No one really likes being asked, “Who’s your favorite tenor?” Once a singer reaches a certain level of artistry, ranking becomes not just difficult, but beside the point. Still, if I had to choose, it would be Lauritz Melchior. With singers like Franco Corelli or Wolfgang Windgassen, there are others you might reasonably compare them to. But in the dramatic tenor repertoire, Melchior remains in a class of his own. That rare mix of golden tone and overwhelming vocal power simply has never been matched.

This 1943 performance of Tristan und Isolde brings all of that into focus. Melchior sings with the same security heard in his performances from the 1930s. More compelling still is the emotional depth he brings to Tristan—reaching the heart of the role with devastating effect.

He’s joined by Helen Traubel, who also belongs to a very select group of singers who’ve fully mastered the role of Isolde. Some may point out that she avoids the high Cs in Act II, but given the sheer opulence and beauty of her singing, it hardly seems worth mentioning. She’s especially compelling in the Act I exchange with Tristan, where her sense of phrasing and responsiveness to the text are wonderfully alive.