This performance of Tristan und Isolde boasts a stellar cast, but for me the real standout is the conducting of Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt. Born in Berlin in 1900, Schmidt-Isserstedt enjoyed a distinguished career that included posts at the Hamburg State Opera and the Deutsche Oper in Berlin.

Schmidt-Isserstedt does a remarkable job of shaping the orchestral lines, encouraging the players to sing through sustained notes much as the singers do. Rather than allowing Wagner's long phrases to become static, he imbues them with a continuous sense of movement and direction. The result is a performance of extraordinary kinetic force, in which the orchestra seems to breathe alongside the singers.

Paula Baumann brings a burnished soprano to Isolde, rich in the middle register and blessed with an easily accessible upper range. Max Lorenz sings Tristan with his signature ardor and intensity, although he was already entering the period of his career when a tendency to sing sharp would increasingly detract from his otherwise admirable singing. Margarethe Klose, meanwhile, brings enormous warmth to Brangäne, her sumptuous mezzo-soprano lending the role both tenderness and authority.