Gluck was the first great opera reformer, who restored opera to the principles that governed the true pioneers a century and a half earlier. This new disc on Profil is an original studio recording made by Decca in 1956 which aimed to mark the relationship between Gluck and the other great reformer, Richard Wagner, by appointing the title role to the great Brünnhilde and Isolde of the day, Kirsten Flagstad.

“[Flagstad] handles the words effectively…to make you feel for this rather chilling heroine. Best of all are the great choral tableaux, which Geraint Jones conducts with due weight and solemnity.” Gramophone