ok here I am gonna post a piece that i am considering purchasing, but I want you guys to tell me if it is a good idea to buy, or something you might ecomend instead.
First i am thinking of getting
Twilight of the Gods: The Essential Wagner Collection
should I get it?

I don't know...who's conducting?

The short answer is no. The longer answer is what Roivas said, but also what orchestra is being conducted?

Well, "Twilight..." has some Sinopoli and Karl Bohm...Karajan's hit or miss (usually "miss" for me). Not a bad price for two CDs. The marketing approach is a little silly...with the "Apocalypse Now" helicopters about to randomly raze a few villagers.

Also: Bruno Walter did some "Wagner without words." I think this is a little safer...if you're trying to avoid all that singin'.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...371600-4398222

If you are really going to get into any part of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, go with the best and save money. Just check my posts from my Wagner Ring Festival.

Götterdämmerung (The Twilight of the Gods) is the 4th and longest part of the Der Ring des Nibelungen.


I am pretty sure they have broken this up into the 4 individual operas as well. It is cheaper to get the whole cycle. However, for someone new and with limited funds you might want to hold off altogether. You can possibly find used copies of the cycle or the individual sets.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...704280-0836857



http://www.cduniverse.com/productinf...tyle=classical



http://www.cduniverse.com/classical....go.x=10&go.y=9

THanks guys, I probably won't be getting it for awhile, but I think i will get THis one

this is probably a moot point by now, but if you're simply after Wagner "essentials" such as those highlighted in Apocalypse Now and Excalibur i'd go with this double CD of overtures and preludes which pools the talents of Bohm, Jochum, Kubelik, and Karajan.

Wagner wrote so much horn-heavy operatic music that it can be difficult to sift through the miles and miles (however glorious) of cadenzas to reach the heart of the matter. but if you really want to go full throttle, i would also agree with the choice you made.

cheers!

and if Geoff saw this thread, he'd be ranting all over it

he hates Wagner because that was Hitler's favorite composer

hmm... kind of a silly reason to hate a composer. hate him for his neverending librettos, sure. wagner was a rebel - always in trouble with the law, being arrested for sedition, having his operas banned. if they lived during the same era i doubt the feeling would be mutual.