This epic collection brings together all of Opus Arte's recordings from the Bayreuth Festival. Included are many of Wagner's much-admired operas which show how the mastery of composer, conductor, and performer can combine to create a true musical excellence. Wagner's epic four-opera cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen, is a work of extraordinary scale and is given an interpretation that is both thrilling and sensitive by the conductor Christian Thielemann and a cast of renowned Wagner interpreters. Thielemann also presents an incredible account of Der fliegende Holländerin a recording which secured his place as the world's greatest Wagner conductor. Klaus Florian Vogt is staggering in the title role of Lohengrin, with Andris Nelsons brings out the best in the festival chorus and orchestra. This recording of Tannhäuser, Wagner’s tale of the struggle between spiritual and profane love, and of redemption through love, was described by Opera Journal as 'outstanding’, whilst Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, which tells a humorous tale about artistically inclined craftsmen, was described as ‘on an entirely new Wagnerian scale...” (The Washington Post). The set is completed by the critically acclaimed recording of Tristan und Isolde starring the leading Wagner exponents Robert Dean Smith and Iréne Theorin in the title roles.

"This is a production to cherish, brilliantly realised for DVD, which should be in the collections of all serious Wagnerians. I suspect the Valencia Ring may well turn out to be the classical DVD event of the year." -- MusicWeb International

Richard Wagner
DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN

DAS RHEINGOLD

Wotan – Juha Uusitalo
Donner – Ilya Bannik
Froh – Germán Villar
Loge – John Daszak
Alberich – Franz-Josef Kapellmann
Mime – Gerhard Siegel
Fasolt – Matti Salminen
Fafner – Stephen Milling
Fricka – Anna Larsson
Freia – Sabina von Walther
Erda – Christa Mayer
Woglinde – Silvia Vázquez
Wellgunde – Ann-Katrin Naidu
Flosshilde – Hanna Esther Minutillo

DIE WALKÜRE

Siegmund – Peter Seiffert
Hunding – Matti Salminen
Wotan – Juha Uusitalo
Sieglinde – Petra-Maria Schnitzer
Brünnhilde – Jennifer Wilson
Fricka – Anna Larsson
Gerhilde – Bernadette Flaitz
Ortlinde – Helen Huse Ralston
Waltraute – Pilar Vázquez
Schwertleite – Christa Mayer
Helmwige – Eugenia Bethencourt
Siegrune – Heike Grötzinger
Grimgerde – Manuela Bress
Rossweisse – Hannah Ester Minutillo

Recorded live from the Palau de les Arts "Reina Sofia", Valencia, Spain, 2008.

SIEGFRIED

Siegfried – Lance Ryan
Mime – Gerhard Siegel
Der Wanderer – Juha Uusitalo
Alberich – Franz-Joseph Kapellmann
Fafner – Stephen Milling
Erda – Catherine Wyn-Rogers
Brünnhilde – Jennifer Wilson
Waldvogel – Marina Zyatkova

Recorded live from the Palau de les Arts "Reina Sofia", Valencia, Spain, 2008.

GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG

Siegfried – Lance Ryan
Gunther – Ralf Lukas
Alberich – Franz-Josef Kapellmann
Hagen – Mattil Salminen
Brünnhilde – Jennifer Wilson
Gutrune – Elisabete Matos
Waltraute – Catherine Wyn-Rogers
First Norn – Daniela Denschlag
Second Norn – Pilar Vázquez
Third Norn – Eugenia Bethencourt
Woglinde- Silvia Vázquez
Wellgunde – Ann-Katrin Naidu
Flosshilde – Marina Prudenskaja

Recorded live from the Palau de les Arts "Reina Sofia", Valencia, Spain, 2009.

Valencia Regional Government Choir (Cor de la Generalitat Valenciana)
Valencian Community Orchestra (Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana)
Zubin Mehta, conductor

La Fura del Baus, staging
Carlus Padrissa, stage director

Bonus:
- The Making of the Ring

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / Dolby Digital 5.1 (opera) / Dolby Digital 2.0 (bonus)
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: German, French, English, Spanish (opera) / English (bonus) Booklet notes: German, French, English
Running time: 15 hours 52 mins (opera) + 1 hour 48 mins (bonus)
No. of DVDs: 8 (DVD 9)

Recorded live from the Palau de les Arts "Reina Sofia", Valencia, Spain, 2007.