With the sound of a decent live transmission, this fine performance from Munich under Leitner is highly listenable if not distinct enough to be memorable. The cast perform with keenness, but the heights of the evening are few. In fact I can barely recall the two Italian singers and the usually witty Clairon sounds to be a charmless guest. That said, LaRoche clearly has his say and you understand every word of it. Donald Grobe's poet sounds good and Barry McDaniels' composer even better. The Count makes a stable, stolid impression. But we are all keen (or not) on a Capriccio's Countess. I'd liked what I heard in the online sampler here and decided to give this performance a try. Claire Watson was one of those major sopranos the US used to exportin numbers to Europe where they remained for long-lived careers. Fine German school sopranos abounded: Arlene Saunders, Evelyn Lear and Claire Watson among the finest. (And do look up Judith Beckmann if you can. What a great Capriccio closing scene!) So where was I? Oh yes, Claire Watson's Capriccio Countess. Hers is a fine performance with moments of playfulness, but not perhaps with the sense presence and charisma that the most remarkable singers bring. There is loveliness in much of it, and some really lovely phrases in the Closing Scene. For a Capriccio fan like me, it is well worth hearing. I'm glad to know it.