Das Rheingold discography

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This is a partial discography of Das Rheingold , the first of the four operas that comprise Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), by Richard Wagner.

The length of the Ring cycle meant that in the pre-LP days (before 1948) recordings from the Ring operas were largely confined to excerpts. In 1929 Franz von Hoesslin and the Walther Staram Concert Orchestra issued recorded excerpts from Das Rheingold on five 78rpm discs. The first recording of the complete Rheingold was taken from a New York Metropolitan Opera production in 1937, with Artur Bodanzky conducting. Most of the recordings that followed it were also taken from live performances, often from the Bayreuth Festival. The first studio recording was that of Georg Solti with the Vienna Philharmonic in 1958 – part of Solti's Ring cycle recording which was not completed until 1966.

Recordings

The table below is arranged by date of recording; issue dates were often many years after the recording itself. Some of the items have been subject to multiple reissues; generally, recording label details relate to currently available CD versions.

YearCast
Alberich
Wotan
Fricka
Loge
Freia
Fasolt
Fafner
Donner
Froh
Erda
Mime
Conductor,
Opera house and orchestra
Label [1]
1937Eduard Habich
Friedrich Schorr
Karin Branzell
René Maison
Dorothee Manski
Norman Cordon
Emanuel List
Julius Huehn
Hans Clemens
Doris Doe
Karl Laufkötter
Artur Bodanzky
Metropolitan Opera orchestra and chorus
CD: Naxos Historical
Cat: 8.110047-48
Mono
1947Fred Destal
Herbert Janssen
Elsa Cavelti
Set Svanholm
Nilda Hofmann
Jorge Dantón
Emanuel List
Angelo Mattiello
Umberto di Toto
Lydia Kinderman
Roberto Maggiolo
Erich Kleiber
Teatro Colón orchestra and chorus
CD: Gebhardt
Cat: JGCD 0036
1948Jean Stern
Carl Kronenberg
Carin Carlsson
Joachim Sattler
Meta Maria Kopp
Otto von Rohr
Wolfgang Etterer
Günther Ambrosius
Kurt Wolinsky
Maria-Luise Schirp
Willy Hofmann
Winfried Zillig
Orchester des Hessischen Rundfunks
CD: Cantus Classics
Cat: 500074
1948Adolf Vogel
Ferdinand Frantz
Elisabeth Höngen
Julius Pölzer
Ilona Steingruber
Marjan Rus
Herbert Alsen
Alfred Poell
Willy Friedrich
Rosette Anday
William Wernigk
Rudolf Moralt
Vienna Symphony
CD: Myto
Cat: MCD00188
Mono
1950 Alois Pernerstorfer
Ferdinand Frantz
Elisabeth Höngen
Joachim Sattler
Walburga Wegner
Ludwig Weber
Albert Emmerich
Angelo Mattiello
Günther Treptow
Margret Weth-Falke
Emil Markwort
Wilhelm Furtwängler
Teatro alla Scala orchestra and chorus
CD: Opera d'Oro / Archipel Records
Cat: OPD1501 [2] / ARPCD0413
(complete Ring) Mono, Live
1950Rolf Heide
Ferdinand Frantz
Aga Joetsen
Joachim Sattler
Hertha Wilfert
Otto von Rohr
Helmut Fehn
Sanders Schier
Heinrich Bensing
Marie-Luise Schilp
Willy Hofmann
Kurt Schröder
Orchester des Hessischen Rundfunks
CD: Preiser Records
Cat: 90450
1952 Gustav Neidlinger
Hermann Uhde
Ira Malaniuk
Erich Witte
Inge Borkh
Ludwig Weber
Josef Greindl
Werner Faulhaber
Wolfgang Windgassen
Melanija Bugarinović
Paul Kuën
Joseph Keilberth
