Gotterdammerung Finale

[madcity79]

Thank you. A number of years ago, I set out to collect the Solti Ring. What you have posted is precious.

[nihil1]

From 4:00 and on, Wagner had entered in "Harmony Super-Saiyajin mode". 

[angryjalapeno]

@nihil1, I think Wagner entered Super-Saiyajin mode at the very beginning of the clip. As does Nilsson.

[ingjpoy]

Wagner es genial ,y con Solti se vuelve algo sobrehumano ........

[fjgonzaf]

Versión definitiva. No se puede hacer mejor.Referencia absoluta. Música de una belleza fuera de este mundo.

[zinpgh]

FULL POWER!!!!

[angryjalapeno]

AWESOME. I love how she had to step back on her strongest notes for the sake of the recording equipment. Also Solti is dancing a gigue.

[zinpgh]

@angryjalapeno haha

[angryjalapeno]

AWESOME. I love how she had to step back on her strongest notes for the sake of the recording equipment.

[crazylords]

Best music ever

[Norbert161165]

GREAT !!!

[fabiusII]

The best final opera of all operas! Wagner the most important operist of all times. Wonderful, powerful and delicate at the same time. Look to the final, Rebirth leit-motiv, one second of silence after the end of the world of the False and liar Gods!

Birgit Nilsson, Solti and Orchestra simply fantastic at very high level! What a performance!

[jonnyk5614]

At 3:47 on my recording, there is a massive explosion as the world blows up. Evidently youtube excludes the frequency as too deep lol!

[nymusicfan]

@jonnyk5614 The sound effect might have been added later in post-production.

[ianmck76]

@jonnyk5614 There's no Hagen either.

[LordMgls]

@jonnyk5614 the funeral march featured in the recordings is not the same that is displayed in these films eiher. in my opinion, the video version is much more thrilling than the one of the CDs...

[MsPandaRosa]

6:58, there, there is but one image-- our brave warriors at Iwo Jima, raising the flag after so much...

[MsPandaRosa]

WHEW!

[doeraybaby]

Solti is soooo funny and passionate ahahhaha awwwwwwww

[barbacoa666]

Wow! My laptop burst into flames and collapsed whi;e viewing this clip!

[MsGnorts]

Solti goes literally crazy! l0l

[Redeem38]

This is an amazing piece of music and recording by Solti. There was an article in the Evening Standard a year or so ago that said that the Solti Ring is the best sold recording in classical music ever and I am not surprised

[pietrovaldes]

Beautiful singing of Brigit Nilsson and excelent proformance by George Solti

[pietrovaldes]

Beautiful singing of Brigit Nilsson

[kamion53]

bad sound quality, sounds like a village brassband practising in the local pub with too many beer.

[65attila]

A 24 carat gold performance/

[angio1902]

Immenso, emozione indimenticabile

[metacarple]

I have seen the complete Ring eight times in opera houses and have four recordings including this one but no other comes close to the beauty, excitement , power and emotion of this recording. Sir Georg, Madame Nilsson, VPO and the Decca recording team in the Sofiensaal have never been and probably never will be bettered. I want this played at the crematorium as I disappear into the flames!

[loboestepario2424]

@metacarple

[SqueekyMonkey101]

Gah! Shut up stupid narrator!

[56LEBON]

Ma dopo come si fa ad ascoltare altra musica.Solti unico!!

[Gyorgyligeti1986]

Richard Wagner.

[georgerannie]

This IS Wagner. 

[claudiooss]

me molesta un poco los movimientos de Solti en la direccion de la orquesta, se supone que un director tiene que pasar lo mas desapercibido posible, pero es la version mas potente y magistral que he encontrado sobre brünnhilde immolation. estoy destrozado de emocion. gracias por el video.

[mrlucasfranc]

brillante, espectacular, supremo!!!!!



[mrlucasfranc]

brillante, espectacular, supremo!!!!!

