Rare to hear Hunter in german, young, powerful, passionate. Very rare Sieglinde of Sarroca with french touch. Mazura truly magnificent with rich words. Andrew excellent. Lombard achieves wonders with his forces.

Having heard Rita Hunter sing The Valkyrie a number of times, it's interesting to hear her sing it in the original German. She is just as fine, singing with her lovely, bell-like timbre and exciting high notes with no trace of wobble anywhere. Her colleagues on this occasion are just as good. Mazura is best known to American audiences as Gunther in the Boulez/Chereau Ring cycle and for his hawk-like Dr. Schön in the Met's Lulu. His voice has more color and vibrancy here than it would have later on when his timbre had dried out considerably. His diction is superb, making his Act Two narrative one of the highlights of this performance. Sarroca was a well-known French soprano who is a lovely Sieglinde. Andrew is a strong Siegmund and Denize a well-sung Fricka, more restrained than we normally hear today. Hagen-William, a formidable Hunding,was an African-American bass who made most of his career in Europe. The Walküren are excellent, but who sang Siegrune? Lombard conducts a swift, lyrical performance. The sound is good although there are few missing passages. Andy mentions one in Wotan's Act Two monologue (only two lines), but Brünnhilde's "So sah ich Siegvater nie" speech is missing the last couple of lines too. There is a similar omission in Act Three where a few lines are lost from Wotan's denunciation of Brünnhilde. My copy had some annoying file corruption (clicking) in the last two minutes of disc 2.For fans of the singers.

This is an interesting take on Valkyrie. Alain Lombard takes things at quite a rapid pace, but also gives the more reflective moments their space. The recording is good though it rather favors the orchestra over the voices and can get congested during big climaxes. It fascinates me to hear Rita Hunter singing in German. I saw her many times in Ring cycles, Trovatore, Euryanthe, Don Carlo, Turandot, Cavalleria, Idomeneo, and other works, but always singing in English. Here she is as outstanding as always, with that unique voice that seems quite lyric and feminine yet also cuts through the loudest orchestral texture with great ease and clarity. Just listen to the authority with which she launches 'Fort denn eile' in the last act! The other outstanding performance is from Franz Mazura as Wotan. The role is quite a stretch for him but he conveys a powerful sense of emotional commitment, at times even shifting to a moment or two ofSprechgesang to convey meaning. The more I listen to this the more I enjoy Lombard's way with the score.