Drawing airy, luminescent textures from the Hong Kong players, [van Zweden] drives the drama excitingly [and] his singers respond superbly…Goerne brings Wotan’s fearful conflicts of love and desperation alive…[Lang’s] high notes soar with cutting power…Skelton and Melton are well established Volsungs, but both their voices seem to have taken on fresh lustre and clarion ring, giving memorably intense performance.

A sturdy urgency is keeping Naxos’s burgeoning Ring cycle powering forwards...van Zweden rouses much of the drama that would be expected in the theatre, and his Hong Kong orchestra, though hardly in the Wagnerian front rank, supports him strongly. The cycle’s ace is Matthias Goerne’s expressive Wotan.

van Zweden has broken free of both tradition and over-literal score-reading to interpret what is in front of him...Goerne is in almost indecently good voice...DeYoung argues Fricka’s case with power and sweep...[Struckmann] uses text rather than colour to frighten as Hunding...this is an impressive and likeable achievement.

There are likely to be further individual vocal performances worth seeking out, but it increasingly looks as though this cycle will be collectable primarily for van Zweden’s achievement in turning his Hong Kong players into a Wagner orchestra to be reckoned with.

it’s the Wälsung twins who pretty much steal the show: Stuart Skelton and Heidi Melton deliver a first act of exquisite radiance and tenderness...t’s above all a very human first act, eschewing the heroics and melodrama that are played up on other recordings.

I doubt there is any tenor today to equal Stuart Skelton’s Siegmund, as thrilling as he is poetic. The set is worth acquiring for him alone, but there’s also Matthias Goerne: surely one of the most introverted Wotans ever recorded, but so moving..Van Zweden works wonders in transforming the HK Phil into a world-class Wagner band.

As before, the playing of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra provides the foundation of the performance...Van Zweden’s sense of pacing and drama never falters either, and some of the climaxes he engineers are thrillingly vivid...Skelton is magnificent throughout, surely without a rival in the role today...Overall, the performances become much more than the sum of their parts, some of which are outstanding anyway.

Stuart Skelton and Heidi Melton provide sheer vocal luxury. Good casting all round makes this well worth purchasing