Quote:
Originally Posted by Red October1984
Just gonna stick this in here..... This is actually one of my favorite Classical pieces.
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Have you heard the whole opera?
And then the whole cycle as well?
I Das Rheingold:
II Die Walküre:
III Siegfried:
IV Götterdämmerung:
The above are the Bayreuth recordings with Georg Solti, my favorite Wagnerian conductor, and my second favorite recordings, right behind the 60's studio recordings.
Here are PDF liner notes, synopsis and libretto for each opera, both in original German and English:
I
http://www.chandos.net/pdf/CHAN%203054.pdf
II
http://www.chandos.net/pdf/CHAN%203038.pdf
III
http://www.chandos.net/pdf/CHAN%203045.pdf
IV
http://www.chandos.net/pdf/CHAN%203060.pdf
This is a good beginner's primer for the leitmotif and usage within the cycle.
http://www.well.com/user/woodman/sin.../themusic.html
For the more initiated, here are three excellent books; the first on the cycle itself, the second a compilation of his rather prolific writing catalogue and the third a dedicated harmonic and philosophical anaylsis of middle to late Wagner.
1.
I Saw the World End, Derek Cooke, Oxford University Press, New York, 1979
http://www.amazon.com/Saw-World-End-...+the+world+end
2.
Wagner on Music and Drama--A Compendium of Richard Wagner's Prose Works, Albert Goldman/Everet Sprinchorn, Da Capo Press, New York, 1964
http://www.amazon.com/Wagner-Music-D...usic+and+drama
3.
The Tristan Chord--Wagner and Philosophy, Bryan Magee, Holt, London, 2000
http://www.amazon.com/Tristan-Chord-...+tristan+chord
And if you like what you hear and read, you can see it live at the Met this spring:
http://ringcycle.metoperafamily.org/tickets
Happy listening!
PS Sorry for the thread hijack Frau.