There are three famous veterans in this performance and they are all excellent. Vishnevskaya is caught not long before she retired from the stage. Her voice is still viable though no longer as fluent or steady as it once was. All the same her experience in this role counts for a great deal. Her letter scene is completely believable and she is one of the few Tatianas who make even her smallest utterances count. Gedda sings very well if without the sweetness of tone he once enjoyed. His account of Lensky's aria is beautifully shaped and phrased. Arie's actual tone is rather gravelly here. Like Vishnevskaya though his experience makes up for whatever Time has taken from him. Nucci is an excellent Onegin whose diction is quite good. He sang this role at the Met 7-8 years later with similar success. The other singers are all very good. Poli is encouraged to drag out Triquet's brief solo interminably. Maybe it worked better when seen.Rostropovich's tempos tend to be very self-indulgent, yet he captures the essence of the piece beautifully. The sound is basically good broadcast mono, but there are many glitches in the mastertape: static, channel dropout, fading volume levels, etc. The very end of Act One, scene one is faded out prematurely missing the end of the scene. Fans of the singers should get this. Those looking for a reliable recording of Eugene Onegin should look elsewhere.

Very important sound document and beautiful performance!