Many classical listeners are quite familiar with the most popular orchestral excerpts from Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, such as the Ride of the Valkyries, the Magic Fire Music, Siegfried's Rhine Journey, and Siegfried's Death and Funeral March. However, some have difficulty delving into the music dramas in their own right, largely because the singing is an impediment. For those who have difficulty with the German texts, or are annoyed by the Wagnerian style of declamation, or are simply intimidated by the enormous length and complexity of the work, there are condensed versions of the Ring without words, and Lorin Maazel's arrangement is one of the more successful attempts to relate the story in the form of a concert suite. Maazel recorded his version with the Berlin Philharmonic, which was released in 1988 on Telarc, but Hansjörg Albrecht and the Staatskapelle Weimar have delivered their own performance for the Oehms Classics label, and this 2017 release offers a fresh take on the earlier recording. The sound is high-quality digital, with the Weimar orchestra as full and deep as on many audiophile recordings of Wagner, so the recording could only be improved with a multichannel version. Perhaps of greatest interest to newcomers is the inclusion of all the standard concert pieces, as well as generous portions of music that convey important aspects of the drama, though without any vocal parts. Maazel's recording is still available, but Albrecht's interpretation gives it a salutory renewal, so The Ring Without Words continues to make Wagner's masterpiece accessible to listeners who haven't taken the plunge.
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