REVIEWS:Weigle’s pacing is superb; the first half of scene 4 is especially riveting.The conductor has a fine cast to work with. Although he only began...

REVIEWS:

Weigle’s pacing is superb; the first half of scene 4 is especially riveting.

The conductor has a fine cast to work with. Although he only began to register on the international opera scene when in his late-50s, Terje Stensvold has sung Wotan in several theaters away from his home base in Norway, including the Vienna State Opera, the Swedish Royal Opera, and Deutsche Oper Berlin. Stensvold is a real baritone who never has to bellow at the top of his range, but he still has an instrument with plenty of godlike substantiality. Also excellent is the American tenor Kurt Streit as Loge. Streit has impressive Mozart credentials (he’s recorded Così fan tutte with both Barenboim and Rattle) and brings an appealing lyrical sense to his part. Alberich’s curse, as rendered by Jochen Schmeckenbecher, is quite intense, and Hans-Jürgen Lazar offers an especially colorful portrayal of Mime, continually changing the timbre of his voice to add to that character’s high-strung, quasi-demented nature. Meredith Arwady, the Erda, delivers a sad yet stern warning to Wotan in her brief but dramatically charged appearance.

Sonics are a valued and carefully considered factor with this set...A sophisticated editing process results in a lucid, balanced, and, yes, natural presentation. Those who especially relish the orchestral contribution to a Wagner opera will not be disappointed by the wealth of detail and rich sonorities.

Oehms provides a libretto in German and English, and there’s an excellent essay on the Ring’s genesis, sources, and its 19th-century political context.

-- Fanfare