This performance of Götterdämmerung marks the first time Gwyneth Jones made the switch to Brünnhilde from Sieglinde. It is a testament to Jones's courage that she chose the most vocally daunting of all the Ring operas as her first foray into the deep end of the Wagnerian pool, but every Brünnhilde has a particular opera in which they excel—and hers was always Götterdämmerung. From her first entrance, she commands the role with astonishing security, not so much as flinching in the face of a high C or the massive orchestra.

Jean Cox is a sturdy Siegfried, and Karl Ridderbusch is a formidable Hagen. Eva Randová makes an impressive Gutrune, and Franz Mazura delivers a regal, if somewhat woolly, Gunther. Horst Stein keeps the pace of the evening fleet and light.