Richard Wagner’s Der Ring Des Nibelungen The Ring
Cycle (Naxos/ArtHaus DVD Box Set)
Picture:
C+ Sound: B- Extras: D Concerts: B
Now
collected in one box set, the Naxos/ArtHaus release of brings together the four
Staatskapelle Weimar performances of the four parts of Wagner’s classic work
allow for serious fans to enjoy the complete works without having to hunt them
down. Sold separately, we covered the Gotterdammerung performance in its
Blu-ray edition at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9111/Thais+%E2%80%93+Massenet:+Nose
Here, we
only have the DVD edition, but I was surprised that the only soundtracks
available were Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes.
For the record, the four parts are:
1)
Das Rheingold
2)
Die Walkure
3)
Siegfried
4)
Gotterdammerung
For the
record, I was not impressed with the performance of the Zubin Mehta versions of
the first two parts from Unitel Classica on Blu-ray and DVD either, as this
review will show:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9503/Robert+Schumann+%E2%80%93+Gen
I do not
think I am being picky, but the performance of the format is as important as
what is on stage, especially when the work is this complex. That is why the good news is that Stage
Director Michael Schultz and Conductor Carl St, Clair have pulled off an
amazing, complete performance of The
Ring Cycle as rich, lively, creepy and vivid as any I have seen to
date. The first three parts are as
impressive as I found the concluding part on Blu-ray a while ago and would put
it on a list of definitive versions of the original work, though that is a
trickier task in Classical genre than say Pop, Rock or Soul. However, this is an amazing set, even without
extras and unless you want to get the already released Blu-ray box, this is one
you cannot go wrong with.
As for
technical misgivings, I wish the sound was DTS 5.1, but you’ll have to get the
Blu-rays for DTS as you only get Dolby Digital 5.1 as noted and though it
sounds as good as that old codec can sound, you should know that more sound
detail is in those soundmasters and the Gotterdammerung
Blu-ray was warmer if not spectacularly better than the Blu-ray here. As for the anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1
image, all of it originates in 1080i High Definition video and the tradedown
here is weaker than I would have expected considering how good the Blu-ray of Gotterdammerung looked.
- Nicholas Sheffo
