Herbert von Karajan & Berliner Philharmoniker Wagner Das Rheingold (Original Source Series) Box Set (3 LP)

100% Pure Analogue 180g Virgin Vinyl 3LP Box Set!
Hand-Numbered, Limited Edition!
DG's The Original Source Series!
For his monumental Ring cycle, Karajan assembled a world-class cast of singers who possessed an instrumental tone and were able to deliver a vivid and clear declamation of the text. His Berliner Philharmoniker were more than capable of rising to the occasion. Karajan's Ring cycle stands apart from others with its more otherworldly approach, focused on beauty, lyricism, and structure.
This extraordinary recording project will now be released in the Original Source Series for the highest audiophile sound; for the first time, OSS will use the original stereo master — a two-track tape — as its source.
The audiophile vinyl series The Original Source presents outstanding recordings in a whole new sound quality. For this, the renowned Emil Berliner Studios have remastered and cut the original multitrack tapes in 100% analog quality (AAA) using technologies developed specifically to produce the series. The sonic differences to the original releases are considerable: greater clarity, more subtleties and improvements in frequency response, while at the same time less background noise, distortion and compression allow for an audiophile listening experience like never before.
Issued on 180g vinyl and presented in a deluxe 3LP box set edition featuring the original covers and lyrics, this limited and numbered release includes additional photos and facsimiles of the original recording logs and tape boxes.

Audio: "Without a doubt, this recording can be considered one of Karajan’s most powerful musical statements.​"
Hermes Opera Encyclopedia: "With his orchestra—for which the tetralogy was completely uncharted territory—Herbert von Karajan crafted what is arguably the most refined, most exquisite, and, in terms of nuance, the finest realization of the score.​​" rondomagazin.de: “When it comes to complete recordings of Wagner’s ‘Ring,’ the debate among audiophile Wagnerians has been the same for decades: Karajan or Solti! Anyone who has stayed out of this discographic dispute until now will now find themselves drawn right into it.​ For after being struck by a bolt of lightning back in 2022—when the British label Decca released Solti’s ‘Ring’ chapter by chapter on vinyl with absolutely superb sound quality—Deutsche Grammophon has now dusted off and remastered Karajan’s 1968 recording of ‘Rheingold’ from 1968 for its commendable “Original Source” series—restoring and equalizing it to such a degree that this recording has never before been experienced on a sound carrier in this way.​ Compared to the brilliant Solti version, everything now seems even more immediate, gripping, and rich in texture.​ While people have always raved about the live character of this studio recording, that impression is now confirmed many times over.​ The ensemble of singers, with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as Wotan, is hard to beat.​ The “Rhine Daughters,” featuring Helen Donath and Edda Moser, among others, are also an absolute stroke of luck with their siren-like melodiousness.​ And with his Berlin Philharmonic, Karajan brought this complex yet richly colorful score into a balance where the vocals, orchestra, and dramatic structure enrich one another.​ Even a tech geek like Karajan could hardly have imagined just how much could be extracted from those black grooves.​"

Features:

• Hand-Numbered, Limited Edition - 2,500 Copies
• The Original Source Series
• 100% Pure Analogue
• 180g Virgin Vinyl
• 3LP Box Set
• Mastered by Rainer Maillard & Cut by Sidney C. Meyer Directly from the Original ¼ inch 2-Track Tapes at Emil Berliner Studios
• Original Cover & Lyrics
• Photos & Facsimiles of the Original Recording Logs & Tape Boxes
• Box with Lift-Off Lid
• Made in the EU

Musicians:

• Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Wotan
• Robert Kerns, Donner
• Donald Grobe, Froh
• Gerhard Stolze, Loge
• Zoltán Kelemen, Alberich
• Erwin Wohlfahrt, Mime
• Martti Talvela, Fasolt
• Karl Ridderbusch, Fafner
• Josephine Veasey, Fricka
• Simone Mangelsdorff, Freia
• Oralia Domínguez, Erda
• Helen Donath, Woglinde
• Edda Moser, Wellgunde
• Anna Reynolds, Flosshilde
• Berliner Philharmoniker
• Herbert von Karajan, conductor

Selections:

Richard Wagner (1813–1883)
Side A
1. Prelude
Scene 1
2. Weia! Waga! Woge du Welle!
3. He he! Ihr Nicker!
4. Garstig glatter glitschriger Glimmer!
5. Lugt, Schwestern! Die Weckerin lacht in den Grund
6. Nur wer der Minne Macht entsagt
7. Der Welt Erbe gewänn' ich zu eigen durch dich?
8. Haltet den Räuber!
Scene 2
9. Introduction
10. Wotan! Gemahl! Erwache!
Side B
Scene 2
1. So schirme sie jetzt
2. Sanft schloß Schlaf dein Aug'
3. Was sagst du? Ha, sinnst du Verrat?
4. Du da, folge uns!
5. Endlich, Loge!
Side C
Scene 2
1. Immer ist Undank Loges Lohn!
2. Ein Runenzauber zwingt das Gold zum Reif
3. Hör', Wotan, der Harrenden Wort!
4. Schwester! Brüder! Rettet! Helft!
5. Wotan, Gemahl, unsel'ger Mann!
6. Transformation Scene
Side D
Scene 3
1. Hehe! hieher! Tückischer Zwerg! – Schau, du Schelm!
2. Nibelheim hier
3. Nehmt euch in acht!
4. Die in linder Lüfte Wehn da oben ihr lebt
5. Ohe! Ohe! Schreckliche Schlange
6. Dort die Kröte! Greife sie rasch!
Scene 4
7. Da, Vetter, sitze du fest!
8. Wohlan, die Nibelungen rief ich mir nah
Side E
Scene 4
1. Gezahlt hab' ich; nun lasst mich zieh'n!
2. Ist er gelöst?
3. Lauschtest du seinem Liebesgruß?
4. Lieblichste Schwester, süsseste Lust!
5. Gepflanzt sind die Pfähle nach Pfandes Maß
6. Weiche, Wotan, weiche!
7. Soll ich sorgen und fürchten
Side F
Scene 4
1. Halt, du Gieriger! Gönne mir auch was!
2. Nun blinzle nach Freias Blick
3. He da! He do! Zu mir, du Gedüft!
4. Bruder, hieher! Weise der Brücke den Weg! – Zur Burg führt die Brücke
5. Abendlich strahlt der Sonne Auge
6. So grüss' ich die Burg
7. Rheingold! Rheingold! Reines Gold!