bordersjohnh

Well, with THREE excellent, female singers - Erna Berger, Tiana Lemnitz and Margarete Klose - one can hardly go wrong, with this film/performance. The conductor is Artur Rother, who was famous/infamous for his very-quick tempos, in certain Met Opera performances, but HERE, his tempos are well-chosen! ... The males are Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender, and as "Graf" ... an excellent baritone, Mathieu Ahlersmeyer. Ahlersmeyer, in particular, lends a very-fine CHARACTER to the role; the latter, and his unique and easily-recognizable timbre make this a "Graf" to remember. To be honest, it's difficult to find an audio-only performance (except, possibly, for the old Kleiber one) that approaches, or matches, this one.