[AfroPoli]

Solti fails to shape this music properly - as usual. But Nilsson is truly monumental, in spite of the poor diction. She is stunning. Brava!

[musicamaxima]

@AfroPoli What are you talking about? No one brings Wagner alive like Solti. His tempo and rubato are always spot on for the greatest dramatic impact. And you name me one Brünnhilde with better diction who can be heard over the Vienna phil.

[ykrgfk]

@AfroPoli 'Solti fails to shape this music properly - as usual' - I'd be interested to hear exactly what you mean by this - if anything.

[DWareFTW]

7:10 pause!!!

[gerardbedecarter]

Wonderful!

[spinto12]

Birgit Nilsson's voice: what a level 5 hurricane would sound like if it had vocal cords.

[EzraWilliamsPresents]

Good god! Amazing.

[stickwagger]

I have been browsing about on this site for an hour and came up with this. I will take a day or two before I will be able to think of anything else. Nilsson is peerless. The orchestra outstanding. Solti, in retrospect was very great in this music. Thank you so much for posting this.

[tomalcam]

Grandioso. Maravilloso Wagner, el más grande. Se siente uno cerca de Dios escuchando la belleza de esta música que trasciende al tiempo y al espacio. Belleza reflejo de la magnífica Verdad, que es Cristo resucitado.El alma se extasía y se llena del gozo del Amor de Dios en su creación y que se manifiesta y expresa en estos sonidos celestiales.

[danielherlitz]

I am so happy you uploaded this so we could see is. It just amazing to watch her sing. It seems so easy for her, almost as if laid-back, like child play, and yet it is so fantastic I am in tears after listening to this and watching. Awesome. Thank you so much for uploading.

[orovalleydude]

Thanks for posting!! Astounding singer!! Nobody alive can sing like this!

[captsub]

Absolutely stupendous. I've got the Solti RING, on vinyl and also CD. Thanks for this great video of the recording session. Nilsson is beyond compare.

[raticida123456]

this is amazing

[AztecWagnerFan]

this is from bbc doumentary dvd "the golden ring" i have it ; )

[darbeel1]

hectic

[parmaque]

@Operanut, there are indeed google and wiki references to this VPO honorary membership, but nothing concrete. I have a journalism degree whose studies included media law; Wikipedia is not a viable source as any of us can enter anything anytime. There is no announcement from any news source or the VPO. I believe this "honorary membership" is unfortunately an urban myth. The men of the Vienna Philharmonic do not consider women part of the human race, remember.

[DMS412]

Nobody did Wagner like Solti. Between his Vienna and Chicago performances, nothing compares.

[oktobercat]

Wunderbar..!!!!!!!!!.....55/5

[WWahnfried]

B.Nilsson in Höchstform, wie alle anderen auch. Großartiges Finale !!!Gänsepelle pur !!

[isabelle070209]

hallucinant, en costume de ville elle est plus crédible, plus dans le rôle que bien des chanteuses actuelles sur scène....

[parmaque]

@Operanut, I am glad you love Nilsson as much as I. But I doubt seriously that an orchestra, with no positions at all for singers, could make a soprano an honorary member. What's the source of this new and interesting info? Basses, tenors, altos, and sopranos, are not members of orchestras.

[Operanut9]

@parmaque

Yes indeed, you can just google it, but I have articles about her being so honored in1999. It was inded a unique event. She was probably the most honored singer in many, many decades, and the only one, if I remember correctly to be given the honorary membership to the VPO!

[parmaque]

Apparently it had escaped the narrator (in lauding his beloved "men who love music") that the star of the show was -- gasp -- female! It would be mighty hard to do the ring without female sopranos, oh nearly-all-male Vienna Phil. Even though they have a female concertmaster, Albena Danailova, she is denied membership in the orchestra. I wonder how this recording would have sold with a boy soprano playing Brunnhilde?

