I have been so critical of other recent Wagner recordings I’ve reviewed that it is an absolute pleasure to say to you: Run out and buy this Tristan.
The reason is that this is the most “alive,” dramatic, excitingly sung and conducted performance of the opera since the late Karl Böhm…It’s nearly that good in performance quality, and the sonics are immeasurably better since Böhm performed it outdoors and a steady breeze blew across the microphones as it was being recorded.
…it’s in hybrid multichannel SACD sound for those with the equipment to play it thus, but even in “ordinary” stereo it is a tremendous listening experience. Thus again I exhort you to acquire it. Even with Flagstad’s
abridged 1936 performance or the Nilsson-Vickers on your shelf, this may become the Tristan you end up playing most often. © Fanfare Read complete review
