Here is the glorious conclusion to Leinsdorf's famous 'Ring' cycle from New York. Paul Jackson wrote, of this performance, that "in the opening duet, Nilsson confirms her right to Valhalla status as well. Not only do the frequent ascents into the upper range provide their familiar thrill, but the middle and lower voice are not devoid of warmth. She appears to have all but banished problematic pitches and the security of her intervallic leaps is absolutely bracing; the exuberant thrust of the closing phrases of the duet is capped by a magnificent high C.... Frick is the real hero of the afternoon. To convey Hagen's evil, Frick needn't resort to the vocal shudder; he merely launches thunderbolts of tone. The sheer bulk of his voice alone would make him a Wagnerian colossus. Add to that a coloration marvelously obsidian - not the lugubrious black timbre which cannot hide its patches of grey, but a marble-encased tone which gives off sparks of life - and you have a singer who would have shown among the Wagnerians of legend." The remainder of the cast is excellent and the conducting is superb.

Artists

Hans Hopf (Siegfried), Birgit Nilsson (Brünnhilde), Norman Mittelmann (Gunther), Gladys Kuchta (Gutrune), Gottlob Frick (Hagen), Ralph Herbert (Alberich), Irene Dalis (Waltraute), Martina Arroyo (Woglinde/Dritte Norn), Irene Dalis (Zweite Norn), Jean Madeira (Erste Norn), Rosalind Elias (Wellgunde), Mignon Dunn (Flosshilde)

Orchestra & Chorus of the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, Erich Leinsdorf