Following the Walhall release of Wagner’s Die Walküre, the label closes its legendary 1958 Bayreuth Festival Ring tetralogy publication with the 1st, 3rd and final operas, led by the mid-20th c. Bayreuth pit regular and esteemed Wagnerian conductor Hans Knappertsbusch. The sound, benefitting from 24bit/96kHz re-mastering technology is great, far better than any other label’s previous issue, Walhall also reaping the sound reward from the use of the original broadcast mastertapes. Featured Wagnerian vocal luminaries include Hotter, Windgassen, Varnay, Konya, Grümmer, et al.

The 2008 Salzburg Festival production of Dvorák's opera Rusalka was outstanding even by the Festival's high artistic standards. Its exceptional nature was due in part to the fact that in the pit the Cleveland Orchestra was appearing for the first time as an opera orchestra in Salzburg. The high expectations raised by the orchestra and its Music Director, Franz Welser-Möst, were fully met, and even in the live recording of the opening night made by Austrian Radio, the conductor's genuinely dramatic approach to the work is never less than gripping.

The fairytale narrative gains in psychological focus and depth, aided and abetted by the team of soloists headed by Camilla Nylund as Rusalka and Piotr Beczala as the Prince. To the role of the water nymph, Nylund brings a beautiful lyric soprano voice that retains its focus and penetrating power even in the score's most dramatic outbursts, while the bright tenor voice of Piotr Beczala produces a convincing vocal portrait of the hapless heroine's inconstant lover, following her decision to enter the world of mortals. The remaining roles were cast from strength, notably the admonitory figure of the Water Goblin, taken here by Alan Held, whose powerful Wagnerian bass-baritone lends the role an impressive profile; Birgit Remmert, with her dark-hued, impressively full-toned voice and Emily Magee's burnished soprano, with its brilliant upper register.

Particularly gratifying in a Salzburg Festival production is the casting of minor roles with promising young singers including Eva Liebau as the Turnspit, Adam Plachetka as the Gamekeeper and the three well-modulated wood nymphs of Anna Prohaska, Stephanie Atasanov and Hannah Esther Minutillo. Appearing alongside this team of singers is the Vienna State Opera Chorus on outstanding form. All in all, then, it comes as no surprise to know that the response to the musical side of this production was extremely positive, a response which it is hoped will be repeated in the case of the present live recording.

The American Richard Tucker’s ringing, clarion, enthusiastic tenor in its prime is a self-recommending statement; his presence on the world’s opera stages and even on American television (search out footage of him singing under the razor-sharp control of the great Toscanini) always a joy to hear. This 1959 live Verdi Rigoletto from the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Italy may, aside from Renato Capecchi and possibly Ivan Sardi, leave you amiss in the name-recognition department, but the cast and the sound, re-mastered and fine for its time and circumstance, will win listener’s over.

The principal champion pre-Colin Davis of Hector Berlioz's neglected 19th c. masterpiece Les Troyens was Rafael Kubelík. This Milan 1960 recording - now back in the catalog - is a remarkable sound document. The sound is basic; there are cuts; and it's in Italian rather than the original French. But it also makes for electrifying listening. Kubelík conducts with intensity and dignity. Featuring a cast that includes Mario Del Monaco, Giulietta Simionato and the under-represented on disc Nell Rankin, it's essential listening for anyone with an interest in Berlioz. - The Guardian, 2012.

From a 1960 live performance in Paris with the Orchestre Lyrique de l'O.R.T.F. and conducted by Pierre-Michel Le Conte, this classic tale of star crossed love features an all-French cast including arguably the most visible of French tenors in the post war era, Alain Vanzo as Romeo complemented by lyric soprano Huguette Riviere's Juliette.

The Walhall Eternity label is for the first time releasing in it's entirety the legendary 1959 Covent Garden Ring cycle of Richard Wagner conducted by Franz Konwitschny, performances that feature the finest Wagnerian voices of the 1950's, including Wolfgang Windgassen, Hans Hotter, Astrid Varnay, Ramon Vinay, Amy Shuard (student of Eva Turner and Covent Garden regular), Gottlob Frick and more. Franz Konwitschny's gripping interpretations lie comfortably between those of Fürtwängler's commanding heights supremacy and Solti's fire and spontaneity. Re-mastered 24bit/96kHz.