What a discovery! A splendid performance of a lovely, tuneful, dramatic, very approachable work - despite my enthusiasm for Nielson's symphonies, I didn't know this opera. The third-act ensemble is reminiscent of the big ensembles in Don Carlos and Otello...so you know where I'm coming from with my praise!Bjoerling and Berglund are wonderful, Ebrelius hardly less so; a lovely, mellifluous voice, just occasionally stretched. I found Oehm's Mikal somewhat "Reri Grist-ish" in the first act; I'm expecting her to start singing Blondchen in Entfuhrung any minute! However, she is most lyrical thereafter so I won't knock off that star I nearly did! Ericson is formidable as the Witch.The performance being in Swedish didn't bother me a bit. Not having a score or libretto (just a synopsis) I don't know what was cut but the work as it stands here comes over as tight and spare...just right, or is something important missed out? By the way, the narrator is TORA TEJE, a Swedish theatre and [silent] film actress. Note her declamatory manner, a performance in itself!I've just ordered the historical Jensen performance to supplement this one...and it's coupled with Maskarade, so another discovery coming my way!

The performance is excellent, being conducted by Tor Mann, a strong supporter of Nielsen's music in Sweden. It is sung in Swedish, rather than the original Danish, but that is fine by me, as the sounds to me are similar.The singers are very good, particularly Bjorling in the main role.One drawback is that the performance has several cuts, but the historical value is high. Sound is very acceptable for a 1957 radio broadcast. And the music is top-drawer Nielsen i.e. wonderful.

While the star-studded Jascha Horenstein recording available on Opera d'oro has its high points, this (fantastic-sounding) Swedish radio broadcast from 1957 is the real deal. Conductor Tor Mann was a noted Nielsen interpreter and his rendition has a constant majesty. Except for Sigurd Bloerling's imperial Saul and Joel Berglund's Samuel (a little long in the tooth but not inapt to the character), these weren't singers on an international track but they all deliver the goods, particularly young lovers Marianne Oehm and Umo Ebrelius. Horenstein's Boris Christoff (Saul) and Elisabeth Soederstroem (Mikal) may be more *sui generis* but Mann's cast need take second none, and if you're curious about Nielsen's big, rangy score and sense of operatic drama, Opera Depot's set is an ideal point of entry.