# janowski ring



## david johnson (Jun 25, 2007)

i recently purchased wagner's ring cycle w/janowski/dresden. it's a little lighter than what i'm used to. i like it quite a bit. anyone else have experience with this recording?

dj


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

Hi again, DJ (and everybody): I first became familiar with Janowski's interpretations via the _Tannhauser_ music in the sound-track to the film Meeting Venus. I came away with a favorable impression.
Subsequently, I've listened to excerpts from the Janowski Ring included as a part of Thomas May's book _Decoding Wagner_. I found that the quality of the recording was less variable than the quality of the book. Janowski's interpretation might be a revelation to those who (mistakenly) view Wagner as a mass of blare and bombast. However (I hasten to add), if you care about Wagner enough to purchase The Ring complete, you're probably already aware of Wagner's capacities for subtlety. For my part, I feel like Marek dials it back a little _too_ far.

I hope that my words won't dissuade anyone predisposed to making the Janowski purchase from doing so. Not many would say that it's the best Ring on the market, but one could make a strong case that it's unbeatable on a dollar-for-dollar basis. Glad you're liking the work, DJ!


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## david johnson (Jun 25, 2007)

solti/vpo makes the entrance into valhalla a bit more to my bombastic taste! but overall, i still like janowski.

dj


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

That's it? Has no one else at TC experienced the Janowski Ring? Or did this thread just slip through the cracks.

I have seen some good reviews online. Going to give it a try. Already have it in a Wagner box set.


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## david johnson (Jun 25, 2007)

SixFootScowl said:


> That's it? Has no one else at TC experienced the Janowski Ring? Or did this thread just slip through the cracks.
> 
> I have seen some good reviews online. Going to give it a try. Already have it in a Wagner box set.


You are wise . Enjoy.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Aren't there two recordings of Wagner's *Der Ring des Nibelungen* conducted by Janiwski? I once had the one with the Stastskapelle Dresden with a lot of young singers (at the time) and found it plausible. I'm still loyal to the pioneering Solti with its peerless cast, though I like individual singers on the other classic studio sets. Of the live sets, I'll stick with the 1960s Bayreuth Böhm.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

The second Janowski Ring is not great. Inferior singing and not a patch on his previous outing. I wonder why they bothered. It’s not like we haven’t got plenty of really good cycles to listen to.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

MAS said:


> Aren't there two recordings of Wagner's *Der Ring des Nibelungen* conducted by Janiwski? I once had the one with the Stastskapelle Dresden with a lot of young singers (at the time) and found it plausible. I'm still loyal to the pioneering Solti with its peerless cast, though I like individual singers on the other classic studio sets. Of the live sets, I'll stick with the 1960s Bayreuth Böhm.


I am talking about the 1983 recording.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Barbebleu said:


> The second Janowski Ring is not great. Inferior singing and not a patch on his previous outing. I wonder why they bothered. It's not like we haven't got plenty of really good cycles to listen to.


I agree. I think that the impetus for the second Janowski RING was sonic - the desire to have SACD recordings of all of the Wagner operas, with the best representatives of modern casting. Since these were live performance recordings, the expense involved was less than a true studio recording. Unfortunately, as Barbebleu points out, much of the singing really isn't very good (and that applies most to the RING operas, less to the others, I think), and some of it is downright dreadful.

As for Janowski's first RING, it has a lot of excellent points - sensible tempi, transparent textures, great orchestra, and some mostly adequate singing, if hardly anyone rises to the level found on some of the more famous cycle. I think that of the four operas, Siegfried actually comes off best - this is probably Kollo's best recording, and the rest of the cast is solid.

My biggest complaint about the first Janowski RING has nothing to do with the performance, but involves how poorly BMG has treated this cycle. Janowski's tempi are on the brisk side, which would actually allow this cycle to be issued in a way that preserves musical continuity - and yet every time they issue this cycle, every act of Siegfried and Gotterdammerung, and the last two acts of Walkure is broken up. That may not matter to those you who stream, but it's really aggravating for someone who, like me, prefers to play physical product through a decent audio system.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

^^^^^The same for the Sawallisch live EMI Ring.
They could easily put complete acts on their own discs, but stupidly split them.
I would have bought it if it was done with us listeners in mind.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Well, I gave the Janowski Ring a spin and then thought to give it a second go but quit halfway through Walkure and turned my attention to the Barenboim Ring. The Barenboim Ring seems much better, more alive.


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## Granate (Jun 25, 2016)

^^

Even if I think the singing and playing in the Janowski Dresden Ring is much better (and the box is cheaper), your statement is the reason why I've never purchased it. Could it really be a keeper with such an uneven musicality?


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

I had no idea Janowski has two Ring cycles in the game! Is this true?

Anyway, I have the 1980s Dresden and while I'm not familiar with it (always finding another Ring to listen to), what I've heard to date is most enjoyable. Very well recorded and I can't hear anything wrong with the singing, but I am no opera connoisseur.

I like Janowski's tempos and find that when a degree of gradation is required, he obliges.

Based on my, albeit not extensive, listens, I would strongly recommend it to anyone, especially a newbie.

I picked up a pristine, but second hand copy for thirteen and a half quid, so perhaps I don't have to be so fussy in my appraisal.

