HK Phil’s compressed Ring cycle recording with Tarmo Peltokoski is Wagner made accessible
The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra’s recording of Wagner: The Ring – An Orchestral Adventure is a symphonic narrative of just over an hour
The length and heaviness of Wagner operas have long been the stuff of legend and the butt of jokes. Who can forget Gioachino Rossini’s supposed one-liner describing Richard Wagner as having “lovely moments but awful quarter hours”?
My favourite take on this topic was a recent cartoon in current affairs magazine Private Eye featuring a man at the launderette, staring forlornly at four washing machines in full swing, with the caption: “I knew I shouldn’t have selected Ring cycle!”
De Vlieger’s Adventure begins with “Vorspiel”, a prelude to “Das Rheingold”, effectively an undulating E-flat major chord of five minutes. Das Rheingold is the first of the four operas, and this mesmerising opening depicts the beginning of the world.
