Notes and Editorial Reviews
Outside Germany, the name Weimar tends to evoke mixed feelings and pictures of German history of the last hundred years. Within Germany, Weimar means a town in the state of Thuringia arguably saturated with the “Deutsche Kultur” of the “Weimarer Klassik”, the legendary Bauhaus, and finally the life and work of Franz Liszt and his son in law Richard Wagner. In Weimar Richard Wagner began composing the first part of his RING-cycle, “Das Rheingold”. In 2008 the Nationaltheater Weimar started a new production of this unique tetralogy. The conductor is Carl St.Clair, a former student of Leonard Bernstein. With Michael Schulz’ fine and highly intelligent staging this new “Ring” production becomes an outstanding document of contemporary opera
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theatre. -
Arthaus Musik
"Under the leadership of conductor Carl St. Clair, the Staatskapelle Weimar performers bloom. Here is an ensemble that inherited from the days of Franz Liszt, an orchestral sense of the dramatic scenes of nature and lyrical moments in top form...This performance is fascinating in sharpness and depth without blurring. It is a real jump in quality! - Peter P. Pachl,
NMZ.de, December 2009 (Freely translated from the original German.)
Richard Wagner
DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN
Frieder Aurich, Kirsten Blanck, Erin Caves, Catherine Foster, Christine Hansmann, Mario Hoff, Renatus Mészár, Tomas Möwes, Norbert Schmittberg, Hidekazu Tsumaya, Johnny van Hal, Nadine Weissmann, Marietta Zumbült, and other soloists.
Weimar Deutsches Nationaltheater Opera Chorus
Gentlemen of the Weimar Philharmonic Chorus
Weimar Staatskapelle
Carl St. Clair, conductor
Michael Schulz, stage director
Dirk Becker, set design
Renée Listerdal, costume design
Recorded live from the Deutsches Nationaltheater, Weimar 2008 and 2009.
Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / Dolby Digital 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Menu language: English
Subtitles: German, English, French, Italian, Spanish
Running time: 15 hours 30 mins
No. of DVDs: 7 (DVD 9)
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Works on This Recording
1.
Der Ring des Nibelungen by Richard Wagner
Performer:
Frieder Aurich (Tenor),
Erin Caves (Tenor),
Kirsten Blanck (Soprano),
Catherine Foster (Soprano),
Renatus Mészár (Bass),
Mario Hoff (Baritone),
Christine Hansmann (Alto)
Conductor:
Carl St. Clair
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Weimar Staatskapelle Orchestra,
Weimar Deutsches National Theater Opera Chorus
Period: Romantic
Written: 1853-1874; Germany
2.
Das Rheingold by Richard Wagner
Conductor:
Carl St. Clair
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Weimar Staatskapelle Orchestra,
Weimar Deutsches National Theater Opera Chorus
Period: Romantic
Written: 1854; Germany
3.
Die Walküre by Richard Wagner
Conductor:
Carl St. Clair
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Weimar Staatskapelle Orchestra,
Weimar Deutsches National Theater Opera Chorus
Period: Romantic
Written: 1856; Germany
4.
Siegfried by Richard Wagner
Conductor:
Carl St. Clair
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Weimar Staatskapelle Orchestra,
Weimar Deutsches National Theater Opera Chorus
Period: Romantic
Written: 1871; Germany
5.
Götterdämmerung by Richard Wagner
Conductor:
Carl St. Clair
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Weimar Staatskapelle Orchestra,
Weimar Deutsches National Theater Opera Chorus
Period: Romantic
Written: 1861-1874; Germany
Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review: 
( 1 Customer Review )
Music fine, clothing not for me May 11, 2012
By Reese Otts (Charleston, WV) See All My Reviews
"I returned this album as I just can't see The Ring Cycle characters dressed in early 20th century costumes. Woltan, the dragon, Valkyries with shirts and trousers? Admitted, I didn't watch All of Das Reingold and none of the remaining albums in the series, but as I had ordered Der Ring Des Nibelungen by the Metropolitan Opera/Levine I returned the St. Clair version for a refund. Incidentally, it's been over 2 weeks since I returned the Levine version and have not received the refund. I ordered and paid for the Met version and rate it 2.5 stars. I really liked the music, but the recording was of poor quality. The volume was inconsistant... never could get a fortissimo and often had my volume at full strength and had only moderate intensity. I know it's not my machine, as I had G & S Pinafore (PBS and BBC series) playing during intermissions of Der Ring... and the volume was most satisfactory. "
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