Sebastian Weigle's Ring cycle with the Frankfurt Opera is one of several live sets to appear in 2013, in celebration of Richard Wagner's bicentennial, and it has garnered special praise for its reproduction of the orchestral sound. The Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra is clear and vibrant under Weigle's attentive direction, and Wagner's elaborate instrumental writing comes to the fore in a way that audiophiles and students of the scores will appreciate. A little less consistent is the quality of the singing, which is ...
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Sebastian Weigle's Ring cycle with the Frankfurt Opera is one of several live sets to appear in 2013, in celebration of Richard Wagner's bicentennial, and it has garnered special praise for its reproduction of the orchestral sound. The Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra is clear and vibrant under Weigle's attentive direction, and Wagner's elaborate instrumental writing comes to the fore in a way that audiophiles and students of the scores will appreciate. A little less consistent is the quality of the singing, which is typical of contemporary Ring casts that can't match the career Wagnerians of old, though the voices are adequate. Perhaps the most remarkable performance is that of baritone Terje Stensvold, a veteran who sang the demanding part of Wotan/The Wanderer in his late sixties. Also notable are soprano Susan Bullock's Brünnhilde and tenor Lance Ryan's Siegfried, which are brightly sung and charismatic, though both are a bit strained in the effort. Note: this 14-CD box set is a compilation of...
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