Description:

Pros:

• This performance features Birgit Nilsson in one of her last outings as Brünnhilde. She manages surprisingly well considering that she was approaching 60 and had already been singing the role for over 20 years.
• Hans Beier proves that he was a Siegfried for the ages, even if he keeps the prompter on his toes throughout the evening with an assortment of missed entrances. But that was typical of the era of this performance. At the Staatsoper, they would throw together enormously difficult operas with almost no rehearsal. For the most part no one complained given the quality of the casts.
• As Hagen, Karl Ridderbusch, also no spring chicken, sounds as fresh as ever.

Cons:

• There is a lot of rustling of the microphone at the beginning of the opera. There are also a few drop-outs, most notably the first minute or so of the opera. The sound is otherwise fairly clear.

In Mono

Note:
This recordings replaces OD 11791-4. The new version now includes the Rheinmaiden scene in Act III and corrects some issues with wayward pitch.

OD 11949-4