Anna Russell - The (First) Farewell Concert
To end a long, hilarious career, classical music comedienne Anna Russell  revived some of her best and funniest routines and took them on the road. This  special PBS production, taped in Baltimore at the beginning of that 1984 tour,  is a treasure for music lovers who understand that the thing they love can be  charmingly goofy.The highlight of the disc, and the routine that most fans remember most fondly,  is her discussion of theRingcycle. She tells the convoluted story of  Wagner's four-installment epic, with careful attention to its absurdities, and  she sings all the roles in a voice ranging shakily but with determination  through soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. She does the same in her parody of a  Gilbert & Sullivan operetta, and the advantage of a video recording becomes  obvious when she changes funny hats while singing to show whether she is acting  the heroine, villain, or chorus.--Joe McLellan