Das Rheingold 2022

""No one has surpassed Solti's DECO ring in momentum, pretension, grandeur, dramatic immediacy and joking adrenaline" Stereophiles

Although he took up the baton mainly for practical reasons and originally hoped to focus on composing, Wilhelm Furtwängler is remembered as one of the 20th century's most important, most argued-about conductors. The quasi-Brucknerian music he wrote is now of merely passing interest; Furtwängler was a truly personal, original artist only on the podium. He approached performing as a way of re-composing someone else's work, reconstituting it with a strong infusion of the performer's own ideas and personality. At their worst, Furtwängler's performances could sound mannered, full of sudden, seemingly unmotivated tempo shifts.

""No one has surpassed Solti's DECO ring in momentum, pretension, grandeur, dramatic immediacy and joking adrenaline"

Commemorating the 25th anniversary of Sir Georg Solti’s death (5 September), Decca Classics is proud to release a new high-definition transfer of the original master tapes of his most celebrated recording: the first stereo studio production of Wagner’s complete Ring Cycle, twice voted “The greatest recording of all time”. Recorded in Vienna between 1958 and 1965, and masterminded by Decca’s pioneering producer John Culshaw, this recording has always been regarded as the perfect marriage of art and technology and boasted a cast including Birgit Nilsson, Hans Hotter and Kirsten Flagstad. These new transfers of the 38 original stereo master tapes have been made at 24 bit/192kHz resolution, allowing greater detail and dynamic range than ever before.

It is finally here! The mythical 1953 Roman sessions of the Ring cycle conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler and performed by the cream of the crop of Wagnerian singers is now available as a complete product. After the controversial version staged at the Bayreuth Festival which ended a few days ago, it’s back to the classics with this unique account, demonstrating Furtwängler’s deep understanding of the drama.

Commemorating the 25th anniversary of Sir Georg Solti's passing 'The Greatest Recording of All Time' now sounding better than ever before.

"No one has bettered Solti’s Decca Ring in terms of sweep, scope, grandeur, dramatic immediacy, and sheer adrenalin."
- Stereophile
The first stereo recording of Richard Wagner's complete Ring cycle made in the studio has since acquired a cult following and voted the "best recording of all time" twice. As second instalment of the legendary Solti Ring, the Walküre is released in a new 24bit/192kHz stereo transfer. As described by the Gramophon Magazine: "It can be said in good conscience that the Solti Ring has never sounded better." Based on the edition on a new HD transfer of the original master tapes.
A dream cast made out of leading Wagner singers of their day: Birgit Nilsson, James King, Régine Crespin, Gottlob Frick, Hans Hotter, Christa Ludwig and Brigitte Fassbaender.

Previous Brilliant Classics albums by this Dutch string orchestra, based in The Hague, have focused on late-Romantic ‘American Pioneers’ (96086) and composers in early 20th-century Paris (95734). Under their founder-director Dick van Gasteren, they now turn to the rich history of Rhineland music from the high-point of its immortalisation in operatic culture as the bedrock of Wagner’s Ring cycle.

Classical Music from Sci-Fi Films is a compilation album. Contains music from 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, V for Vendetta, Face/Off, and more.

Previous Brilliant Classics albums by this Dutch string orchestra, based in The Hague, have focused on late-Romantic American Pioneers and composers in early 20th-century Paris. Under their founder-director Dick van Gasteren, they now turn to the rich history of Rhineland music from the high-point of its immortalisation in operatic culture as the bedrock of Wagner’s Ring cycle.