Nothing in the history of recording approaches Decca's mammoth venture
in producing Wagner's Ring complete for the first time. It was eight
years in the making and this book tells the story of how it was made and
the people who made it, written by the man who - as the recording
producer - was in charge of the whole project. Conducted by the great
Georg Solti, Decca's recording has been voted the best recording ever
made. All the celebrated Wagner singers of their age take their places
in the story, including Birgit Nilsson, Kirsten Flagstad, Hans Hotter,
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gottlob Frick and Wolfgang Windgassen. The
recording was made in Vienna with the Viennese Philharmonic Orchestra,
and Culshaw displayed extraordinary dedication to Wagner's musical
requirements and to putting into practice his own belief that a stereo
recording could create a 'theatre of the mind'.