If anyone is still reading this post, Siegfried is the most compelling, so far ........


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

HenryPenfold said:


> I had no idea Janowski has two Ring cycles in the game! Is this true?
> 
> Anyway, I have the 1980s Dresden and while I'm not familiar with it (always finding another Ring to listen to), what I've heard to date is most enjoyable. Very well recorded and I can't hear anything wrong with the singing, but I am no opera connoisseur.
> 
> ...


This is the good Janowski Ring. The second one is inadequate vocally.


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

Barbebleu said:


> This is the good Janowski Ring. The second one is inadequate vocally.


I looked on Amazon etc for the other 'bad' Ring and couldn't find it - only curious, that's all .... Any details?


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

HenryPenfold said:


> I looked on Amazon etc for the other 'bad' Ring and couldn't find it - only curious, that's all .... Any details?


https://www.pentatonemusic.com/wagner-der-ring-des-nibelungen-janowski-rsb

Only available digitally from Pentatone.

Beware of B list singers!:lol:


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

Barbebleu said:


> https://www.pentatonemusic.com/wagner-der-ring-des-nibelungen-janowski-rsb
> 
> Only available digitally from Pentatone.
> 
> Beware of B list singers!:lol:


Thanks.

I don't think I'll be taking it further, anyway.


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## Andrew Kenneth (Feb 17, 2018)

HenryPenfold said:


> I looked on Amazon etc for the other 'bad' Ring and couldn't find it - only curious, that's all .... Any details?


They're still available seperately.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Andrew Kenneth said:


> They're still available seperately.


You are absolutely correct. I didn't look for them individually. Still eminently avoidable though!:lol:


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## Andrew Kenneth (Feb 17, 2018)

Barbebleu said:


> You are absolutely correct. I didn't look for them individually. Still eminently avoidable though!:lol:


The Böhm Ring is better; but I prefer Janowski's Wotan (Tomasz Konieczny) to Solti's Hans Wobble. :tiphat:


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

SixFootScowl said:


> Well, I gave the Janowski Ring a spin and then thought to give it a second go but quit halfway through Walkure and turned my attention to the Barenboim Ring. The Barenboim Ring seems much better, more alive.


I don't know what I was thinking at the time I wrote that because I gave it another spin this week and am in the middle of Gotterdammerung now. This earlier Janowski Ring is quite good. I will certainly be coming back to it.

I think the early (good) Janowsi Ring is studio where the new one is live. But for a studio ring, there is a lot of life in it! Probably the only studio Ring I need since I took to the live DVD sound track of Levine over his studio effort.

EDIT: Gotterdammerung is ending now. I can't bear for it to be over, so I am going to spin the Janowski Ring again. That will take me through the rest of the week.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Love this cover art:









But for my MP3 player I went with these so each opera has a unique cover;


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## JTS (Sep 26, 2021)

If anyone manages to get hold of original issues of the first cycle beware - they are not tracked. I got hold of some secondhand and found they were untracked. So you had to run them through by hand if you wanted to get to where you wanted. This I found to be a considerable disadvantage. The new issues in a complete box (a lot cheaper) are. So go for the reissues as they are cheap enough


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

SixFootScowl said:


> Love this cover art:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Not sure how long my copy from JPC will take to get here but I can't wait to spin it when the package arrives.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I got my copy yesterday. I was a little bored listening to Das Rheingold. A feeling I didn't have listening to Solti, and Barenboim. Janowski may be a little too safe and smooth. I'll try some of the other operas in this set to see if I can get more engaged.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

starthrower said:


> I got my copy yesterday. I was a little bored listening to Das Rheingold. A feeling I didn't have listening to Solti, and Barenboim. Janowski may be a little too safe and smooth. I'll try some of the other operas in this set to see if I can get more engaged.


I too was underwhelmed by Janowski's first Ring (I haven't heard the second one). I found it a very placid affair and the singers didn't make much of an impression on me either. (I prefer the singers on the Barenboim which is much more imaginatively conducted and that's without mentioning, of course, the greats in the 50s Bayreuth Rings.)

N.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

wkasimer said:


> As for Janowski's first RING, it has a lot of excellent points - sensible tempi, transparent textures, great orchestra, and some mostly adequate singing, if hardly anyone rises to the level found on some of the more famous cycle. I think that of the four operas, Siegfried actually comes off best - this is probably Kollo's best recording, and the rest of the cast is solid.


I do appreciate the transparency of the orchestra sound so far even if the performance overall didn't raise any hairs. I found myself zoning in on some of the great writing for bassoons in Das Rheingold. Will give Siegfried a spin tonight.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Per Henry:



> If anyone is still reading this post, Siegfried is the most compelling, so far ........


I am enjoying Janowski's Siegfried quite a bit!


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

starthrower said:


> I am enjoying Janowski's Siegfried quite a bit!


I think that it's Kollo's best recording.


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## Denerah Bathory (6 mo ago)

Barbebleu said:


> Wagner - Der Ring des Nibelungen - Pentatone
> 
> Only available digitally from Pentatone.
> 
> Beware of B list singers!:lol:


100 euros for a digital download, yikes!


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