The three women in this performance are superb. Popp recorded her role in the studio with Klemperer, Lorengar with Solti 6-7 years later. Both recordings are very good, but here their singing and interactions with the other characters surpass what they accomplished in the studio. Veasey may not be quite as fleet of voice, but she knows what she's about and does it very well.The men are certainly good though not quite on the level of the ladies. Solti encourages the use of appoggiaturas and ornamentation. Ironically, he was more conservative in the studio. He gives us an almost uncut score (Ferrando's "Ah! la veggio" is still cut and, frustratingly, Solti shortens "Fra gli amplessi"). The sound is good enough. A lovely performance.

This is a wonderful performance of COSI. I much prefer it to the studio recording by Solti. This is a live performance and has that energy about it. The men are good and solid. Each has personality and they generate a feeling of having a great time. The women are excellent. Popp is about as perfect a Despina as one could hope for. The voice pointed but with warmth. Veasey sounds delightful as Dorabella and Lorengar is a shimmering Fiordiligi. I always fell when I am listening to Lorengar in this time period (1965-1980) that based on her voice she must have been a gorgeous woman. She was! Her voice has a liveliness and shimmering guilty that is totally feminine and very beautiful.

The performance is conditioned from the insufficient quality of the sound

This performance is a refreshing alternative to Solti’s lean, crisp, clean and comparatively unnuanced studio recording with Lorengar. He’s more flexible here, turning in a warmer and more gemütlich performance. Another reason to hear it is Lorengar, who is in spectacular shape. Veasey and Popp turn in very fine performances, too, although Veasey is a little less than ideally agile in the more florid writing: he expressivity and sensitivity more than make up for it. The weak link on the male side is Donald Grobe, who turns in a reasonably sensitive performance but who’s voice is on the smallish side. He’s not a liability, but he’s also not Dermota or Gedda on a good day. The recorded sound is not quite as good as I had hoped for given the vintage of the performance, but it’s listenable.