Karajan’s Ring continues: Die Walküre in the Original Source Series

Following the release of Das Rheingold earlier this year, Deutsche Grammophon continues its Original Source Series edition of Herbert von Karajan’s Ring des Nibelungen with Die Walküre. Released on 7 August 2026, the new 5-LP edition arrives at a particularly fitting moment: 150 years after the first complete Ring at the Bayreuth Festival and 75 years after the birth of the New Bayreuth – with Karajan as one of the conductors who helped shape its first season.

Karajan’s relationship with Wagner’s Ring has a special connection to Bayreuth. In 1951, he conducted the second complete cycle of the festival’s reopening season, including Die Walküre on 12 August. Fifteen years later, he returned to the work in the studio with the Berliner Philharmoniker for the recording that forms part of his celebrated Deutsche Grammophon Ring cycle.

The cast of Die Walküre includes Gundula Janowitz as Sieglinde, Jon Vickers as Siegmund, Régine Crespin as Brünnhilde and Thomas Stewart as Wotan, alongside Josephine Veasey and Martti Talvela. Karajan’s approach is striking for the lyrical detail and transparency he brings to Wagner’s score, without losing its dramatic scale.

For the new Original Source Series edition, the original stereo master tapes have been newly remastered by Emil Berliner Studios. The recording was cut directly from the analogue source in a fully analogue AAA process and is presented on five 180g LPs. The numbered edition also includes the original artwork and texts, the complete libretto, additional photographs and reproductions of original recording documents.

The album and additional information are available from Deutsche Grammophon.