Legendary Sir Georg Solti, who has won more Grammy Awards than Frank Sinatra or Madonna during his distinguished career, passed away on Friday. In the mid-1960s, his reputation was permanently established by his rendition of Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen": the first complete performance in record history! Numerous famous soloists participated in this realization, including Kirsten Flagstad,
… James King, Birgit Nilsson, Christa Ludwig, Wolfgang Windgassen, Hans Hotter and Gottlob Frick. About the first reissue on CD, The Penguin Guide to Compact Disc states: "Wether in performance or in vividness of sound, Solti's remains the most electrifying account of the tetralogy on disc (...) this is a historic set that remains as central today as when it first appeared ". Decca has now re-released this "Ring" in a technically improved version, which will be offered in the News List this week, split into four boxes that are available separately (respectively "Das Rheingold" (dcx3114), "Die Walküre" (dcx3115) , "Siegfried" (dcx3116) and "Götterdämmerung" (dcx3117)). (HJ) _more