Bayreuth Festival Orchestra and chorus
Recording at Bayreuth Festival
CD: EMI
Cat: CZS 7 67124 2
Mono, Live
1952 Gustav Neidlinger
Ferdinand Frantz
Res Fischer
Wolfgang Windgassen
Lore Hoffmann
Gottlob Frick
Josef Greindl
Josef Metternich
Rudolf Schock
Res Fischer
Paul Kuën
Wilhelm Schüchter
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra
CD: Gebhardt
Cat: JGCD 0054-2
1953 Gustav Neidlinger
Ferdinand Frantz
Ira Malaniuk
Wolfgang Windgassen
Elisabeth Grümmer
Josef Greindl
Gottlob Frick
Alfred Poell
Lorenz Fehenberger
Ruth Siewert
Julius Patzak
Wilhelm Furtwängler
Orchestra Sonfonica e Coro della RAI
CD: Angel,
Cat: CDZM 67213
(complete Ring) Mono
1953 Gustav Neidlinger
Hans Hotter
Ira Malaniuk
Erich Witte
Bruni Falcon
Ludwig Weber
Josef Greindl
Hermann Uhde
Gerhard Stolze
Erika Zimmermann
Paul Kuën
Clemens Krauss
Bayreuth Festival Orchestra and chorus
Recording at Bayreuth Festival
CD: Gala, Cat: 100.519
Mono, Live
1955 Gustav Neidlinger
Hans Hotter
Georgine von Milinkovič
Rudolf Lustig
Hertha Wilfert
Ludwig Weber
Josef Greindl
Toni Blankenheim
Josef Traxel
Maria von Ilosvay
Paul Kuën
Joseph Keilberth
Bayreuth Festival Orchestra and chorus
Recording at Bayreuth Festival
CD: Testament
Cat: SBT21390
Stereo, Live
1957 Gustav Neidlinger
Hans Hotter
Georgine von Milinkovič
Ludwig Suthaus
Elisabeth Grümmer
Arnold van Mill
Josef Greindl
Toni Blankenheim
Josef Traxel
Maria von Ilosvay
Paul Kuën
Hans Knappertsbusch
Bayreuth Festival Orchestra and chorus
Recording at Bayreuth Festival
CD: Walhall
Cat: WLCD 0216
Mono, Live
1957 Otakar Kraus
Hans Hotter
Georgine von Milinkovič
Erich Witte
Elisabeth Lindermeier
Kurt Böhme
Friedrich Dalberg
Robert Allman
Maria von Ilosvay
Peter Klein
Rudolf Kempe
Royal Opera House orchestra and chorus
CD: Testament
Cat: SBT131426
(complete Ring) Mono, Live
1957Lawrence Davidson
Hermann Uhde
Blanche Thebom
Ramón Vinay
Mariquita Moll
Kurt Böhme
Dezső Ernster
Arthur Budney
James McCracken
Jean Madeira
Norman Kelley
Fritz Stiedry
Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera
CD: Walhall
Cat: WLCD 232
1958 Gustav Neidlinger
George London
Kirsten Flagstad
Set Svanholm
Claire Watson
Walter Kreppel
Kurt Böhme
Eberhard Wächter
Waldemar Kmentt
Jean Madeira
Paul Kuën
Georg Solti
Vienna Philharmonic
CD: Decca
Cat: 4780382
Stereo
1958 Frans Andersson
Hans Hotter
Rita Gorr
Fritz Uhl
Elisabeth Grümmer
Theo Adam
Josef Greindl
Eric Saedén
Sándor Kónya
Maria von Ilosvay
Gerhard Stolze
Hans Knappertsbusch
Bayreuth Festival Orchestra and chorus
Recording at Bayreuth Festival
CD: Walhall
Cat: WLCD 0246
Mono, Live
1959
Otakar Kraus
Hans Hotter
Ursula Boese
Richard Holm
Una Hale
Kurt Böhme
Michael Langdon
David Kelley
Edgar Evans
Marga Höffgen
Peter Klein
Franz Konwitschny
Royal Opera House orchestra and chorus
CD: Walhall
Cat: WLCD0334
Live 18 Sept 1959
1962 Zoltán Kelemen
George London
Elisabeth Schärtel
Herbert Schachtschneider
Ingeborg Kjellgren
Gerd Nienstedt
Heiner Horn
Karl Sablotzke
Hermann Winkler
Helen Raab
Erwin Wohlfahrt
Wolfgang Sawallisch
Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne
