Mark Elder and his fired-up Hallé Orchestra reach the final installment in their Ring cycle with, perhaps, their finest achievement. Incandescent playing from the orchestra, a wonderful sweep yet plentiful attention to Wagner’s magnificent ear for sonority, and, above all, a real feel for the work’s drama from Elder make this a winner. Simon O’Neill is an impressive Siegfried, Iain Paterson makes a suitably noble Wotan/Wanderer, and Rachel Nicholls is a tender and very human Brünnhilde. The cast also includes some lovely smaller portraits, including Malin Christensson’s Woodbird, Gerhard Siegel’s Mime, and Martin Winkler’s Alberich.
Disc 1
Disc 2
Disc 3
Disc 4
- Placidus Morasch, Georg Kniestedt, Karl Reitz, Enrico Mainardi, Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Staatskapelle Berlin & Berlin Philharmonic
- Birgit Nilsson, Jess Thomas, Ruth Hesse, Otto Wiener, Chorus of the Vienna State Opera, Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera & Karl Böhm
- Boston Symphony Orchestra & Andris Nelsons
- Jan Söderblom, Roi Ruottinen, Turku Philharmonic Orchestra & Leif Segerstam
- London Symphony Orchestra & Sir Simon Rattle
- London Symphony Orchestra & François-Xavier Roth
- André Previn, Leonard Bernstein, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de France & Donald McInnes