Lossless is available in FLAC and ALAC (For Mac). You select on the download page.
When you purchase a lossless format, we include the MP3 free of charge
Please note: On Mp3 format an unavoidable click may be heard on segue track breaks, to avoid this issue please select lossless
This item is temporarily unavailable.
Why not buy the whole Album?
Your selections total more than the whole disc price.
Notes
The highly anticipated first release from the most finely crafted Ring cycle of modern times, Die Walküre features a sensational cast of Anja Kampe, Jonas Kaufmann, René Pape, Nina Stemme, Mikhail Petrenko and Ekaterina Gubanova.
Der Ring des Nibelungen was the pinnacle of Richard Wagner’s long and turbulent career and without question one of the greatest achievements in opera. Wagner wanted to create the perfect synthesis of music and drama and assumed total creative control of the project which was to take him 26 years to complete, with frequent interruptions. He introduced numerous innovations, not least the sheer scale of the project – typically a complete performance will last in excess of 15 hours, spread over four evenings. No other opera matches the scale or ambition of the Ring.
The Mariinsky Theatre has close connections with Wagner and his music. The composer conducted at the theatre and was even offered the post of Music Director. It is also believed to be the first place where any of the music from the Ring was performed. Since Valery Gergiev became Music Director of the Mariinsky, Wagner’s music has once again become a core part of the theatre’s repertoire, both in St Petersburg and on tour. The Mariinsky label’s recording of Wagner’s final opera Parsifal starring René Pape, Gary Lehmann and Violeta Urmana, was released in 2010 to international acclaim.
Please login to post a review
Reviews
Sound: 4.5/5 SACD Sound: 4.5/5
Emmanuel Dupuy - 10 Years of Diapason D’or (France) – December 2017
"... This is a Walküre for connoisseurs : a vitally engaged conductor leading singers with voices that are ideal for their parts and who understand their characters from extensive onstage experience but aren’t burdened with costumes, make-up or weird directorial conceits. This is going to be one hell of a Ring."
Andrew Quint - Fanfare - July/August 2013
"... His [Gergiev] cast is exemplary. Jonas Kaufmann and Anja Kampe are the Wälsung twins, drawing you inexorably into the drama from the word go. Vocally Kaufmann is unmatched on record, a herocially dark tenor with ringing top notes. Kampe gives him a run for his money with full, rich tone and beautiful text work. Nina Stemme is a fine Brünnhilde, projecting the character’s emotional journey better than any of her current contemporaries René Pape is equally fine as Wotan, warmly resonant and powerfully inside the drama" ****½
Clive Paget - Limelightmagazine.com.au - 30 May 2013
**** - Good
Remy Franck - Pizzicato magazine - May 2013
"Gergiev’s conducting is rich in detail taut with drama and yet managing to remain spacious The cast is deluxe, caught at the height of its combined vocal prowess" ****
Francis Muzzu - Opera Now magazine - May 2013
Music ***½ (Good/Very Good) Sound **** (Very Good)
Bjørn Woll - Fono Forum magazine - May 2013
Opera Choice
Performance ***** Recording *****
"... Most exciting of all is Nina Stemme’s Brünnhilde, larger-voiced and steelier than one might expect, yet feminin, spirited and vulnerable The Mariinsky Orchestra plays in vital form So far this recalls, and must rank with, the great Ringsof the 1960’s. More, please."
Michael Scott Rohan - BBC Music magazine - May 2013
"A sterling reading of superior value Gergiev seems to have a natural affinity for Wagner’s music these readings from three separate concert performances spanning almost a year from 2011-12 are superior in all respects, a model of how surround Wagner should sound. Productions values remain high Not to be missed." *****
Steven Ritter - AudiophileAudition.com - 15 March 2013
"This is a most auspicious start to the Mariinsky Ring cycle on disc - and one that all Wagnerians will wish to investigate ..."
SA-CD.net
"In the first act at least, with Jonas Kaufmann as an incomparable Siegmund, Anja Kamp a profoundly moving Sieglinde and Gergiev pacing the performance to an overwhelming climax, the result is spellbinding. In fact, few performances on disc can match it for sheer excitement, or for Kaufmann’s blend of easy power, immaculate diction and lyric beauty Gergiev obtains transcendently beautiful playing from the Mariinsky Orchestra ..."
Andrew Clements - The Guardian - 01 February 2013
Recording of the MonthMusicWeb-International.com
***** - Exceptional
Also Nicastro - Musica magazine - March 2013
"... This Mariinsky Die Walküre is the first release of the company’s Ring cycle. The recording is based on concert performances that Valery Gergiev conducted. Any misgivings I may have had regarding Gergiev as a Wagner conductor were blown away by his superb 2009 recording of Parsifal and then by a concert performance of it at the Barbican Hall in April 2012 The warmth and generosity of Stemme’s singing make her a particularly sympathetic Brünnhilde (and will do more so, probably, in the last two music-dramas) and she is thrilling in the Act Three plea-bargaining with Wotan. With a full-throttle ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ and some sumptuous orchestral playing, this is a Die Walküre to be reckoned with."
Peter Reed - ClassicalSource.com - 18 February 2013
Media Downloads
Whenever possible we provide a high resolution CD cover image and a PDF version of the CD booklet for you to download and keep
My Wish List
