This is a stupendous performance in really good sound a very few glitches and stage noises do not get in the way of the outstanding performers all at the top of their game and definitely world class. A tragedy these performers were never commercially recorded. David Ward is up there with Hotter, Hering is superb and never tires, Lanigan a tour de force as Mime, while the great Amy Shuard puts most Brunnhilde's in the shade - perfect accurancy (I follow with a full score) and sung bel canto with stunning top notes. This must be what Wagner heard in his head when writing this specatcular duet - and nothing forced or 'cold' either. Downes was a great conductor in countless modes, not usually thought of as a Wagnerian. I'm pretty sure I was presnt at this performance - the second of two cycles. The first was cionducted by Solti with Ludmilla Dvorakova as Brunnhide. A lovely singer but no match (in my opinion) for the sheer sheen of Shuard. Highly recommended.

In his comments above, Andy has it absolutely right: Karl Josef Hering is the finest Siegfried most of us have never heard. His voice is steady and attractive with no wobble or splat in it. He knows how to pace himself and frequently cuts off high note values to save his voice. His opera career was cut short due to physical difficulties (he had a rare hip disease). Overall this performance is a true winner, one of Opera Depot's many Sleepers. Shuard sings beautifully as Brünnhilde with no harsh tone or strain. In her 1965 Covent Garden Siegfried under Solti she avoids the optional top C at the end; here she not only gets it, but holds on to it for dear life. Lanigan is a marvelous Mime, very well sung and acted and Ward puts most contemporary Wanderers to shame with his steady, attractive singing. Fafner was always Langdon's role at this time and with his dark, rich bass one can hear why. The other singers are excellent too. Downes gets a move on - no Goodall-like dawdling here. Hering's forging of the sword at the end of Act One sounds like the Real Thing; I've never heard such a cacophony of banging.The sound is mostly very good. There are a few minor tape glitches and one can hear another performance faintly in the background for the first ten minutes of Act Two. Someone needed to tell the stagehands to keep their talking down during the scene change in Act Three; they're quite noisy.Get this, especially to hear Hering!

excellent to have another memory of a fine cast and under-recorded conductor

I didn't like Hering as Siegfried. He has got a lovely voice but not for such a strengthens role as Siegfried. He forces his voice an that doesn't do good. I liked Shuard, Ward and Kelemen. All of them are great Wagner singers and I have heard them many times on stage and was never disappointed. Hering I have heard two times as Siegfried and was never satisfied.