I'm in the process of enjoying Karl Bohm's conducting, and the fine singing of Tristan spearheaded by Birgit Nilsson and Wolfgang Windgassen, hoping to draw a clear comparison with Bohm's better-known, superlative 1966 version with a similar cast. But I couldn't help noticing the slight oddity of the title card enclosed with the two disks. To wit:Reversible TristanTristan und Isolde, live recording from Bayreuth, July 24th, 1962That’s right, in Act Two’s Love DuetIsolde, Tristan swap their genders:Says so in Wagner’s tangled textCompounding passion with surrenders.He sings how he’s become Isolde,She sings about her turning Tristan;She who could not decipher “Tantris”— Could anyone that corybanticMiss the hint of congress Tantric?—No fitter name for her than Sole Id.Outstripping Sole Id and her Tantris,Opera Depot issues two disks,Tristan, Bayreuth, ’62.It boasts a title card like few;Gives names to roles and singing players,To wit: Tristan is Birgit Nilsson,Wolfgang Windgassen plays Isolde.It just gets better: Kurwenal,Tristan’s blustery manservant,Is played by mezzo Kerstin Meyer.Brangäne, house-girl to Isolde,Is baritone, trusty Eberhard Wächter.(Come to think of it, what parentsName their bright boy Eberhard?But that’s a construct to be filedWith names like Hildegard and Behrens,Walküre-typical, totally wild.)So doth the white-bread title cardReverse poor Tristan’s cast of players,Sure to confound the already jarredBy Tristan’s multiverse of layers.Such gender-bending like a tuxFits operas of love and flux.

With the singers in this cast and with the monumental Karl Böhm conducting, this recording can't help but be wonderful. And it is. If you're only familiar with the later DG Tristan (with Ludwig and Talvela replacing Meyer and Greindl), you need to hear this to learn how an interpretation deepens and develops in the same production over several seasons. I'm not going to say this is better than the DG set, but it's all taken from one performance as opposed to the commercial release that was stitched together from several performances in the run.Greindl never had the most lovely tone; certainly Talvela is his superior in that respect, Yet Greindl was a fine actor and a native German speaker, making his Marke effective in different ways from Talvela. Similarly, Meyer doesn't have Ludwig's voluptuous tones, but she is perhaps even more urgent, there's more at stake for Brangäne than in the commercial set.This was transferred from a set of fairly quiet records with only a few clicks here and there and no skipped grooves. Whoever did the transfer did an admirable job of joining the sides. The sound is excellent with that warm Bayreuth sound so hard to capture in the studio.All Tristan und Isolde lovers should hear this, even if you have many others.

Outstanding performance and wonderful principals.

Karl Bohm finds the Golden Mean in this score. For instance, in Act II, contrast the swooning lyricism of the ode to Frau Minne with the ardent, propulsive run-ups to the climax of the love duet. Against the refulgent Birgit Nilsson, Wolfgang Windgassen cannot help but sound merely human -- but what humanity! He is always 100% involved and can turn emotions on a dime, as when he turns from gently bidding Isolde to join him in the realm of night to reproaching himself wrenchingly for his betrayal of Marke.Kerstin Meyer, in her debut season at Bayreuth, floats "Einsam wachend" as though suspended weightlessly, with all the time in the world hers to command. Eberhard Waechter's Kurwenal exudes deep immersion in the role, particularly at the wounded Tristan's bedside, with immense beauty of tone. No such laurels for Josef Greindl, whose acid-toned Marke quickly exhausts both our patience and sympathy. Nor is Georg Paskuda the most lyrical of Young Sailors, although there are telling supporting contributions from Gerhard Stolze (Shepherd) and Niels Moeller (Melot). The CD transfer was made from LPs, so expect brief interruptions of the music from time to time.