Berliners take the Palm in Provence: Mark Berry awards top marks to the orchestra in the first DVD instalment of the Aix ‘Ring’

The star of this Walküre is, without a shadow of doubt, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. I doubt that the music can ever have been played better than it is here. Every section of the orchestra has an opportunity to shine and takes it; the blend is equally impressive. Astonishing immediacy of sound, for which BelAir’s recording must take credit, in the storm Prelude to Act I enables us to hear and to feel bows flying off cello strings, and the richness of tone really must be heard to be believed. The same may be said of the celebrated cello solo at the beginning of the act: full of hope, promise, potential.