Of the Ring Cycle recordings that cropped up in Wagner centenary year, few were fully satisfying. The German big guns came out for Thielemann’s Vienna State Opera effort on Deutsche Grammophon, but it was indifferently recorded, inconsistently inspired and riddled with wobblers. Janowski’s Berlin rival was a sonic masterpiece, but it raced badly at times and was unevenly cast. So perhaps it’s indicative of a new world order that the finest recent attempt at Wagner’s masterwork is shaping up to be the Hong Kong cycle, and on a budget label to boot.

Conducted by Dutch maestro Jaap van Zweden (the New York Phil’s incoming chief), Das Rheingold set the bar high with an excellent cast, a consistent, steady orchestral interpretation (though it starts and ends with its foot on the gas) and well-engineered audio production taken from live concert performances. Add to that Matthias Goerne, a bass-baritone in the Hotter mould and the most involving Wotan since Sir John Tomlinson, and it’s definitely one for the collection.

It’s great then to report that Die Walküre offers more of the same. Van Zweden’s tempi range from solid to expansive with considerable attention to matters of phrasing. His band...