[Operanut9]

@parmaque

Interesting comment on the times. Incidentally, Nilsson, this most decorated of sopranos, broke through the glass ceiling of the VPO and was given honorary membership, the only female to have ever been so honored.

[kris18M]

why this idiot has to talk with his silly voice exactly when the main theme of the ring appears...........ahhhh

[alvianosalvago]

Meraviglioso,ma non credo che sia la versione definitiva che conosciamo tutti nella versione discografica,innanzitutto manca l'intervento finale di Gottlob Frick(Hagen)!Malinconico rivedere la vecchia e cara Sofiensaal che ha fatto una così triste e brutta fine!

[venetianformula]

She seems to almost run out of breath at the very end but manages to hold on to that last note...The pathos is so thick, you can cut it with a knife. No creo que sea necesario involucrar a Dios en todo esto. Personalmente estoy de acuerdo con Miguel de Unamuno quien dijo que Dios no creó al hombre. Fue más bien el hombre quien creó a Dios.

[Diogenes323BC]

@venetianformula Desde el respeto a los creyentes de cualesquiera de las relegiones existentes enn el mundo, ninguna de las cuales comparto, me permití publicar una nota a modo de licencia poética por lo que supone que los arquetipos de la Fe recogen, en la cultura occidental al menos, valores espirituales intrínsecos que explican las emociones que percibimos con la Música. Hablemos de élla y dejemos de lado cuestiones metafísicas menos importantes. saludos.

[Diogenes323BC]

Si, como es previsible, Wagner, Solti y Nillson se encuentran en el Cielo, un agnóstico visceral como yo se planteará comportarse como un buen cristiano; por contra, si padecen las inclemencias del Infierno, habrá que pecar compulsivamnte para compatir el Hades con ellos y,en ese caso, el Averno será más gratificante que situarse a la diestra del Padre.

[ssballs]

The Sistine Chapel,Rembrandt wrapped up on video.What a bombastic treasure!.

[venetianformula]

This has surely got to be the most beautiful, stirring, and powerful of all operatic finales ever! Simply astounding!

God how I wish I could have seen her perform this opera. Unbelievable.

[Operanut9]

Venetian,

and to watch her toss this off with a jacket , or sweater, lightly draped over her shoulders is astonishing. It's as if she is performing this gargantuan task with the same lightness with which she so casullay wears that garment. Never saw her do this but her Tosca, Isolda, Elektra and Walkuere Bruenhilde each held claim to title of the greatest experience I ever had in an opera house. No other singer had all the gifts to access and make manifest the SUBLIME that she had.

[Vaterlandforever]

Senza parole... Without words... Sin palabras...

The power of Gotterdammerung !!

[Diogenes323BC]

@Vaterlandforever

Efectivamente, los Ängeles no hablan, sólo trasmiten su esencia a los mortales y nos hacen partícipes de la Gloria.

[waltermontani]

da brividi, sempre!!!

[franco96544]

please.. nobody dare to ask me be NORMAL after listening this !!!!

[Operanut9]

@franco96544

LOL! Another one unhinged by Wagenr and Nilsson magic!! Welcome to the club. You'll never be the same.

[siegfriedstark]

It's impressive!!! Dame Nilsson's body is suddenly taken by the Brünnhilde daemon... and we see the character all flesh and impetus... it's kind of EPIC... for want of a better word!!! It was not Nillson singing, but Brünnhilde herself!!!!!!

[huntbot]

7:10 to the end is the best ending of anything, ever, forever, period.

[alienproxy]

@huntbot The end of all good endings.

[WR12MSH]

@huntbot That's debatable. It's certainly not the best part of any musical piece. That has to go to Verdi's "Grand March."

[crazylords]

@WR12MSH ...no, all of Verdi's work pales in comparison to the Ring Cycle.

[TWqme]

All these years later and this is still the best ring recording of the ring! I get chills every time I listen....

[venetianformula]

@TWqme I couldn't agree more. Chilling is the right word as far as I'm concerned. Honest to God--I have listened to this recording hundreds of times and just can't get enough. It leaves me speechless.

