Rudolf Kempe's luminosity of texture and solemnity of approach, familiar from his commercial recording of "Lohengrin," is also on display here, although "display" contradicts Kempe's subtle approach, one that does not preclude grand climaxes that emerge organically from his careful build-up (the Act III transformation music is singularly baleful). He also provides a supportive platform for a largely sympathetic approach. The glaring exception, one must concede, is Gerda Lammers, heard at her best in Act III ("Dienen, dienen.") Lammers' crabbed tone makes her an implausible seductress and only somewhat more tolerable as the wild Kundry of Act I.Karl Liebl's Parsifal is more of a pushed-up lyric tenor than a Heldentenor but it works for this role (as it does not for his Tannhauser) and there's some sweetness of tone to be gleaned from his approach. The other men are all outstanding. Gottlob Frick's gentle Gurnemanz ties the opera together with beautifully inflected, unstinting tone, while Eberhard Waechter's eloquence Amfortas suffers with a beauty that haunts one's soul (a bit overtaxed at the very climax perhaps. Otakar Kraus', Covent Garden's resident Klingsor, dispenses malevolence with his customary skill. Overlooked by the record companies in his prime, Kraus is perhaps only now receiving his due. The Flower Maidens, led by Joan Carlyle, are an excellent group.