As Steven writes below the date of this performance is probably September 29, 1976, despite what is written on the leaflet. It is a very good performance and mostly in excellent sound.Davis leads very efficiently, propelling the action forward. Some of his tempi are slower, but this allows the singers to relish and project the text more clearly (the Alberich-Mime scene in Act 2 is a good example). Ulfung is a splendid Mime, singing with wit and precision and strong voice without screaming the text. McIntyre is a supremely good Wanderer, Kélémen his usual viperous self as Alberich. Salminen is one of the few Fafners who's actually frightening with his roars and bellows. Burrows is a lovely Woodbird and the sometimes underrated Bainbridge a first-rate Erda. C** (I have to type his name this way or the system here will think I'm referring to something else) is a fine Siegfried though he emerges rather anonymously next to his more extroverted colleagues. He paces himself well and is able to partner Lindholm with strength in the last act. Lindholm herself was in good shape the night this was recorded. Which leads to my big complaint about this set. At some point during "Ewig war ich" in Act 3 the pitch of the tape begins to go sharp. The result is that Lindholm and C** sound like they're screaming the last 12 minutes or so. Earlier there is some worn tape during the Wanderer-Erda scene that leads to some horrendous, if mercifully brief, painful moments. Is there any chance the pitch of the tape in the last 12-13 minutes or so could be fixed? Onto Götterdämmerung!

The dating of this performance seems to be incorrect. The official website of Covent Garden indicates a performance of Siegfried with this same cast on September 29, 1976. The leaf accompanying this performance indicates a performance date of October 6, 1975. There is no performance listed for this date at the Covent Garden site, but there is a performance of Siegfried listed for September 17, 1975, the only performance of the work that year, with virtually the same cast here, except that the title role in 1975 was sung by Helge Brilioth. The performance at hand sounds to me more like Jean Cox than Brilioth; since Cox and Lindholm also sang Siegfried and Bruennhilde, respectively, in Goetterdaemmerung at Covent Garden in September of 1976, I'm assuming that this Siegfried is the 1976 performance. Be that as it may, it's a fine recording.