Wagner: Das Rheingold

Ferdinand Frantz, Ira Malaniuk, Wolfgang Windgassen, Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma della RAI & Wilhelm Furtwängler

Released on 01/01/1990 by Warner Classics
Main artists: Ferdinand Frantz Ira Malaniuk Wolfgang Windgassen Orchestra Sinfonica Di Roma Della RAI Wilhelm Furtwängler
Genre: Opera

Available in

16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo

Unlimited Streaming

Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps

Start my trial period and start listening to this album

Enjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription

Digital Download

Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.

One could argue that the Ring cycle from which this Das Rheingold is taken is the greatest ever recorded. There may, of course, be younger listeners who'd say the honor should go to Solti for its intensity or the Karajan for its clarity or the Levine for its lucidity, and older listeners who'd say it should go to the Krauss for its fire or the Keilberth for its drive or the Knappertsbusch for its flow. But while few would deny the merits of those superlative recordings, the Ring that starts with this Rheingold is arguably greater.
To direct this Ring, Rome Radio hired Wilhelm Furtwängler -- by common assent, the greatest twentieth century conductor of the nineteenth century Austro-German repertoire in general and of Wagner in particular. To let the cast rest its voices and gather strength, this Ring was recorded one act at a time every two to four days in autumn 1953. Composed in an uninterrupted act, this Rheingold was taped in a single session on October 26 before a very quiet audience with very precise microphone placements to capture the best possible sound for later broadcast. The cast Furtwängler chose was the best of its time, with the forceful Wotan of Ferdinand Frantz, the sympathetic Alberich of Gustav Neidlinger, the imposing Fricka of Ira Malaniuk, the frightening Ruth Siewert as Erda, the comely Freia of Elisabeth Grümmer, and, in a casting coup, the fiery young tenor Wolfgang Windgassen as Loge.
Beyond the excellence of the cast, what makes this a great Rheingold is what makes this a great Ring: a first-class orchestra inspired by the excitement of performing the music for the first time led by a conductor whose uncanny ability to communicate the music's luminous magnificence was unequaled. Furtwängler's control of the score's myriad details was complete and his grasp of its relentless drama was unyieldingly legendary, and he is able to bend tempos and shape forms with improvisatory genius on his way to the final gargantuan climax. Rising from the depths of the Rhine to the heights of Valhalla in one single, unbroken arch, Furtwängler, his German soloists, and his Italian orchestra have created a mighty prelude to the Ring that's stunning on its own and staggering in its implications. Though the 1953 live radio monaural sound is antique, the quality of the performance is nevertheless sublime. Anyone who loves Wagner should hear this performance.

© TiVo

More info

Wagner: Das Rheingold

Ferdinand Frantz

You are currently listening to samples.

Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.

Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.

From £10.83/month

Das Rheingold: Vorspiel

Wilhelm Furtwängler