Der Ring Des Nibelungen [Blu-ray]

Ewig
Complete video sets of DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN have proliferated in the DVD era, but it was not terribly long ago that there were only three choices: the Bayreuth centenary staging by Patrice Chéreau, conducted by Pierre Boulez (taped for broadcast 1979-80, now on DG DVD); the Met's, directed by Otto Schenk and conducted by James Levine (1989-90, also DG), and this later Bayreuth directed by Harry Kupfer, the orchestra led by Daniel Barenboim (1991-92). All had/have their constituents, and together they still provide a strong backbone for the RING videography. The Met's is the most conservative and literal in taking Wagner's mythic saga more or less at face value, and goes for the most extravagant realism. The Chéreau is more provocative and idiosyncratic, treating the work as sociopolitical allegory; the Kupfer is equally provocative in its way, but more of a parable about eternal recurrence, an allusive meditation on ruin and rebirth. Of the three, I could most easily...

Kudos Again, Kultur!
The 1992 Bayreuth Ring, conducted by Barenboim, was the first Ring cycle recorded in true multi-channel audio and widescreen, high-resolution video. It also happened to be a wonderful performance, within a very interesting production. I first came to know it on Teldec laserdisc, then on Warner DVD and most recently on the vastly improved Kultur DVD re-release. At that time I promised that I would happily buy it again a fourth time, if Kultur released it on blu-ray. So I was elated to read today that Kultur is doing exactly that! And at a very reasonable price point, as well, half the price of the forthcoming Met cycle. Soon we will have four complete Ring cycles on blu-ray--one outstandingly bad (Weimar), two outstandingly good (Valencia and Bayreuth), and the fourth (Met) yet to be seen.
I have kept my promise and pre-ordered the blu-ray from Bayreuth. I am sure, since it is based upon the same remastering as the most recent DVD release, that the blu-ray will be excellent. I...

Kudos to Kultur (for DVD and for BLU-RAY)
(Review of 11-Disc DVD, October 2011)
Kudos to Kultur. I hesitated to purchase this item, because of Kultur's uneven record in audio quality. I am happy to report satisfaction in both video and audio quality. The picture quality is the principal beneficiary of the higher bitrate allowed by spreading out to eleven discs. Now it looks even more like the hi-resolution recording that it is. The darkish stage production is less murky, and the black tones are more true. Why put your eyes out unnecessarily while staring at a fuzzy picture for 15.4 hours?
I was worried that the sound might suffer in favor of the video, but the voices (in DTS 5.1) now seem more straightforward, having less of an echo or halo around them on than the previous DVD release. Perhaps the first release was victim to some unnecessary sound enhancement. This Ring was the first one to be recorded in true multi-channel sound, and has held its own in the face of some superlative recent competition...

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