KNAPPERTSBUSCH The 1956 Ring: Das Rheingold

This week at Pristine we begin one of the great voyages of music - Wagner's epic Der Ring des Nibelungen - in the shape of one of the greatest recorded Ring cycles.

Hans Knappertsbusch performed this Ring at the Bayreuth Festival - four operas, four complete performances - in August 1956. We begin of course with Das Rheingold, featuring a magisterial Hans Hotter as Wotan, in unprecedented sound quality in this Ambient Stereo XR remaster.

We also celebrate the 140th birthday this week of pianist Wilhelm Backhaus, with a full 20% discount on all of his recordings at Pristine.