A WONDERFULLY FRESH PERFORMANCE STARRING SOME OF THE GREATEST WAGNER SINGERS EVER... A MUST! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

If one contribution has to be singled out from this Ring, it has to be the muscular, propulsive conducting of Horst Stein. What it may lack in poetry it more than makes up in excitement. Some individual vocal contributions also need to be remarked upon. Das Rheingold is dominated by the dusky beauty of Gustav Neidlinger's voice, still the definitive Alberich instrument at age 61. Only Theo Adam's Wotan, heard at its apogee, can throw up resistance. Die Walküre is stolen by the Walsungs, Gwyneth Jones' abundantly feminine Sieglinde and Helge Brilioth's plangent Siegmund. Adam is an authoritative Wotan but Anna Reynolds is but an ordinary Fricka. More of Caterina Ligendza's Brünnhilde in a moment.Siegfried requires a high tolerance for Jean Cox's buzzy, overbright Heldentenor, though he certainly has the power and youthful blockheadedness for the role. Georg Paskuda is the nastiest, oldest-sounding Mime imaginable, restoring the dramatic balance. Adam and Neidlinger exit the cycle honorably, as does Marga Hoeffgen's Erda. Ligendza's tea-kettle whistle of a voice is an acquired taste some will never get around to acquiring. Between her and Cox, the Awakening Scene is more of an endurance test than a catharsis. Fortunately in Gotterdammerung the burden is more equally divided, with the positive contributions of the Gibichung clan (Janis Martin, Franz Mazura and Karl Ridderbusch) and the more limited ones of Cox and Ligendza making for a fairly enjoyable finale. The sound is, for the most part, in splendid, wide stereo, so audiophiles take note.

My enthusiasm for this '71 Ring has only increased in the months since I wrote the review below. The overall sound quality is among the best of any of the Ring cycles I've purchased from Opera Depot (15 to date), the occasional patch of distortion nonwithstanding. Catarina Ligendza may now be my favorite Brunnhilde of all time, sweeter in tone than Nilsson with none of Varnay's unpleasant tendency to scoop up to notes (although she's still amazing). Ligendza and Cox have real chemistry together and their duets are simply gorgeous! Even Theo Adam, whom I bashed rather severely in my previous review, has become much more tolerable to the point that I now consider him an asset instead of a liability. This Ring deserves 6 stars out of 5. Thanks Andy!

Others including myself have already showered lavish praise on the Horst Stein '70 Ring Cycle. This '71 cycle is very nearly on the same level. Stein's conducting is once again superb! On the rare occasion when a particular tempo didn't feel quiet right, I found myself able to adjust to it quickly and easily. The cast is also nearly flawless (including an excellent Freia this go round) with one exception that I'll get to in a moment. Special mention must go to the outstanding Brunnhilde of Catarina Ligendza, who sings with a youthful, sweet tone. Unlike others who have adopted a similar girlish portrayal (Altmeyer, Evans, etc.), Ligendza actually has the pipes for the big moments. In fact, I'm going to risk sacrilege and declare that I enjoyed her even more than Birgit Nilsson, whose voice I've always found a bit too steely. Granted Ligendza's top notes are not as secure as the great Swede's, but they are still very impressive. And now the one casting misfire of this Ring, and the reason it comes up a bit short compared to the aforementioned '70 cycle, is the Wotan of Theo Adam. I have a lot of admiration for this artist for his acting and even (occasionally) his singing, such as in Act 3 of Siegfried. But more often than not, I found his gargley voice with its characteristic wobble really hard to take. Why TA owned the role of Wotan at Bayreuth when they had such a great talent like David Ward, who sang the role beautifully elsewhere, is anybody's guess.

Eine sehr schöne Stereo-Aufnahme. Horst Stein dirigiert sehr tempramentvoll undzügig und das Orchester folgt ihm. Manchmal wäre mehr Zeit gerade in der Walküre vortelhaft. Neben den Leistungen von Gustav Neidlinger und Marga Höffgen ist besonders Theo Adam zu nennen. Er singt stimmgewaltig, textverständlich und überzeugt durch eine kraftvolle Interpreteation den Wotan. Helge Brilioth ist weniger strahlend hat hinreißende aber auch anfechtbare Momente ganz im Gegensatz zu Gwyneth Jones. Karl Ridderbusch singt mit warmer herrlich ströhmender sonorer Stimme bleibt aber die Dimension hintergründiger Größe des Hagen schuldig. Catarina Ligendza ist für die erkranke Berit Lindholm im ersten Ring-Zyklus eingesprungen und eroberte sich mit der Partie den internationalen Durchbruch mit einer jugendlichen, weniger typisch hochdramatischen Stimme. Zuverlässig und rollendeckend singt Jean Cox den Siegfried.

One of my most favorite Bayreuth Rings. I can recommend it strongly.Superb performance, it's impressive in particular that Ligendza's youthful Brünnhilde with pure voice and H.Stein keeping dynamic conducting throughout.

A great performance with some of my favourite Wagner singers

Eine exzellente Aufführung unter Horst Stein. Es singen die damals besten Wagner Tenöre Cox und Brilioth sowie Legendza und Jones als Brunhilde und Sieglinde.