Listen to a Sample:

It is remarkable that just one year prior to this recording Christa Ludwig was singing the Marschallin in this same production of Der Rosenkavalier. As Octavian, her ardent mezzo seems a little more at home, offering her a few more opportunities to sing where her voice blooms. As the Marschallin, Leonie Rysanek delivers both Straussian line and Viennese authenticity. Rysanek surprising scales back her oversized voice (and personality) during the character’s many intimate musings, however, not one to shortchange her fans, she find many opportunities to indulge the audience in her soaring top. The sound is very good.

OD 11074-3