Mastodon Kupfer/Bayreuth Ring Cycle released and re-mastered on Blu-ray - The Wagnerian

Kupfer/Bayreuth Ring Cycle released and re-mastered on Blu-ray

Written By The Wagnerian on Saturday, 6 October 2012 | 6:37:00 am

Only 12 months after its remastering and re-release on DVD, Kultur once again release one of our  favourite Ring Cycles on video - but this time on Blu-ray. Officially available only in the USA and Canada - not that that ever stopped anyone outside those regions using Amazon. Press release follows.

Bayreuth Festival Production of Harry Kupfer’s "Of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen" Conducted by Daniel Barenboim Re-Mastered Blu-ray Box Set Available October 30th

New York, NY, October 04, 2012 --(PR.com)-- Bayreuth Festival Production of Harry Kupfer’s The Complete Cycle of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen

Conducted by Daniel Barenboim

Newly Re-mastered 4-disc Blu-ray Box Set available on October 30th

Kultur is pleased to announce the Blu-ray release of Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, filmed at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus. This historic Ring Cycle, under the musical direction of Daniel Barenboim, will be available on October 30.

In going back to the original high definition video master tapes and using cutting-edge HD encoding technology, Kultur was able to maximize the video quality of this new presentation of this historic Ring. This allowed Kultur to exploit the Blu-ray standard to its fullest and include three audio streams, LPCM, Dolby 5.1 and DTS 5.1.

The production of Wagner's Ring at the Bayreuth Festival is an event that takes place every six years. Bayreuth recordings of the complete cycle are rare; this is the second filmed version. The Kupfer/Barenboim Ring was performed over a five-year period and recorded at the conclusion in June & July 1991 and 1992 when the "Bayreuth Workshop" had raised "the quality of the performance to an almost unsurpassable level," (Der Tagesspiegel).


The Cast Includes:

Das Rheingold
John Tomlinson Wotan · BodoBrinkmann Donner
Kurt SchreibmayerFroh · Graham Clark Loge
Günter von KannenAlberich · Helmut Pampuch Mime
Matthias HölleFasolt · Philip Kang Fafner
Linda Finnie Fricka · Eva Johansson Freia
BirgittaSvendénErda · Hilde LeidlandWoglinde
Annette KüttenbaumWellgunde · Jane Turner Flosshilde

Die Walküre
PoulElmingSiegmund · Nadine SecundeSieglinde
Matthias HölleHunding · John Tomlinson Wotan
Anne Evans Brünnhilde · Linda Finnie Fricka/Siegrune
Eva Johansson Gerhilde · Ruth FloerenOrtlinde
Shirley Close Waltraute · HitomiKatagiriSchwertleite
Eva-Maria BundschuhHelmwige
BirgittaSvendénGrimgerde · Hebe DijkstraRoßweiße

Siegfried
Siegfried Jerusalem Siegfried
John Tomlinson Der Wanderer
Günter von KannenAlberich · Philip Kang Fafner
Graham Clark Mime · Anne Evans Brünnhilde
BirgittaSvendénErda · Hilde LeidlandWaldvogel

Götterdämmerung
Siegfried Jerusalem Siegfried
BodoBrinkmann Gunther · Philip Kang Hagen
Günter von KannenAlberich · Anne Evans Brünnhilde
Eva-Maria BundschuhGutrune
Waltraud Meier Waltraute · BirgittaSvendén 1. Norn
Linda Finnie 2. Norn · UtaPriew 3. Norn
Hilde LeidlandWoglinde
Annette KüttenbaumWellgunde
Jane Turner Flosshilde

Bonus Feature
Daniel Barenboim and John Tomlinson talk about the Harry Kupfer production of the "Ring" at Bayreuth in 1991 and 1992

Credits
Daniel Barenboim, Music Director
Chor und Orchester der BayreutherFestspiele
Staged and directed by Harry Kupfer
Stage design Hans Schavernoch
Costume design Reinhard Heinrich
Video director Horant H. Hohlfeld
Artistic supervision Wolfgang Wagner
A production of Unitel GmbH & Co., KG, Munich

Der Ring des Nibelungen
Street Date: October 30, 2011
SRP: $99.99
SKU: BD4755
Run Time: 917 minutes
UPC: 032031475571
ISBN: 978-0-7697-9238-5
Territory: U.S. and Canada--Region A, B, C