Riccardo Muti’s 1974 studio recording‚ with Caballé‚ Cossotto and Domingo‚ has been one of the steady recommendations for this work on CD. This ‘new’‚ live account from 1979 is taken from a production at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. In many‚ but not all ways‚ it surpasses the studio performance. In the first place‚ Muti’s reading has matured to the extent of being less wilful – for instance‚ his tempo for the closing scene’s ‘O terra addio’ is the better for being more orthodox – and even more persuasive in terms of fulfilling Verdi’s exacting demands on all concerned. I have seldom if ever heard the full panoply and subtlety of the composer’s scoring‚ especially the wonderful wind writing‚ so clearly expounded‚ no doubt helped by the National Theatre’s excellent acoustics and the dedicated playing of the house’s orchestra. The chorus is also commendable in every respect. And in a live account so much of the performance is more vivid than its studio counterpart‚ both in orchestral and vocal terms. Domingo‚ fine enough on EMI‚ here gives possibly his most responsive and exciting Radames on disc and that’s saying something. In tremendous voice‚ he produces magic towards the end of ‘Celeste Aida’ with the triple pianissimo Verdi asks for but seldom gets‚ and throughout he make every effort to fulfil Verdi’s demand for dolce and pp effects. It hardly needs saying that he was at the time at the peak of his amazing powers. Tomowa­Sintow provides most of the heft combined with sensibility that the title part calls for. Although she cannot manage Caballé’s many exquisite moments when she floats her tone on high‚ she has the firmer‚ stronger voice to ride the orchestra at climactic moments. I don’t feel quite the strong identification with the part that Fassbaender undoubtedly gives to her first Amneris. As you might expect‚ Fassbaender is very much her idiosyncratic‚ wholly compelling self‚ rising to heights of music­drama in Amneris’s great Act 4 scene‚ the repeated ‘io stessa… lo getta’ rending the heart‚ so it hardly matters that her high B flats are sketchy. This is an interpretation to savour. Nimsgern is a threatening presence as Amonasro‚ Lloyd appropriately authoritative and relentless as Ramfis. The recording‚ although the voices are sometimes a little distanced‚ catches the high excitement of a first night in the opera house‚ something difficult if not impossible to simulate in the studio. Applause is never intrusive‚ scenery change only once so. This is as gripping an account of the piece as I know on disc‚ certainly one to set beside the EMI as a recommendation.