To choose between these two performances is almost impossible. While not retracting a word from my praise for the Solti/Decca when it appeared on CD, I can also appreciate the complementary virtues of the Karajan. As regards the conducting, he is more intent on the long line and on sheerly sensuous sound than Solti; thus individual climaxes aren't so thrilling but the cumulative effect is mighty impressive, and the Vienna Philharmonic responded just as gratefully to his reading as they did to Solti's 17 years earlier. Over all, Karajan's version is about eight minutes longer and I'm not sure that the slightly more temperate speeds are really an advantage in this piece.
The recordings, as EG indicated in his original review of this EMI set, second the respective performances. The EMI sound provides a theatrical perspective with less immediacy than the Decca, though I feel the CD of the EMI has more presence than its LP counterpart. It is also more closely co-ordinated with the voices. Nor are there any of the deliberately distancing effects of the Decca, which much more arrestingly conjures up Jochanaan's voice in the cistern. Which is not to say that the EMI is in any way dull, just less hard-hitting. You pays your money....
There is a similar contrast with the two Salomes. Nilsson's is the more incisive, more commanding and nasty reading. Behrens perhaps comes closer to what Strauss intended when we recall he suggested Elisabeth Schumann sing the part. Behrens is the spoilt, girlish, sensuous Princess, whose seeming innocence of her own character and her obsession make the part that much more horrifying in its implications. If she is less pointed in her articulation of the text, her very airiness and sweetness of tone convey the depravity of her feelings almost the more dreadfully as at her first, delicate enunciation of her desire: ''Den Kopf des Jochanaan''. In the final analysis one wants both interpretations.
I think I am going against received opinion in preferring Waechter's John the Baptist to Van Dam's. He seems more naturally to convey the visionary nobility of the character and his diction is just that much more idiomatic. Bohm (Karajan) is a less exaggerated Herod than Stolze and more pleasing to the ear, but then a degree of exaggeration is permissible in this role. Both Hofmann and Baltsa convey the depraved cynicism of Herodias, but I much prefer Solti's Kmentt to Karajan's Ochman as Narraboth. The many small roles are equally well taken in both versions. EMI continue to offer disappointing booklets.
If I had to have just one set, it would still be the Decca, but I should feel the loss of Behrens's compelling and subtle Salome and indeed miss much else that is interesting and vital in the EMI. Strauss lovers, who seem to admire this opera more than most people, will want both.'