This performance is overall stronger than the Siegfrieds from the 1956 and '57 Ring cycles. Windgassen is in excellent shape vocally and, by this point, knows his role thoroughly. He expertly paces himself so that he still sounds fresh in the final scene with Brünnhilde sung by Varnay with keen attention to detail and real bel canto beauty.Stolze is a marvelously slimy Mime as he was later on in the studio recordings for Solti and Karajan. He sings the role much more here than he would in subsequent years when his ranting could be annoying. His tone is steady, even attractive. Hotter completes this traversal of the cycle with some of his best singing though there are moments of vocal unsteadiness. His authority in the role is unquestionable. Andersson sings Alberich with biting intensity and Greindl remains a King among Fafners (he doesn't offer a yawn when he emerges from the cave though as he usually did). Ilosvay is a formidable Erda and Siebert a lovely Woodbird with excellent diction. Knappertsbusch seems more involved here than he could be, pacing the long evening well. The sound is clear and warm.Onto Götterdämmerung!

The second day of this cycle (the third if you count Das Rheingold as the first) finds Knappertsbusch as involved as he was in the first two operas. His tempi are generally slower, but not sluggish. He knows how to keep the pace moving so we reach the final scene as a genuine climax to all that has come before. His more relaxed tempo in the Alberich-Mime confrontation means that we can actually make out the words they're singing.Windgassen knows his role thoroughly by now though there are still a few times he jumps ahead of the beat. He is most believable in his vulnerability after discovering Brünnhilde, singing with a tenderness that is very moving. Varnay is splendid. Her top Bs and Cs are exciting and she too transitions believably from a goddess into a human woman. Hotter is great though his voice (as in the rest of this cycle) is not as steady as in previous cycles. Stolze sings much more here than he would in later performances. His vibrato is even and steady, his wit sharp. Siebert is an unusually beautiful Woodbird with excellent diction too. The other singers are all first-rate (these would be Ilosvay's last Bayreuth Erdas). The sound is very clear, the generosity of the Pirate Gods continuing.Onto Götterdämmerung!