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Disc 1:

1. Das Rheingold
2. Das Rheingold
3. Das Rheingold
4. Das Rheingold
5. Das Rheingold
6. Das Rheingold
7. Das Rheingold
8. Das Rheingold
9. Das Rheingold
10. Das Rheingold
11. Das Rheingold
12. Das Rheingold
13. Das Rheingold
14. Das Rheingold
15. Das Rheingold

Disc 2:

1. Das Rheingold
2. Das Rheingold
3. Das Rheingold
4. Das Rheingold
5. Das Rheingold
6. Das Rheingold
7. Das Rheingold
8. Das Rheingold
9. Das Rheingold
10. Das Rheingold
11. Das Rheingold
12. Das Rheingold
13. Das Rheingold
14. Das Rheingold
15. Das Rheingold

Rating: - "Rettungslos dunklem Verderben weiht dich sein Gewinn."
Here, we have the "Preliminary Evening" to the Ring Cycle: Das Rheingold. This, conducted by Sir Georg Solti and performed by the Vienna Philharmonic, certainly has its moments. But this is the weakest in the entire Solti set, and here's why. This Rheingold was recorded in the late 50's, and the sound isn't at all polished. Plus, the entire opera is played one half-step higher than usual. I heard that it's because of the odd sound.

But nevertheless, we can't forget about the orchestra and singers.

The Vienna Philharmonic is pure gold. From the Rheingold motif to the haunting "Erda's Warning," this ranks with the best. I love how the brass and the woodwinds "become" the story; they were fully getting into it. The singers are stellar, too. George London as Wotan is strong and godly, and it's a shame he was ill during the recordings of Walkure and Siegfried (Hans Hotter was certainly past his prime in the 1960's). Kirsten Flagstad doesn't seem to fit as Fricka, too large a voice; thank God for Christa Ludwig. Paul Kuen is a one-of-a-kind Mime, and he avoids caricature throughout Scene Three. Gustav Neidlinger is one nasty Alberich. He's great, but his one-dimensional view of the dwarf might ruin the experience. The giants are well-sung, while Erda couldn't have sounded better.

This is one hell of a Ring Cycle. Now on to Walkure . . .

Die Walkure: Die Walkure
Siegfried: Siegfried
Gotterdammerung: Gotterdammerung

Box Set: Wagner - Der Ring des Nibelungen (Ring Cycle) / Sir Georg Solti

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Rating: - Simply the best
This is possibly the best Rheingold ever recorded and I will even go as far as to say that it is quite possibly one of the best Wagner operas ever recorded in a studio. The reason? First of all the cast, simply unmatched and unmatchable. George London was an amazing Wotan, at par with Schorr, Hotter, James Morris and John Tomlinson. He didn't have the career he should have had due to health problems but hopefully his Rheingold Wotan is available here. If you want to hear him in Walkure, he partners Birgit Nilsson in a Decca recording conducted by Erich Leinsdorf. To hear him as the Wanderer you will need to dig for a 1962 MET broadcast, also conducted by Leinsdorf. London's Wotan is unsurpassed. The American singer offers a brilliant, hedonistic, extremely noble Wotan - very similar in character to the Don Giovanni this singer was portraying so well. Listen to the "heher, herrlicher bau" in scene 2 (CD I, track 7), you will understand what I mean. The rest of the cast is generally amazing, in particular all the gods. We shall start with Loge and Fricka portrayed by Set Svanholm and Kirsten Flagstad respectively. Former Tristan and Siegfried for him, Isolde and Brunnhilde for her, they are legendary singers at the twilight of their careers passing the baton to a younger generation. The voices remain spectacular. The Donner of Eberhard Waechter is very generous and ample, and so is the Froh of Waldemar Kmentt and the Freia of Claire Watson.
The second best bit of casting after London though is Gustav Neidlinger in his signature piece of Alberich. What can we say that hasn't be said before? He is caught in stereo close to the peak of his career, his curse remains as frightening as ever. Paul Kuen also portrayed his signature role, Mime. His exchange with Neidlinger is legendary.
In the pit, the Wiener Philharmoniker find incredible colours, were it for the opening or the coda, the arrival of the giants, the descent in Nibelheim, all of it is perfectly balanced and dynamic. This has a lot to do, one can imagine, with the fantastic conducting of Georg Solti, as often privileging the narrative and the drama. Some people think his conducting is not contemplative enough, I will just say that the reason why people still listen to this Rheingold after fifty years is because at the end of the day, this studio recording always "feel" like the theatre, and this is in my view, a great tribute to Solti's dynamic, enthusiastic and fresh approach to the score. An incredible Rheingold.

