Keilberth leads a swiftly paced performance of Die Walküre that tells the story without running over the singers. Borkh, in her second role at Bayreuth (she sang Freia the previous night), is a very convincing Sieglinde without quite thrilling us the way Rysanek would later in the decade (1958). Although offered Ortrud by Wieland Wagner the next season she never returned to Bayreuth. Treptow's excellent diction and intense portrayal of Siegmund were a carry over from the previous season. Varnay is simply superb as Brünnhilde. From her fiery opening war cries (complete with the written trills) to her elegiac phrasing of the Todesverkündigung and the final scene Varnay set a standard few could reach, let alone surpass. Hotter is heard in his best voice as Wotan. Combined with his lieder singer's ability to convey the text and his unearthly pianissimo in his final farewell, Hotter set another standard for this role. The cast correction is that Ruth Siewert sings Fricka in this recording, not Ira Malaniuk as listed above. Malaniuk sang the Rheingold Fricka and possibly Fricka in the other Walküre that season, but for the broadcast it was definitely Siewert. Her voice is very distinctive as is Malaniuk's (who would sing Fricka in both cycles the next year). Greindl is a frightening Hunding. The Walküren are good, if a little screechy.The sound, once again, is excellent. Onto Siegfried!