Suitner's Rheingold is so good it makes one wish his entire cycle had been broadcast. But Bohm's Walkure and Gotterdammerung were needed to complete the Philips official cycle. In any case, the casts are almost identical (Flosshilde, Fasolt, and Erda are taken by different singers from the previous year). Suitner's leadership is almost as swift as Bohm's, but perhaps even more articulate.The three male leads are just as good as they were in 1966. Neidlinger puts his demonic laugh at the end of the first scene back in after being banished the previous year. The women remain very impressive. Siebert's top C's are more in tune for Suitner and the appropriately named Sieglinde Wagner is a fine Flosshilde. Ridderbusch's Fasolt is really beautiful. One is genuinely sorry to hear him go in scene four. Hoffgen sounds exactly like an Earth Mother should sound. Everyone in the cast is great though, the beneficiaries of Wieland Wagner's meticulous rehearsals.The sound is clear broadcast stereo, probably dubbed from tapes that had some hiss (there are a couple of odd pauses where the side breaks occurred). In scene three Windgassen and Neidlinger are replaced for two lines by another Loge and Alberich because of a gap in the master tape. Bayreuth archivists will want this and will be amply rewarded as will anyone who enjoys this opera.