Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung: A Companion

Item arrived fast and in wonderful condition, I'm absolutely loving the book so far. Thank you very much for getting this to me so quickly!

It is awesome to finally have this guide in addition to the operas. Now I will be able to follow along and better understand the meaning of what is being sung.

**Update: I recently contacted the publishers, who wrote they are scheduling a late summer 2010 reprint.**I teach the Ring Cycle, and I recommend the Spencer/Millington English translation over all others, including the Porter. As an English teacher, I am primarily concerned in a translation's literary value, and I confidently aver this translation as the best in English (I also have a background in German language and literature study). In his poetry, Wagner proves himself a literary genius. Like other masters of language, he deftly balances storytelling, emotion, and philosophy. There are also musicological benefits to this publication, such as notations for motifs where they occur in the text.Wagner draws from the major medieval versions of the legend, including the Saga of the Volsungs, the Prose Edda, and the Nibelungenlied. Studying these works is crucial to a literary appreciation of the libretti, much as appreciation of Plutarch biographies informs the reading of Shakespeare's plays of antiquity.Wagner's ambitious work was composed under the nationalistic fervor of 19th Century Germany. He believed "The Nibelungenlied" to be for Germany what "The Iliad" is for Greece or "The Aeneid" is for Rome. Wagner populates his German forests and rivers with mythological gods and faeries, and his human heroes are imbued with heroic courage and strength reminiscent of Achilles and Beowulf.I highly recommend this translation. There are seldom times a book will inspire aesthetic chills, and it happened several times when reading these libretti. And if you are interested in contextualizing the Siegfried literary tradition, your first stops should be the Nibelungenlied, the Saga of the Volsungs, and the Prose Edda. See also Wagner's libretto for "Tristan and Isolde," another brilliantly written libretto based on a medieval German text, Gottfried von Straussberg's Tristan.

This is principally Spencer's translation of the Ring poems, accompanied by some supplemental essays and a theme guide. Spencer's credentials as a translator are of the highest rank, but I wasn't looking for this, since I know the Porter translation virtually off pat and I admire it greatly.Similarly, I wasn't looking for a theme guide, since Deryck Cooke's magnificent recorded version does that trick for me.So, there were fewer essays than I had expected, although I (generally) liked the quality of them. For me the best part was the presentation of the drafts which Wagner chose to reject. I suspect the book deserves 5*, but to be truthful to my personal reaction, I'm only giving 4*.

The introductory materials and commentary are useful to whatever extent the reader wants those things (apparently some reviewers here don't), but I'd guess most buy this book for the excellent English translation of the librettos.I bought the Kindle edition primarily because I thought it would be a handy way to follow the libretto as I listen to the music, but I do also find the various commentary sections, synopses, references, etc., very interesting & useful.However, there is a huge....HUGE....problem with the Kindle edition! There is absolutely no table of contents, no index, no navigational aids or references whatsoever. I've never seen a Kindle book so poorly structured- a 384 page book (that's 18,268 "locations" with small text and wide margins) without navigation. ("Cover" and "Beginning" are the only two jump points.) It makes this ebook virtually unusable as delivered. I've started the slow, tedious process of going through and placing bookmarks at each chapter start and on other important pages, but this is a very cumbersome solution, as you can't even edit the bookmarks into brief descriptive titles or organize them into an outline format. You end up with an extremely long list of marks that are essentially the first couple lines of text on the referenced page; it's a bit like scanning through your email when all you have are those two-line blurbs. Anything so precise as, say, jumping directly to a particular scene in one of the operas is out of the question.This is beyond an oversight, beyond an inconvenience. I consider it a fundamental flaw and I may try to get my money back. For $14+, I don't expect some cut-rate, half-a**ed scan of a real book, but that's what I got. I'm pretty annoyed. (If that's not obvious by now.)Amazon requires you to select between one and five stars before posting a review, so I selected one. But honestly, I give the Kindle edition NO stars....it's the worst Kindle book I've ever purchased and I'd strongly urge others to avoid it until the publisher releases a restructured version.

Without the libretto, much will be lost to listeners of the Ring. Not only is there much that is subtle but profound, but Wagner’s words are poetic. The English translation is excellent for those who cannot read the original German, which appears side by side.

There are many other reviews here which cover the contents of Spencer's work, so I will limit my comments to the Kindle version. Before purchasing it, I was a little wary about a couple of things: firstly, the complaints that some other reviewers had about the lack of a table of contents, and secondly, whether the Kindle version would display the German and English text of the libretti side by side, which for many people like me, a novice Ring listener, will be key to successfully following whichever audio recording takes your fancy. It is a pity that the free preview file doesn't contain two or three pages from one of the libretti to allow this to be trialled on the target device prior to purchase - something that the publishers might like to consider adding to the free sample in the future. I have now tried the full Kindle version using the Android Kindle app on a Nexus 7 tablet, and the same app on a Nexus 5 phone. I can report that the table of contents is present on both devices, so whatever problem might have existed in the past has presumably been fixed. I can also confirm that the German and English texts do appear side by side - obviously on the Nexus 5 phone the screen size limits the amount of text that can be displayed on a page, but I found it to be very usable with the screen in landscape mode; portrait mode was a bit more awkward as the line lengths are very short, but at least it is still legible. I presume that most readers will be intending to read the book on a Kindle or Kindle-sized tablet like the Nexus 7, where the larger screen obviously allows more text on a page and reduces the speed at which you need to turn pages. So, take your pick of devices, read Spencer's introduction, load up your favourite Ring Cycle audio files, turn to the libretti, and off you go.

I don't really understand the basis on which the translation was made.Vitally important "memory motifs" are omitted from the list provided.But for the price of the CDs and this translation you do have an entry nto one of the greatest works of art ever produced.I prefer the translation produced for singable ENO for the Goodall Ring

Love this. Apparently the translation is definitive. I need it for the long bits where it's not that obvious what's going on. Usually involving Wotan and some farewell or other.

This is an excellent book, well worth while for the libretti and translations alone. My only quibble is that, unlikethe printed edition, the kindle edition has no table of contents, which doesn't make navigation any easier. Why, you wonder. Carelessness on the part of the publisher?

The Ring is simply a giant masterwork. Tackling it is like attempting to scale a mountain. And if you're going to do it properly and get the very best out of the experience (and make the massive investment in your time worthwhile), you will want someone with you along the way. And this is where this Companion is a real must.The introductory essays and the other material are useful primers and help put everything into context (but they are far from exhaustive - more a primer and an aid for further reading). But the real value is the libretto. My recordings come with a libretto, but straining your eyes through a cd booklet is distracting. And then there's the quality of the translation itself - and believe me it makes a real difference to your enjoyment and understanding.Wagner's language and versifying is deliberately archaic - even in German, so any translation is at first going to appear odd and almost difficult. But follow each line with this companion and you will see that the translation somehow not only captures the meaning, it follows the sense, rhythm, cadences and line length of the original - so as you listen, the english translation flows along seamlessly with the sung lines. After while you are not conscious of translating, but are in the action and going with the flow. And my, when you get caught up the flow of Wagner (with the volume turned right up of course) it is a totally absorbing and genuinely thrilling experience.What's great too is that there are are references you can look back to later or read ahead and look up, and just enough stage directions added. Too much direction and you can't keep up. Without any you miss vital pieces of information and action - here you can 'see' as well as hear just enough not to miss anything.A thoroughly recommended piece of work, and really glad I got hold of it before plunging in.