Der Ring des Nibelungen / Krauss, Varnay, Hotter, Windgassen

Pros: The complete Ring in a beautiful, affordable package.

Cons: There really aren't any.

The Bottom Line: Both NYT and Gramophone called this the best Ring available, and that may be right. Stellar performances by all hands -- beautiful singing and psychological truth.

Review: Richard Wagner's great Ring cycle actually began as an opera about the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, whom Wagner mythologized into the Siegfried of the Germanic mythical cycle Das Nibelungenlied, the story of the magical ring ...