Walkure, of course).Excellent mono sound for the first two operas, excellent stereo sound for the latter two.

What a great performance this is in every way. It was Wolfgang Wagner's second production of the Ring and I think much underrated. He was always in the shadow of his brother Wieland and like you I have always enjoyed the classic Bohm recording from 1966/67. This recording however and the one from the following year with Ligendza as Brunnhilde are fast becoming favourites of mine. I remember seeing *** and Lindholm in the Friedrich Ring Cycle at Covent Garden in the late seventies and they were great there but here they are tireless and in much fresher voices. It's also wonderful to have Thomas Stewart in a complete performance as Wotan. I have always appreciated him in the Karajan recording but he doesn't appear in the Rheingold and he is much better here caught live. It's great to also have Gwyneth Jones as Sieglinde and Norman Bailey as Gunther. Being British and a regular visitor to ENO and the Royal Opera House I grew up with them as Brunnhilde and Wotan. Horst Stein has always been one of my favourite Bayreuth conductors much underrated at the time. Now this era seems like golden age of Wagner singing the likes of which we rarely hear today. There doesn't appear to be a weak link in this cast. As I said a tremendous performance and I highly recommend it. You won't be disappointed, I promise.