CD: Living Stage
Cat: LS 1004
Mono, Live
1963 Otakar Kraus
Otto Wiener
Grace Hoffman
Gerhard Stolze
Jutta Mayfarth
Walter Kreppel
Peter Roth-Ehrang
Marcel Cordes
Horst Wilhelm
Marga Höffgen
Eric Klaus
Rudolf Kempe
Bayreuth Festival Orchestra and chorus
Recording at Bayreuth Festival
Published by houseofopera.com
Mono, Live
1966 Gustav Neidlinger
Theo Adam
Annelies Burmeister
Wolfgang Windgassen
Anja Silja
Martti Talvela
Kurt Böhme
Gerd Nienstedt
Hermin Esser
Věra Soukupová
Erwin Wohlfahrt
Karl Böhm
Bayreuth Festival Orchestra and chorus
Recording at Bayreuth Festival
CD: Philips
Cat: 412 475-2
Stereo, Live
1967 Zoltán Kelemen
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Josephine Veasey
Gerhard Stolze
Simone Mangelsdorff
Martti Talvela
Karl Ridderbusch
Robert Kerns
Donald Grobe
Oralia Domínguez
Erwin Wohlfahrt
Herbert von Karajan
Berlin Philharmonic
CD: Deutsche Grammophon
Cat: 457 781-2
Stereo
1968 Theo Adam
Zoltán Kelemen
Janis Martin
Herbert Schachtschneider
Leonore Kirschstein
Gerd Nienstedt
Karl Ridderbusch
Thomas Tipton
Hermann Winkler
Oralia Domínguez
Erwin Wohlfahrt
Wolfgang Sawallisch
RAI Roma
CD: Myto
Cat: MCD 054 316
1974 Franz Mazura
Donald McIntyre
Anna Reynolds
Hermin Esser
Hannelore Bode
Karl Ridderbusch
Kurt Moll
Gerd Nienstedt
Heribert Steinbach
Marga Höffgen
Heinz Zednik
Horst Stein
Bayreuth Festival Orchestra and chorus
Recording at Bayreuth Festival
CD: Opera Depot
Cat: OD 10185-2
1974 Derek Hammond-Stroud
Norman Bailey
Katherine Pring
Emile Belcourt
Lois McDonall
Robert Lloyd
Clifford Grant
Norman Welsby
Robert Ferguson
Anne Collins
Gregory Dempsey
Reginald Goodall
English National Opera
Recorded in English
CD: Chandos
Cat: CHAN 3054
1980 Hermann Becht
Donald McIntyre
Hanna Schwarz
Heinz Zednik
Carmen Reppel
Matti Salminen
Fritz Hübner
Martin Egel
Siegfried Jerusalem
Ortrun Wenkel
Helmut Pampuch
Pierre Boulez
Bayreuth Festival Orchestra and chorus
Recording at Bayreuth Festival
CD: Philips
Cat: 434 422-2
Stereo
1983 Siegmund Nimsgern
Theo Adam
Yvonne Minton
Peter Schreier
Marita Napier
Roland Bracht
Matti Salminen
Karl-Heinz Stryczek
Eberhard Büchner
Ortrun Wenkel
Christian Vogel
Marek Janowski
Staatskapelle Dresden orchestra and chorus
CD: RCA
Cat: B00011MJV6 (RCA reissue)
(complete Ring) Stereo
1988 Ekkehard Wlaschiha
James Morris
Christa Ludwig
Siegfried Jerusalem
MarieAnne Häggander
Kurt Moll
Jan-Hendrik Rootering
Siegfried Lorenz
Mark Baker
Birgitta Svendén
Heinz Zednik
James Levine
Metropolitan Opera orchestra and chorus
CD: Deutsche Grammophon
Cat: 445 295-2
Stereo
1989 Theo Adam
James Morris
Marjana Lipovšek
Heinz Zednik
Eva Johansson
Hans Tschammer
Kurt Rydl
Andreas Schmidt
Peter Seiffert
Jadwiga Rappé
Peter Haage
Bernard Haitink
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Bayerischen Rundfunks chorus
CD: EMI
Cat: CDS 7 49853 2
Stereo
1991 Ekkehard Wlaschiha
Robert Hale
Marjana Lipovšek
Robert Tear
Nancy Gustafson
Jan-Hendrik Rootering
Kurt Moll
Florian Cerny
Josef Hopferwieser
Hanna Schwarz
Helmut Pampuch
Wolfgang Sawallisch
