There are, to be entirely frank, three choices for someone getting into Wagner who wants a complete
Ring:
Janowski: Probably the best sung and best conducted of the modern
Rings. The Staatskapelle Dresden has an orchestral clarity reminiscent of Von Karajan, but the singers and Janowski keep the drama there. The cast was as good as a 1979-1981
Ring could want. The one error was casting Altmeyer; she lacked the heft for a good Brünnhilde; she is sweet and endearing, but not the ideal Brünnhilde. I have grown to appreciate her interpretation, but it took some time. The early digital sound is a little brittle, but no worse than any of the Golden Age sets.
Levine: His plodding
Rheingold aside, and that isn't a problem if you like rich orchestral textures, this cycle is a good second choice. However, he is marred by weak singers. Reiner Goldberg had no business singing Siegfried, and Hildegard Behrens is many things, but an ideal Brünnhilde she is not. He does have Jerusalem singing Loge in
Rheingold, which is a change from the Zednik/Clark school. If you can get past his tempi, Levine creates a very appealing soundscape.
Barenboim: Now that his cycle is out on a budget Warner Classics set (which doesn't cost that much more than what I paid for the Teldec
Die Walküre), he probably makes the best compromise. He is solidly in the old German school of conducting, which is a nice plus. He isn't as driven as Solti, as slow as Levine, or as neurotic as Böhm; however, his casting suffers from Wolfgang Wagner's absurd body-casting tendencies. The DVD is of Harry Kupfer's production, which is interesting, but
NOT what a neophyte should start with as far as filmed sets go.
Now, to the fun stuff:
Herbert von Karajan's
Ring suffers from uneven casting, an over-emphasized orchestral role, but has its moments. His
Rheingold is really quite excellent.
Solti is very nice nice, but he is too bombastic and driven at times. It is, overall, probably the best
Ring done yet for most people. Had Furtwängler lived, I doubt that Solti would have gotten the chance or the cast. It's a classic set, and worth a listen; however, what Solti has in drama, style, and flair, others have in sensitivity and overall concept.
Böhm's Bayreuth set is excellent, but a touch neurotic. His concept is a restless hurtle toward the Immolation Scene, which may or may not be your taste. Golden Age singers, the Bayreuth band was in good form, and Böhm was a great Wagner conductor, despite his Mozartean credentials.
Wilhelm Furtwängler's 1950 La Scala
Ring, out on various labels, with various degrees of absolutely execrable sound, is probably the best conducted and best conceived Ring ever. It is a shame that the sound isn't very good, because he captures Flagstad shortly after her peak. The La Scala band isn't up to Berlin or Vienna standards, or even Bayreuth, but is still inspired under Furtwängler. He managed to create an overall concept of the
Ring that has yet to be bettered. Every serious Wagnerian has to reckon with these recordings sooner or later.
I suppose that one must simply listen around and decide what he or she likes. I don't think that there is a definitive recording of the cycle, but I do think that Furtwängler came closest to a perfect concept; however, starting with Furtwängler - especially La Scala, or even RAI-Roma - is a mistake. Any of the first three would serve you well.
P.S. A_Sr., be careful what you wish for...
