I have long hoped for a complete recording of Tristan und Isolde featuring the great but under-recorded Ludmila Dvořáková, and I am pleased to report that her Isolde does not disappoint. To call this role punishing is an understatement—Isolde is on stage for nearly the entire opera, tasked with navigating a relentless barrage of dramatic vocal writing that often hovers near the top of the soprano range. Few singers take it on, and even fewer manage to embody both the ferocity of Act I and the intoxicating sensuality of Act II as convincingly as Dvořáková.

Ticho Parly begins the evening strongly as Tristan, but by Act III, signs of vocal fatigue set in, particularly in the demanding high As, which he begins to muscle through. Hertha Töpper brings a warm, expressive mezzo to Brangäne, while Franz Crass lends noble restraint and dignity to King Marke. Fernando Previtali conducts with a keen ear for the opera's sweeping romanticism, drawing out its lush textures and emotional undercurrents.