Fafner: One is tempted to say that this character has only a heavy side, and in terms of basic effect, that’s true. No interpretive skill will substitute for the primal black, deep-set quality if that is absent. But actually, there are some inflectional possibilities, especially after the fatal wounding, so it’s a plus if the voice has some room in it, some bite, and some coloristic span. We can hear this in the earlier bassos: Emmanuel List, Fafner with both Bodanzky and Kleiber, in much steadier voice for the latter; Ludwig Weber (Furtwängler/RAI); Ernster (Stiedry); and Josef Greindl, whose powerful but gritty sound is actually almost perfect here. The last four-named were all still taking on Hagen at the time of their performances, which is a little difficult to project with the useful Belosselskiy. Vocally, it’s much better if the dragon remains a dragon to the end, rather than transforming back into plain old Fafner—those dying phrases, ending with the poignant “Siegfried . . .“, are much more haunting if still sung through the speaking trumpet or its electronic equivalent.

Alberich: Gustav Neidlinger (Keilberth and other Bayreuth Rings, as well as the foundational Solti studio cycle), was close to perfect: a rock-steady, fierce bass-baritone with not a trace of warmth at forte but some shading possibilities for the occasional lyrical phrase. Pechner (Stiedry) and Alois Pernerstorfer (both Furtwänglers) are somewhat less hard-core and distinctive, but still register the point that it is more impressive to hear a genuine low voice surmount all that high declamation than to hear a higher baritone sound at home up there. Though we shouldn’t lose sight of an older tradition of baritones rendering the role with melodramatic, Expressionistic rantings: try Desider Zador on the Rheingold Curse.

Wanderer/Wotan: It’s a peculiarity that while Wanderer, Alberich, and Fafner are all designated “bass” in Siegfried, Wotan’s wanderings from opera to opera include changes of Fach; he is stipulated as bass-baritone in Rheingold and Walküre. Yet the role’s setting in Siegfried is clearly compatible with a more baritonal timbre. I guess we can say that what’s wanted for consistency throughout the cycle is what we’ve come to call the Heldenbariton (of greater reach at both range ends in Walküre than elsewhere), of which Friedrich Schorr (Bodanzky) and Hans Hotter (Keilberth) are prominent examples. Both were nearing the end of the good singing days by 1937 and 1955, respectively, the former beginning to lose his battle with top Fs and F-sharps, the latter slipping so far over into a mushy, shaky timbre and almost comically loosened articulation. But they both also still represent the type, and retain full measures of their artistic presence and command, which they effortlessly establish upon entrance. Ferdinand Frantz (Stiedry and Furtwängler/RAI) might be said to establish the “heavy” side at the expense of the “human,” but at least his strong, steady and wide-ranged tone (I saw him as both Kurwenal and Gurnemanz) and his native setting-forth of the word text does that. He is in slightly fresher voice and livelier expressive fettle for Stiedry. In Herbert Janssen (Kleiber) we have a more lyrical, more emphatically baritone Wanderer, not far from Volle’s weight, but more capacious in size, warmer in timbre, and more imaginative in phrasing. In his time he was considered more naturally a Wolfram, Amfortas, or Gunther. But he sounds ample and eloquent here. And while I’m at the lower end: