Wagner's Ring - Your Own Compilation

[ramseytheii]

Recently I saw a performance of Lorin Maazel's "symphonic synthesis" of the Ring (sans Lorin Maazel).  It was nice to hear the music in concert with a first-rate orchestra, but also the inevitable disappointment set in when so much of my favorite music didn't make it into his 70-minute compression.  But even on two-disc Ring highlights discs, something is always left out!  So I made my own compilation and maybe if I have time I will put it on CD someday, and not just dream about it!  What's yours??

RHEINGOLD
Prelude
Scene 1
Scene 2 - Entrance of the Giants
Freia's Golden Apples
Scene 3 - Entrance into Nibelheim
Return to the Mountain
Scene 4 - Alberich's Curse
Erda's Warning
The Murder of Fasolt
Entrance of the Gods into Valhalla

DIE WALKUERE
Act I - Prelude
Siegmund and Sieglinde Duet
Act II - Prelude
Wotan and Bruennhilde Dialogue
Annunciation of Death
Act III - Prelude
Sieglinde's Escape
Wotan's Farewell

SIEGFRIED
Act I - Mime and the Wanderer
Forging Song
Act II - Alberich and Wotan Dialogue
Fafner Awakes
Forest Murmurs
Siegfried Can Understand Birdsong
Act III - Prelude
Wotan Holds Council with Erda
Siegfried Ascends the Mountain
Bruennhilde's Awakening
Love Duet

GOETTERDAEMMERUNG
Prologue - The Norns
Siegfried's Rhine Journey
Act I - Waltraute's Narrative
Siegfried's Betrayal
Act II - Alberich and Hagen
The Conspiracy
Act III - Siegfried's Narrative
Siegfried's Murder
Siegfried's Funeral March
The Entrance of Bruennhilde
Bruennhilde's Annihilation

Walter Ramsey

[florestan9]

2 discs are not nearly enough 

Disc 1:

Rheingold - Prelude; Immer ist undank Loges Lohn from Scene 2; Descent into Nibelheim; Heda! Hedo! through the end of the opera

Walkure - Winterstuerme through the end of Act 1; Prelude to Act 2; Prelude and Walkurenritt from Act 3, as in the Maazel, but with singers.

Disc 2:

Walkure - Act 3 Scene 3, all

Siegfried - Notung! Notung! Neidliches Schwert through the end of the first act; Prelude to Act 3 plus Wotan's converstaion with Erda

Disc 3:

Gotterdammerung - Zu neuen taten through the end of the prologue (my favorite section from the entire cycle); Prelude, Schlafst du, Hagen, mein Sohn (scene 1), and Hagen's horncall from Act 2; Prelude, death march, and immolation from scene 3, as in the Maazel.

How to weave this together, I don't know.  I thought Maazel's attempt was superb for a single disc (available on Telarc), but yes, so much is left out, and it is far from seamless.

While we're on the subject of Wagner, and as this is a piano forum, what do people think of piano transcriptions (Liszt, Gould, and others) from his operas?  I haven't found one yet that I've liked except for a transcription of the Magic Fire Music from Walkure that I think was done by Brassin (?) and performed by Hofmann, for one.  The music generally doesn't translate well to the piano, I think.

[Tash]

we had to listen to die walkure for music listening tests last year and i attempted to watch it on video without subtitles i was like what is going on. so that turned me off. however this year a bunch of us uni kids decided to impress our lecturer and watch the entire cycle on dvd last weekend. sadly though i had chickenpox and couldn't see it so now i'm sad and will have to wait til i can tell you which parts of wagner i actually like...

[thalbergmad]

we had to listen to die walkure for music listening tests last year

I see, if you stay awake, you pass.

Thal

[musik_man]

I still haen't been able to get past the first few minutes of the Second scene of Rheingold.  I'm such a wuss 

[jre58591]

While we're on the subject of Wagner, and as this is a piano forum, what do people think of piano transcriptions (Liszt, Gould, and others) from his operas?  I haven't found one yet that I've liked except for a transcription of the Magic Fire Music from Walkure that I think was done by Brassin (?) and performed by Hofmann, for one.  The music generally doesn't translate well to the piano, I think.

check out tasig's transcription of the ride of the valkyries. thats an awesome transcription. also, liszt's, moszkowski's, and wittgenstein's transcriptions of isoldens liebestod are among the most moving ive seen or heard, with liszt's being my favorite. i saw liszt's transcription performed live (by hamelin of course), and i was almost moved to tears. also, reger did some awesome transcriptions of isoldens liebestod, die meistersinger von nurnberg, tannhauser, and wotans abscheid, which are all for two pianos.

[abell88]

I like Anna Russell's version best...

[ahinton]

I like Anna Russell's version best...

There have actually been several "The Ring in (****)" (as in so many minutes; even Colin Matthews, the English composer, has done one (although i've not heard it) - his is the shortest of all, I believe. on a more serious note, Matthews was commission to orchestrate a handful of Debussy's Préludes a while ago and he ended up orchestrating all of them; they are masterly in the extreme.

Best,

Alistair