Wagner : The Ring of the Nibelung [libretto]

Yes, I know, Wagner was a racist SOB. But he also was a genius, and this is one of his greatest works with glorious music--my favorite of his in fact. Dragons, Valkyries and Dwarfs! All good. And yes, recordings come with liner notes, and video with subtitles--even some opera companies now have subtitles projected over the proscenium arch. But yes, I do think it's very, very useful as an opera lover to have a translation like this--to read over before a performance perhaps and get subtleties that would otherwise pass over you. And if you're looking for one, it's hard I think to better this edition of Andrew Porter's translation. It's a graceful, singing translation designed for performances in English--and this edition also includes the show more original German side by side with the English on the page. show less

There's no question that this is now the best english translation of Wagner's 'Poem' (i.e. libretto ) for the Ring. Deathridge renders into clear english the often interminable pseudo cod medieval German which for a long time has resulted in translations which seek to imitate this in English (often with grotesque and unintelligible results). NB - this still isn't anything like modern English but it will give you a good chance of following what is going on in a text that doesn't read as if it was Snorri Sturluson as rendered by Henry James and Robert Browning with every other sentence left out.

The ebook lets you niftily shift from English to German if you want a quick reminder of how bizarre the original is.

Penguin ought to be show more congratulated for commissioning and publishing this. show less