華格納：尼貝龍根指環 Rudolf Kempe / Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen

Richard Wagner's Ring had been performed in the highly reduced version by Wieland Wagner at the eight Bayreuth festivals since the re-opening of the theatre in 1951, it seemed in 1960 that the time had come for a new production, a task placed in the hands of Wieland's brother Wolfgang. Although his version – still sparing in comparison with today's staging concepts – depended on its use of lighting and special effects, he took the opportunity to bring in a complete musical overhaul: direction of the production was given to the 48-year-old conductor Rudolf Kempe. In 1951 Hans Knappertsbusch had shared the task of conducting the Ring with Herbert von Karajan; in 1956 Knappertsbusch took sole charge of Wieland Wagner's production for the remaining three years. The 1956 production of the Ring appeared on the ORFEO label, C 660513. The conductor from 1952 to 1955 was Josef Keilberth, alternating in 1953 with Clemens Krauss (ORFEO C 809113). With all due respect to Knappertsbusch, who in 1958 turned 70 years old, and retrospectively perhaps to Keilberth too, the reaction to the refreshingly new musical direction of the the Bayreuth debutant from Saxony was unanimously positive and remained so for the five years that Kempe conducted the orchestra; indeed, the impression was retrospectively reinforced (one critic many years later compiled a now famous, comprehensive and comparative discography, citing a recording of Kempe's Bayreuth Ring as the best recording ever). Originally trained as an oboist, the Dresden-born Kempe began conducting in the 1930s and after the war became director of the Dresden, and then of the Bavarian state opera companies. In the course of the 1950s he enjoyed great success as a guest conductor at London's Covent Garden (including Wagner's Ring), and in 1961, the second year he conducted the Ring in Bayreuth, he assumed direction of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. His well-rehearsed finely-tempered "neutral" Wagner style that eschewed ostentation may have surprised some observers at the time but it proved that the Ring remained a great and impressive work without resorting to excess.