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Rating: - germanic-herioc.
This was the first Wagnerian opera I bought from Amazon in a series of six since on my road back to sanity.I won't compare Solti to other conductors,or the singers to their peers-dynamic,stormy,majestic-these are adjectives I've seen in the other reviews Ive read,but rather the Wagnerian Opera genre to how mediocre the modern music scene is.I've lost faith in Rock,Jazz puts me to sleep ,and I'll leave hiphop music to you to decipher.Anyone that finds the DRAMA or Mellodrama word overused,why not the DRAMA of Wagner in the later Neitszchian,atheistic nineteenth century?Majestic,massive,mastadonic,heroic--I wonder if the german pope Joseph Ratzinger enjoys Wagner(I bet he does),these are words that come to mind with Richard Wagner-one of the original cult hippie-types.

And eminently quiet,hollow on the inside,if anyone thinks there's a stomachache in Wagner-that german anxiety.I usually listen the music in bed at a low volume these days,with both ears close in the ground.Th e calm at the center of Wagner's stormy hurricane is clearly audible in this Solti recording of DAS RHEINGOLD. Let's return in a bedrock of stability that Wagner still clearly provides that the WEST is worth it.

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Rating: - Just a few side comments
The other reviews here treat this performance of Rheingold at length, so I jsut wanted to give my impression. The Loge of Set Svanholm and the Fricka of Kirsten Flagstad are venerable, in no way near either singer's prime. George London is an exciting, extroverted Wotan. The sonics include a lot of tape hiss, at least on my pressing, which preceded this remastering by some years. Solti's conducting can't hold a candle to the competing Karajan on DG. That Rheingold is one of the best thing in Karajan's cycle; this is the weakest link in Solti's.

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Rating: - Magnificent opening to a Masterful work
Wagner's Ring is one of those incredible feats of creativity that it merits sincere appraisal. Regardless of whether a listener may or may not like Wagner or his operas, the achievement of the scale of the Ring cannot be denied. It embodies the following:

1. It is massive, being 3 full-scale operas with an introductory opera ("Das Rheingold").

2. It is complex, both musically and thematically.

3. It spans roughly 20 years of the composer's life, revealing the evolution of the music drama in intricate detail.

Das Rheingold sets "the stage" of the Ring, and consequently introduces many of the basic musical themes that are used subsequently in the remaining operas. But it is also much more than the beginning of the melodic structure, it is also the thematic underpinning of the entire cycle. In particular, it reveals gods with very human and petty emotions, from greed to arrogance; these emotions are "held up" by the music and, in the hands of Solti and Culshaw, the attention to detail and drama.

As an introductory work, Das Rheingold is relatively short, with only 4 scenes. The drama unfolds quickly, and character development progresses at a good pace. On the whole, it is meant to be a "prelude" of sorts, and as such, it must be viewed in this context relative to the entire Ring.

Nonetheless, as a stand-alone piece, Das Rheingold is quite dynamic and powerful. The Solti version is unsurpassed in terms of vocal talent, orchestral resources, and sound effects. Specifically, several items come quickly to mind:

1. Neidlinger's Alberich is unmatched. His voice has a raw quality that is in perfect contrast to London's warm and imperious Wotan.

2. The VPO is simply without peer. The recording captures the dynamic range quite effectively, and astounding achievement for a technology over 40 years old. (The London Rheingold was one of the first stereo recordings and spared no expense in state-of-the-art recording equipment and techniques.)

3. Solti's conducting is exceptional. His tempi are a little swift, but he also reveals much of the "fire" of the best-known passages.

To my taste, of all of the Ring operas, the Rheingold is the least "mature" of the pieces. The story in and of itself is the most "mythical" of the cycle, and has overtones of a large-scale fairy-tale. There are powerful thematic highlights--such as Wotan's acceptance of the power of the Ring over his own spear--but they are encumbered by otherwise uninteresting characters such as Donner. Alberich and Mime are interesting, but they become fairly one-dimensional as the opera progresses. Overall, there are significant gaps in the opera, and there are points where it seems that the opera is unbalanced in terms of its main thematic focus.

Yet, Das Rheingold is a good opera, and the Solti version is a fine effort. It merits a place in any music-lover's recording collection of masterful works.