Bavarian State Opera orchestra and chorus
Recording at National Theater, Munich, November
CD: EMI
Cat: 724357273121
(complete Ring) Stereo, Live
1991Günter von Kannen
John Tomlinson
Linda Finnie
Graham Clark
Eva Johansson
Matthias Hölle
Philip Kang
Bodo Brinkmann
Kurt Schreibmayer
Birgitta Svendén
Helmut Pampuch
Daniel Barenboim
Bayreuth Festival Orchestra and chorus
CD: Teldec
Cat: 4509 91185 2
Stereo, Live
1993Franz-Josef Kapellmann
Robert Hale
Hanna Schwarz
Kim Begley
Nancy Gustafson
Jan-Hendrik Rootering
Walter Fink
Eike Wilm Schulte
Thomas Sunnegårdh
Elena Zaremba
Peter Schreier
Christoph von Dohnányi
Cleveland Orchestra
CD: Decca
Cat: 443 690-2
Stereo
2002Esa Ruuttunen
Wolfgang Probst
Michaela Schuster
Robert Künzli
Helga Rós Indridadóttir
Roland Bracht
Phillip Ens
Motti Kastón
Bernhard Schneider
Mette Ejsing
Eberhard Francesco Lorenz
Lothar Zagrosek
Staatsoper Stuttgart orchestra and chorus
Recordings at Württembergische Staatsoper
CD: Naxos Records
Cat: 8.660170-71
Stereo, Live
2003
/2004
Günter von Kannen
Falk Struckmann
Lioba Braun
Graham Clark
Elisabete Matos
Kwangchul Youn
Matthias Hölle
Wolfgang Rauch
Jeff Dowd
Andrea Bönig
Francisco Vas
Bertrand de Billy
Orquestra Simfònica del Gran Teatre del Liceu
Recordings at the Liceu, Barcelona
DVD: Opus Arte
ASIN: B000IFRPY6
Surround Sound, Live
2004 John Wegner
John Bröcheler
Elizabeth Campbell
Christopher Doig
Kate Ladner
Andrew Collis
David Hibbard
Timothy DuFore
Andrew Brunsdon
Liane Keegan
Richard Greager
Asher Fisch
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
CD: Melba Recordings
Cat: 301089-90
2007Franz-Josef Kapellmann
Juha Uusitalo
Anna Larsson
John Daszak
Sabina von Walter
Matti Salminen
Stephen Milling
Ilya Bannik
Germán Villar
Christa Mayer
Gerhard Siegel
Zubin Mehta
Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciano
DVD and Blu-ray: C Major
Cat: 700508
Surround Sound, Live
2008 Wolfgang Koch
Falk Struckmann
Katja Pieweck
Peter Galliard
Hellen Kwon
Tigran Martirossian
Alexander Tsymbalyuk
Jan Buchwald
Ladislav Elgr
Deborah Humble
Jürger Sacher
Simone Young
Philharmoniker Hamburg
CD: Oehms Classics
CAT: OC 929
Stereo, Live
2009 Andrew Shore
Albert Dohmen
Michelle Breedt
Arnold Bezuyen
Edith Haller
Kwangchul Youn
Hans-Peter König
Ralf Lukas
Clemens Bieber
Christa Mayer
Gerhard Siegel
Christian Thielemann
Bayreuth Festival Orchestra and chorus
Recording at Bayreuth Festival
CD: Opus Arte
Cat: OACD9000BD
Stereo (SACD), Live
2010Jochen Schmeckenbecher
Terje Stensvold
Martina Dike
Kurt Streit
Barbara Zechmeister
Alfred Reiter
Magnus Baldvinsson
Dietrich Volle
Richard Cox
Meredith Arwady
Hans-Jürgen Lazar
Sebastian Weigle
Frankfurt Opera orchestra
CD: Oehms
Cat: OC 935
Stereo Live
2011 Tomasz Konieczny
Albert Dohmen
Janina Baechle
Adrian Eröd
Alexandra Reinprecht
Lars Woldt
Ain Anger
Markus Eiche
Herbert Lippert
Anna Larsson
Wolfgang Schmidt
Christian Thielemann
Vienna State Opera orchestra and chorus
CD: Deutsche Grammophon
Stereo, Live
2012Nikolai Putilin
René Pape
Ekaterina Gubanova
Stephan Rügamer
Viktoria Yastrebova
Jewgeni Nikotin
Mikail Petrenko
