 | Wagner's Ring: Turning the Sky Round by M. Owen Lee
Buy new: $8.79 / Used from: $4.78 Short, very insightful introduction to the Ring - good overview
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 | Wagner Without Fear: Learning to Love--and Even Enjoy--Opera's Most Demanding Genius by William Berger
Buy new: $10.85 / Used from: $2.33 Amusing and thorough overview of Wagner and his operas -- good chapter on Ring and what to listen for (and eat at performances!)
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 | Wagner: The "Ring" Without Words
Buy new: $8.99 / Used from: $3.25 Selection of many orchestral pieces from the Ring stiched toegther - slightly klunky but great sound
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 | Wagner - Der Ring des Nibelungen (Ring Cycle) / Sir Georg Solti by Sir Georg Solti
Buy new: $147.99 / Used from: $105.00 One of the best recorded Rings -- from late 1950 and early 60s -- still great sound, though some say performance too driven
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 | The Ring Disc: An Interactive Guide to Wagners Ring Cycle (Solti, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra)
14 CDs of the Solti Ring on a one software CD -- out of print but worth finding -- includes simultaneous libretto and commentary
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 | An Introduction to Der Ring des Nibelungen by Deryck Cooke
Buy new: $21.99 / Used from: $8.75 2 CDs of musical analysis of Ring that is very accessible -- Helps you get into the music
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 | The Wagner Operas by Ernest Newman
Buy new: $27.32 / Used from: $7.49 Huge book by one of the great Wagner scholars -- lots of information and well written
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 | Wagner Takes the "A" Train by Valerie Capers
Buy new: $18.98 / Used from: $6.27 Unusual - includes several very appealing jazz sets built around Ring themes
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 | Wagner - Der Ring des Nibelungen / Patrice Chéreau - Pierre Boulez, Bayreuth Festival (Complete Ring Cycle)
Buy used from: $198.58 Ring production from Bayreuth is unconventional but generally engaging -- good price!
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 | Wagner: Great Scenes from the Ring
Buy used from: $8.09 2 CD set provides generous selection of Ring excerpts from Bayreuth
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 | Wagner's Ring: A Listener's Companion and Concordance by J.K. Holman
Buy used from: $19.99 Good survey of the Ring, with history, analysis, musical examples, and recording recommendations
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 | The Ring of the Nibelung by Roy Thomas
Buy used from: $37.99 OK -- Don't laugh -- A sword and sorcery comic book version of the Ring that is quite accurate
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![First Farewell Concert [VHS]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51H6BZEGGQL._SL75_.jpg) | First Farewell Concert [VHS]
Buy used from: $1.00 Laughs galore as Ms. Russel provides here famous 20-minute analysis of the Ring. all of it accurate
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 | Ring of the Nibelung by Richard Wagner
Buy new: $13.57 / Used from: $1.92 Superb translation of the Ring is great for following along a recording
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| Expecting Someone Taller by Tom Holt
Buy used from: $5.72 Very funny (short) fantasy novel brings Wagner's characters to the present
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 | Bayreuth: A History of the Wagner Festival by Mr. Frederic Spotts
Buy new: $32.50 / Used from: $4.50 Excellent and very readable history of Wagner and his operas at Bayreuth
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 | Rackham's Color Illustrations for Wagner's "Ring"
Buy new: $12.95 / Used from: $7.99 Wonderful set of illustrations of Ring from great English illustrator
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 | Decoding Wagner: An Invitation to His World of Music Drama (includes 2 CDs) by Thomas May
Buy new: $18.45 / Used from: $15.50 Good inroduction to Wagner, his place in history, and his music (chapters on each opera, including the Ring). Books comes with 2 CDs, one of orchestral Ring excerpts
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 | Wagner: Der Ring: An Orchestral Adventure
Buy used from: $37.35 Nice arrangement of Ring excerpts - more coherent than "Ring without Words" (above)
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 | Wagner: Orchestral Music
Buy used from: $35.45 One of great conductors (Wagner or otherwise) - wonderful rehearsal and performance of Siegfried Idyll (OK - not strictly from the Ring)
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 | Wagner: Die Meistersinger (Excerpts), Gotterdammerung (Excerpts) by Richard Wagner
Buy used from: $23.99 Amazing set of Gotterdammerung excerpts from concert conducted by the great Stokowski (age 85 or so!) - Immolation scene is one of the best
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 | Looney Tunes - Golden Collection, Volume Two
Buy new: $26.99 / Used from: $8.24 What's Opera. Doc? is the best Bugs Bunny cartoon ever -- perhaps the way many of us first encountered Wagner
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 | Prima Voce: Flagstad
Buy new: $10.98 / Used from: $4.77 Perhaps the greatest Wagner soprano of all time whose voice is well captured here in some older recordings - don't let the age of the recordings (1930s) scare you off - these are quite listenable
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 | Melchior: Prima Voce
Buy new: $10.98 / Used from: $5.62 Perhaps the greatest Wagner tenor (almost a baritone) of all time whose voice is well captured here in some older recordings - don't let the age of the recordings (1930s) scare you off - these are quite listenable. Will we ever have another Siegfried with a voice like this?
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| Wagner Die Walkure ( Complete )- Astrid Varnay Opera Debut - Metropolitan 1941 ; Helen Traubel , Alexander Kipnis , Lauritz Melchior , Friedrich Schorr ; Erich Leinsdorf ( 3 Cd's )
Buy used from: $69.99 Great broadcast performance from the Met had Helen Traubel making her debut as Brunnhilde and (amazingly) 23 year old Astrid Varnay singing a beautiful Sieglinde as she makes her first appearance at the Met. She came in a singing student and went out a star!
Can download as an MP3 file here
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