WAGNER WORK HAS NEW 'RING' TO IT.

Byline: Olin Chism Dallas Morning News

It took nearly 90 years for Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen" to be released complete on records - an astonishing length of time considering the popularity and significance of the epic cycle.

The complete "Ring" premiered at Bayreuth in 1876. Georg Solti's recorded version was released in 1965, with Herbert von Karajan's set close behind.

Both are available on compact disc, and each has its virtues. For visceral excitement, Solti and the Vienna Philharmonic and a cast that includes Birgit Nilsson as Brunnhilde hold a slight edge. It's available on London. On the other hand, Karajan's mastery of subtle detail and the virtuosity of the Berlin Philharmonic, especially its brass, are undeniable strengths. This one is available on Deutsche Grammophon.

As usual, it's a matter of taste.

It would not be quite correct to say that these sets opened the floodgates, but there have been a number of complete "Rings" in the last 30 years.

One of the most important ones actually was taped before Solti's and Karajan's projects but was released afterward, in 1972. This was Wilhelm Furtwangler's 1953 cycle for Italian Radio. Admirers of Furtwangler see him as the supreme conductor of Wagner's music. He also had superb casts. On the negative side, the orchestral playing is not truly world class and - most important - the old, monaural sound will not satisfy audiophiles.

Those who can ignore the negatives - and many can - will find the Furtwangler "Ring" on EMI.

Other complete sets available on CD are Karl Bohm's 1967 Bayreuth Festival cycle on Philips (a live recording prized by many), James Levine's with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra on Deutsche Grammophon, Daniel Barenboim's with the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra on Teldec and an old, monaural recording on Foyer with Clemens Krauss conducting the Bayreuth orchestra.

And now comes the beginning of what may be another complete "Ring." Christoph von Dohnanyi conducts the Cleveland Orchestra and soloists in "Das Rheingold" (London 443 690-2).

It's far too early to judge a Dohnanyi "Ring." Some of the key actors in Wagner's musical drama - Siegmund, Brunnhilde and Siegfried among them - do not appear until the second or third opera of the four-opera cycle. And even if they did, experience has shown that not every major singer can be counted on to stay the course. Solti had two Wotans (George London and Hans Hotter), and Karajan had double Wotans (Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Thomas Stewart), Brunnhildes (Regine Crespin and Helga Dernesch) and Siegfrieds (Jess Thomas and Helge Brilioth).

Nevertheless, all of the major sets have been unified by a conductor's approach and an orchestra's playing, and on these counts the new Rheingold bodes well.

Key moments such as the opening in the depths of the Rhine, in which the strings climb hair-raisingly out of the murky brass to the brilliant first note by Woglinde, the descent into Nibelheim, and the entrance of the gods into Valhalla are the work of a major orchestra and a conductor with a dramatic gift rivaling Solti's.

The singers, most of them veterans of the Wagnerian circuit in Europe, are uniformly vivid in their portrayals.

A striking characteristic of the males is the lyricism of their singing. Robert Hale's Wotan and Franz-Josef Kapellmann's Alberich are forceful, yet lyrically sung. Eike Wilm Schulte's Donner may be unique for vocal beauty in this part. Kim Begley's Loge and even Peter Schreier's Mime are also expressively sung. Schreier veers into a kind of actorly wail here and there, but he still sings the part.