It's very clear from the characters' interactions here that Wieland Wagner had worked meticulously with his singers on every inflection and meaning. All members of the cast are involved.Silja is a wonderful Salome: alluring, petulant, bratty, finally insane. Her singing is not flawless, her tone sometimes whiny and thin, her intonation iffy here and there. It simply doesn't matter in the face of her complete involvement with the role. Stolze's Herod is a little over-the-top in places, his singing coming very close to speech (I suspect Strauss would not have minded). He is a vivid presence. In 1965 Varnay still had a lot of voice left and she makes every moment count up to a solid top B-flat. Under Wieland's direction, she adds a moan and Stolze a sob when Jokanaan's head comes up from the cistern. Silja (I assume) adds a brief scream at the very end when her stepfather has ordered her to be killed.Wächter is a sexy John the Baptist with ringing top notes. Lilowa is a great Page with her rich low notes and Wunderlich is a perfect Narraboth; the role will never be better sung than it is here.Kosler leads a riveting performance that is gripping from beginning to end. The Pirate Gods smiled happily on this broadcast recording, the sound rich, detailed, and undistorted.

This was the premiere of a new Salome directed by Wieland Wagner. His relation to Anja Silja was well-known, and it would prove that he had less than one year to live. Several of the singers take their roles also in other recorded performances, but I found this to be well worth adding to my collection. It is well conducted and in good broadcast sound (although I don't hear it as stereo).Nils-Göran

This is an exciting live performance from Vienna. In my experience, there are two types of Salome's: Nilsson/ Borkh is one type; Welitsch/Caballe is the second type. I prefer the Nilsson type to weather the heavy vocal demands of Salome. I would put Silja in the latter type-lighter voiced and "younger" sounding. The difficulty here is that Silja is straining to keep up with the musical demands. However, she supplies much needed excitement to keep this performance interesting. And, it is a very interesting and exciting performance because of the experienced cast and strong conducting. If you like your Salome intense, this is the performance to get. Whew. It really moves along. It also helps that the sound is excellent. I enjoyed this wild show and recommend it even if Silja is no Nilsson. PS: Stolze is amazing as Herod and is an incredible vocal actor. A great performance from 1965 Vienna.