[venetianformula]

I also wonder what Wagner himself would have thought of this recording and of Nilsson in particular. I think we already know the answer to that.

[venetianformula]

Men who love Wagner, men who love music, men who are not afraid to harness machines while they smoke their lungs out and end up dead 20 years before it's time, wow, baby, those are real MEN! Know what I mean?

[00193900]

And how old were they when they died and of what?

[septip123]

6:36 - that's an interesting way to hold a trumpet

[PegLegPinto]

@septip123

it's not a trumpet. my sound recording professor said that it's called a tube (pronounced tube-eh) and that Wagner had it created specifically for this opera. However, the upon searching the internet the only instrument that fits that description is a Wagner Tuba which appears to be slightly different.

[Quotenwagnerianer]

@PegLegPinto But it's exactly what it is: a wagner tuba. Specifically built and designed for the "Ring".

[awakeminds]

It is a Rotary Valve Trumpet.

[shabbypants54]

@awakeminds

[shabbypants54]

@awakeminds: it's a Wagner Tuba and closely related to the Horn.

[septip123]

"...men who are not afraid to harness machines..."

priceless narrative!

[Operanut9]

NIlsson's singing is nothing short of miraculous. If only Wagner could have heard this!!!

[Jtking3000]

um at the start...WTF he looks like a headless chicken!

[jonnyk5614]

Tell you what (orgasmic recording aside!), you wouldn't want to meet her in a dark alley. She is one frightening lady!

[venetianformula]

She is so into this role. I love how she uses her arms toward the end of the recording, as if she were acting the role on stage.  Very powerful!

[venetianformula]

I have listened to this recording hundreds of times, and it still gives me goosebumps. Unbelievable.

[Operanut9]

I agree. I've been listening to it since it was the sixties. I couldn't believe it then and still have heard nothing to compare.

[uc0079]

very good

[DivaDeb1234]

Why did the guy move her stand while she took a few steps forward and then he returned it. ?

Can someone explain?

[Operanut9]

Diva,

Nilsson had to take 3 steps back from the mike when she was singing forte. If you will notice, she is finishing a phrase at less than full voice when she steps forward. At least, that's what appears to be happening. She lamented in her memoirs that she always hoped for better technology so the full power of her voice would be recorded for posterity, but it never happened. She never was totally satisfied with this recording, in particular , feeling her voice was poorly recorded.

[DivaDeb1234]

Operanut9

Thanks for the information. That is really interesting !

[Operanut9]

You're most welcome. Matter of fact, John Culshaw said Nilsson was never temperamental to work with in recording for Decca London, but she called him in a furious state about her recorded voice in Goetterdaemmerung, and she threatened not to go on wtih the fnal installment of the "Ring." He was able to convince her to do otherwise and that the recorded quality was not so bad as she had thought.

[birgitnilsson]

Nilsson had always regretted that recording and held it as a bad one. Later on, many years later, it was remastered and sent to her. There she acknowledged it was much better and declared her satisfaction.

[Operanut9]

But still regreted the fact that the techmolgy in general never was able to capture her voice. It was always "three steps back,"

[birgitnilsson]

She was a true legend during her lifetime and yet so down to earth!

[birgitnilsson]

I am quite aware of that, Operanut. She herself told me so. And I hearhe her onstage several times.

[TheWisemonkey8]

Volcanic

[clarksc1988]

Perhaps a random thought, but I came across this while working on Brahm's VIer Ernste Gesange. For all the "bad blood" between he and Wagner, you can tell they were cut from the same Romantic rock. Those songs of Brahms begin most pessimistic yet are "redeemed" through hope in love much as we see here in Wagner's RIng. Both stirringly beautiful.

Of course, it only took Brahm's 16 minutes to get there, while it took Wagner 16 hours!

[varisae]

"Though lovers be lost love shall not;

And death shall have no dominion."

