Wes Crone asked about recommendations for Wagner opera, particularly the
ring cycle.

Well Wes, I expect many will be tempted to suggest Solti and the like.
But, I remember that you said you were new to opera and unsure about
whether you liked it.  Me too.

Because of this I would reccommend some of the recordings by Sir Colin
Davis, Karl Bohm and others on the Phillips Classics/Lyrica labels.  These
are classic performances that have all been highly reviewed.  But, even
more important they our around on this super budget label.  I picked a 2 cd
set of Gotterdammerung for $9.6 (UK prices!).  This is an amazing bargain
except for one thing; no sleeve notes!

 [Actually, be aware.  I purchased Don Giovanni on this label for $11.18.
Then later I saw the original Philips boxed set in another shop (with
notes) for $48, some difference]

I got round the notes problem by scanning extracts from Kobbe's book of
opera.  Then using OCR I turned it into documents and then printed out neat
little booklets that fit nicely inside the CD jewel case.  This is synopsis
only however.

Of course it's tedious and time consuming.  But it's economical.

You might have to hunt to find these sets though.

Bob Draper
[log in to unmask]