…this is the most exciting staging I've seen - slightly recalling Cirque du Soleil, perhaps, except that here the spectacle is wholly and intelligently at Wagner's service. Scenery combines dazzlingly mobile 3D computer projections on a towering cyclorama, with groups of acrobats. Inevitably some imagery works better than others; the harpyish Rhinemaidens, literally giving birth to the gold, are less compelling than the planetary descent to Nibelheim, or Walküre's opening wolf-chase and gleaming Tree, in which Wotan's ravens perch, and which scatters Siegmund's name like falling leaves. Against these amazing backgrounds the Gods, futuristically costumed, glide high above the stage on individual gantries propelled by 'invisible' stagehands... they're no barrier to keenly dramatic, involving performances from a fine cast, with some superb principals. ...it's all beautifully recorded on DVD - but on Blu-ray it's simply breathtaking, pin-sharp images and airy surround-sound drawing one into the Valencia stage with almost 3D effect. Wagner still responds best to Romantic imagery; but this redefines it on a cosmic scale. It's the finest Ring on video so far.

Uusitalo is a commanding, mellifluous Wotan and although Jennifer Wilson's Brünnhilde is relatively unnuanced dramatically, she sings strongly and sensitively...The youthful Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana obediently and expertly delivers the plushy textures and stagey rhetoric Mehta requires