I picked up a used copy at a local Silver Platter for just $8.99.
Unlike most of Ring highlight recordings available, it is based on an arrangement by a Dutch percussionist Henk de Vlieger who plays in the orchestra. I've heard just about every such arrangement (there aren't that many) but this one strikes me as the most seamless and in many ways the most musical and enjoyable version. There are 14 selections from the entire Ring cycle but there are no pauses in between the tracks. Some of the well known chunks, e.g., Sigfried's Forest Murmurs, are missing. Instead, he puts other less known parts to make the transitions as natural and seamless as possible. He scantly adds his own orchestrations here and there but I can hardly notice. Thus, as a piece it sounds and feels like a big symphonic poem with many subsections all interwoven and interrelated with an organic unity. de Waart's sensitive and well controlled reading seems wholly sympathetic with Vlieger's arrangement emphasizing balance and smooth execution. The excellent playing and the lush sound are all I could wish for.
I realize this item is sold on internet for a much higher value, so I consider myself very lucky this time
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John,
Topic: de Waart/NRPO/RCA/Wagner Ring - An Orchestral Adventure (OOT) (Read 7112 times)