Wagner: Orchestral Music from Der Ring des Nibelungen

by JoAnn Falletta

Overview

For this 2018 Naxos release, JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra present a standard program of orchestral music taken from Richard Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen." The four music dramas that make up the cycle, "Das Rheingold," "Die Walküre," "Siegfried," and "Götterdämmerung," are represented by their best-known excerpts, in the familiar concert adaptations by Hermann Zumpe, Wouter Hutschenruyter, Engelbert Humperdinck, and Ludvík St'astny. As dependable as Falletta and her orchestra are in conventional orchestral repertoire, the performances here seem detached and a bit cautious, seeming displaced from their element and lacking Wagnerian intensity and force. Because the music has been recorded so effectively by the great Wagner conductors of the past and by quite a few of the present, dedicated fans may regard this CD as a basic introduction to Wagner's "Ring" and nothing more. Listeners seeking a "greatest-hits" compilation may find this disc more than adequate for getting acquainted with such favorites as the "Entrance of the Gods into Valhalla," "The Ride of the Valkyries," "Forest Murmurs," and "Siegfried's Rhine Journey," among other highlights. However, they should use this disc as a springboard into the music dramas, which offer a wealth of great music as the composer intended it to be heard.

Product Details

Release Date:	03/09/2018
Label:	Naxos
UPC:	0747313383979
catalogNumber:	8573839

Tracks

1. Das Rheingold (The Rhine Gold), opera, WWV 86a: Scene 4: Entrance of the Gods into Valhalla

   1. Scene 4: Entrance of the Gods into Valhalla  (07:42)

2. Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Act III: The Ride of the Valkyries

   2. Act III: The Ride of the Valkyries  (05:01)

3. Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Act III: Wotan's Farewell and Magic Fire Music

   3. Act III: Wotan's Farewell and Magic Fire Music  (15:48)

4. Siegfried, opera, WWV 86c: Act II: Forest Murmurs

   4. Act II: Forest Murmurs  (07:42)

5. Die Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods), opera, WWV 86d: Prologue: Siegfried's Rhine Journey

   5. Prologue: Siegfried's Rhine Journey  (10:59)

6. Die Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods), opera, WWV 86d: Act III: Siegfried's Death and Funeral Music

   6. Act III: Siegfried's Death and Funeral Music  (08:36)

7. Die Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods), opera, WWV 86d: Act III: Brunnhilde's Immolation Scene

   7. Act III: Brunnhilde's Immolation Scene  (08:14)

Album Credits

Performance Credits

JoAnn Falletta   Primary Artist