This recording offers a brief but tantalizing glimpse of some great artists whose careers just missed the proliferation of recordings. Ludwig Suthaus, possibly the most recorded of the main singers, was a tenor whose voice was equally admirable for its power as its lyricism (traits that can often seem at odds with one another). Unfortunately, in the excerpts on this recording, we never get to hear Tiana Lemnitz’s slender, shimmering soprano tackle Sieglinde’s most passionate music, but her few utterances in the opening scene suggest that she is a Sieglinde to be reckoned with. Gertrude Grob-Prandl also regrettably has very little music besides a portion of her impassioned Act III plea to Wotan to encircle the rock with fire which, although short, is worth the price of the set. Josef Hermann, fortunately, treats us to the entire final scene. The whole thing is brilliantly conducted by Karl Böhm who brings a fire to the pacing that must have been very refreshing in an era where Knappertsbusch and Furtwängler dominated. As a bonus I have included substantial excerpts from a 1965 performance of Die Walküre conducted by Karl Böhm and featuring Birgit Nilsson, Theo Adam, Leonie Rysanek and James King.