Dylan Thomas

[Patmacaud]

Bravo! Genial!

[waltermontani]

che  brividi!!!!!!!!!

[CanisLupusSolitarius]

ma non troppo

[TheLeonardoSaez]

Superbe, Astonisching, Divine.

[CLazarou]

WOW!

Thanks for distributiong such an awesome piece!

[parzifal40]

The gold standard of all rings both now and forever. With Solti, Nilsson, and the world's best, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, sheer perfection was reached. No other recording will ever equal this one....

[Matt54e]

That's a real overstatement, the conducting is controversial to say the least

[1960fjp]

cunt

[Matt54e]

are you crazy?

[pandiaz]

Maravillosas sensaciones, vibraciones. El corazón se dispara ante tanto arte.

[MsGnorts]

@parzifal40 I've never seen before this a real time recording of classical music. Amazing!

[tineke9988]

Wow. Who knew that Solit was a hottie?

[adlr6548]

Indeed the High Priest (Solti) and High Priestess (Nilsson) of Wagner's masterpiece.

[galziale]

Georg Solti thanks for all this ..

[CluainSharoise]

Wow, and I've never seen Stoli conduct except for in his later years.

[sagalat]

Breathtaking, Huge, Monumental. I gotta calm down, take a drink and some valium now

[Varese52]

Actually, she leaps on HER horse, Grane, that had been hers when she was a practicing Valkyrie. Fire is a major symbol throughout the ring, after all the ring was forged in fire, the gods and their realm burn up in the end and the earth is redeemed, etc. Incidentally, the theme you referred to as the "love theme" is actually the theme of redemption, one of Wagner's recurring ideas. It occurs for the first time in Die Walküre, when Sieglinde finds out she is pregnant with Siegfried.

[noj8484]

Can anyone tell me why the violins are standing at the end? Is this a recording technicality like how Nilsson steps away from the microphone on the high notes?

I'm so glad this was recorded in video. This is absolutely incredible.

[tineke9988]

That's interesting, glad you pointed it out. It probably is a recording issue, like how the cymbals are off in an alcove.

[comprehensiveboy]

So let me get this straight - the action is that she leaps into the funeral pyre, on his horse, to be with Sigfried in the next life - matching the way he went through the fire to free her from her prison on the rock....? Is that right ? Could anything BE be more dramatic, spiritual and moving?. And it ends with the love theme? If humans can be like this I'm glad to be human.

[Varese52]

The woman was a force of nature. Just incandescent singing from first to last. This recording was one of the great musical achievements of the 20th century, hands down. Watching Solti in all his glory, it is easy to understand why some orchestra members referred to him, jokingly, as "the screaming skull"!

[waltermontani]

storica edizione!!!!

[MarshalGZhukov]

Holy. Fuck.  I jizz when I listen to this.

[sonjagloriana]

FunkMan53 could it be James King?

[FunkMan53]

My father sang a leading role on Solti's grammy winning ring recording in 1967 with Birgit Nilsson.

Bet you can't guess his name. Hint: Siegmund,

I'd be greatful if anyone finds clips from those sessions!

[franciscotrombon]

good sound brass

[PEPEDEBARRO]

Simply overwhelming

[hansoncab]

mindblowing fantastic

[sirenadellopera]

mygodmygodmygod....!

[vigwig]

Now that is what "awesome" really means

[CYNICdiogenes]

Wow! Thanks you so much for posting this. It is wonderful to see the internet put to such good use. I had no knowledge that this video existed, so seeing it tonight is a most unexpected surprise.

I have long been told that that the Solti Ring is the greatest accomplishment in recording history. But I never felt that I could unreservedly agree with that sentiment. Now, however, I understand. Solti's Ring proved that mankind could perfectly record any music!

[aiklarung]

the internet is the most powerful creation ever made by men, imho.

to think that something so classical and nice is avaliable to anyone on the world...

and look, i'm 18 and never liked opera, but that's because old people don't share culture as they should

[cantante189]

So glad you appreciate this!!!

