VIDEOCASSETTES : ExcellentGoodFairPoor

“Anna Russell: “The First Farewell Concert.” VAI. $59.95. Filmed before a rather sedate Baltimore audience in 1984, this ornate memento does not preserve the inspired wit and deliciously vicious whimsy of La Russell at her pristine best. Some of the topical references, like the superdiva’s numerous voices, have rusted. The talk drags a bit, the do-it-yourself G&S; demonstration now is a strain and the sing-along folk-song session at the end flirts with archery, but Russell’s deathless musico-dramatic analysis of Wagner’s “Ring” makes one forgive anything. Well, almost anything.