Alexei Markov
Sergei Semishkur
Zlata Bulycheva
Andrei Popov
Valery Gergiev
Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra
CD: Mariinsky
Cat: MAR 0526
Stereo
2013Jochen Schmeckenbecher
Tomasz Konieczny
Iris Vermillion
Christian Elsner
Ricarda Merbeth
Günther Groissböck
Timo Riihonen
Antonio Yang
Kor-Jan Dusseljee
Maria Radner
Andreas Conrad
Marek Janowski
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
Berlin Radio Choir
Live recording at Berlin Philharmonie, 22 November 2012
SACD: Pentatone
Cat: PTC 5186406
Stereo (SACD), Live
2013Richard Paul Fink
Greer Grimsley
Stephanie Blythe
Mark Schowalter
Wendy Bryn Harmer
Andrea Silvestrelli
Daniel Sumegi
Markus Brück
Ric Furman
Lucille Beer
Dennis Peterson
Asher Fisch
Seattle Symphony orchestra and chorus
CD: Avie Records
Cat: AVR 2313
Stereo, Live
2015Peter Sidhom
Matthias Goerne
Michelle DeYoung
Kim Begley
Anna Samuil
Kwangchul Youn
Stephen Milling
Oleksandr Pushniak
Charles Reid
Deborah Humble
David Cangelosi
Jaap van Zweden
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
CD: Naxos
Cat: 866037475
Stereo, Live
2015 Tomasz Konieczny
Michael Volle
Elisabeth Kulman
Burkhard Ulrich
Annette Dasch
Peter Rose
Eric Halfvarson
Christian van Horn
Benjamin Bruns
Janina Baechle
Herwig Pecoraro
Simon Rattle
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
CD: BR Klassics
Cat: 900133
Stereo, Live
2016 Samuel Youn
Iain Paterson
Susan Bickley
Will Hartmann
Emma Bell
Reinhard Hagen
Clive Bayley
David Stout
David Butt Philip
Susanne Resmark
Nicky Spence
Mark Elder
The Hallé
CD: Hallé
Cat: CDHLD 7549
Stereo, Live
2020Jochen Schmeckenbecher
James Rutherford
Katarzyna Kuncio
Raymond Very
Sylvia Hamvasi
Thorsten Grümbel
Łukasz Konieczny
David Jerusalem
Bernhard Berchtold
Ramona Zaharia
Florian Simson
Axel Kober
Duisburg Philharmonic
CD: cAvi

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renatus Mészár</span> German operatic bass

Renatus Mészár is a German operatic bass who has performed leading roles such as Wotan in Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen at major opera houses and festivals. Now a member of the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, he appeared in the world premiere of Avner Dorman's Wahnfried and the first recording of Bruno Maderna's Requiem.

<i>Der Ring des Nibelungen</i> (Georg Solti recording) 1959 Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra album

Between 1958 and 1965 the Decca record company made the first complete recording to be released of Richard Wagner's tetralogy, Der Ring des Nibelungen. Of the four component operas, there had been two previous studio recordings of Die Walküre, and a monaural radio recording of Götterdämmerung, which was released on record in 1956, but Decca's was the first Ring cycle planned and recorded for the gramophone.

References

  1. Recordings of Das Rheingold on operadis-opera-discography.org.uk
  2. "Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (complete cycle)". Allegro Music. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2010.