[Waldvogel91]

Fly home ravens and recount to your master what you have heard on the Rhine.

Solti's fun to watch!

[sexbrain]

My Swedish Darling, I know you are dead, but I love you anyway. Please be my wife! You are #1.

[sagalat]

My sentiments exactly. (The line forms to the RIGHT, man.....)

[Lavalampoflava]

Wagner created such awesome worlds

[4lebenbaum]

Nilsson -- a powerful and beautiful force of nature! We'll never hear the likes of her anytime soon! She is the definitive Wagnerian soprano.

[Charlieray15]

Absolutely! Brünnhilde was a goodess after all, super-human. Nilsson, with that "stainless steel" voice - unbelievable! I think you are right, unfortunately. I don't think we'll see her likes again.

[Rattywotin]

Nilsson is the definative Brunhillde, and the Solti recording to my mind is the definative recording. Wagner was many things, a biggot an anti semite a mysogynist, but he was also a musical genius who composed the greatest musical drama ever written!!

[skyboyq]

Even her hair was a perfect Valkyrie!

[esembesem]

what?

[becurious1977]

This song was the last the berliner philharmonic orchestra played in 1945 before Berlin fell. While the guest where leaving Hitler jugend boy offered them cyanide capsules. Great music by the way

[Anibaal]

¿Pueden apreciar el rostro de la Nilsson cuando termina la última nota?

[loveyoutodeathbut]

I smelled smoke.

[niebelunger2007]

Emocionante!.

[Matthewcoakley08]

NO ONE!!! NOT ANYONE can sing this like she did. No one. She was the best. All we have now are spinto sopranos straining and screeching to hit the high notes above the orchestra. But Nilsson, could pierce any orchestra.

[shivastotravali]

Pierce any orchestra? That woman could blow the roof off an opera house! I heard her live once, in Siegfried in Munich, and I had never before --- and have never since -- heard anyone sing that loud. I swear she shook the crystals on the chandelier hanging from the ceiling . She was a phenomenon, didn't realize how unique she was at the time or appreciate her enough.

[mickiandalusia]

I am always( again and again ) impressed, they were both perfectionists and it is difficult to top it...

I like Solti´s interpretation very much, after Furtwängler and Knappertsbusch he was the only conductor(for my opinion) who transmitted the genuine rendition of Wagner and Richard Strauss.

[esembesem]

Da kocht´s richtig. Trotz Soltis direkter Gewalt und Größe in der Musik, und dem "lauten" verliert er nie den guten Geschmack.

^^Aber er fuchtelt wie blöd im vlg zu thielemann....

danke fürs video

[SPTN58]

Ausgezeichnet!

[HoD3]

yes,one line from hagen is surely very expensive.

[HoD3]

il manque une réplique dans le final "zuruck vom ring"?

[cbraslow]

They must have overdubbed since it would have been costly to bring Hagen to the session just for one line.

[Matt54e]

I don't think it's on the CD either....maybe Solti "re-interpreted" that bit too...

[birgitnilsson]

This lady was a phenomenon beeyond human understanding. Now she is a Legend...

[cbraslow]

Indeed. I heard her twice - there is no way to describe how her voice pierced you physically like a silver laser beam.

[birgitnilsson]

cbraslsow,that is exactly what I felt...........

[loboestepario24]

You're so lucky!

[cbraslow]

I heard her at the Met in "Die Walkyrie" in 1973 and as the Dyer's Wife in "Die Frau Ohne Schatten," her final Met appearances. The ovation was endless - truly a once in a century voice.

[Operanut9]

The irony is that of all the legendary grand ladies of opera, she above all others, truly approached the superhuman, but paradoxically her life was a study in gentility, class and true humility. She was unimpressed by prima donnas and never claimed to be one. But accomplishments such a s this truly do transcend human understanding and even artistry.