By 1969 Karajan's Wagner performances had become more about the sounds of the orchestra than about the singers, but here he balances the two more astutely and we get the best of both worlds. The lovely enamel on Jess Thomas's tone had already begun to erode and, as Andy points out above, he sounds more middle-aged than most of us would like (on a recording we are deprived of his handsome stage presence). We've all heard much worse though and Thomas always conveys what he's singing about. Stolze's Mime is only a bit less caricatured here than he was for Solti, yet he is so vivid you won't care. He doesn't die quietly, going into the next world with lots of groans and screams (something Karajan denied him in the studio recording). Dernesch sings beautifully. She makes the first top C and then the top B's successfully, but botches the final C (she gets it in the studio). Ridderbusch is an uncommonly beautiful dragon and Grist a delightful Forest Bird. Stewart, Kelemen, and Dominguez are all first-rate.The orchestra makes magnificent sounds and Karajan paces the long evening well. He also makes the traditional cut in the Wanderer/Siegfried scene, something I wasn't expecting (he plays the opera complete in the studio). The sound is excellent broadcast mono, the voices only occasionally off-mic because of the movements on stage. There are a few minor textual and musical fluffs, but that happens in a live performance no matter how glorified the performers.

Thomas, Dernesch,Stewart and Ridderbusch, oll of them are excellent. But Karajan are Wonderful. Stoze is little aver acted