The more one reviews and compares records, particularly operas, the more one comes to the conclusion that, among several, roughly equal versions of great works, the choice will depend very much on what the intending buyer wants from the piece, and the recording. All three above-listed versions of Tristan are more than valid views of the opera, yet they are also very different in character and in type of recording.
Take in the first place speed. Bernstein (Philips) takes half an hour longer than Kleiber over the length of the work and ten minutes longer than Furtwangler (EMI), yet all three conductors are convincing in their own way. Kleiber's reading, as I've written in the past, is the most youthful and immediate, lighter in every way than either of the others, but wonderfully spontaneous and ecstatic.
Then we have three very different Isoldes. Price sings the music more beautifully, more classically than her rivals, yet you cannot really hear that bel canto soprano being able to maintain this style in a stage performance. And she remains less involved than Behrens (for Bernstein), less caught up in the work's ethos, simply because she hasn't sung the part on stage. Flagstad (for Furtwangler) is something other: the incarnation of a motherly, all-enveloping Isolde, and vocally—of course—a Hochdramatische of true stature. Suthaus—and here I disagree with RO—is easily the most successful Tristan, unsurpassed in the Third Act bouts of delirium and vision, as is Furtwangler in his support for his tenor. His is a performance in the real Heldentenor tradition which neither of his rivals can match. Kollo sings, however, with the utmost sensitivity and feeling—it's simply the sound of his tone that can become uningratiating over such long stretches of music. Hofmann comes somewhere in-between.
As I have stated previously, Fassbaender would have been a better companion for Behrens and Minton for Price. As it is, I still find Fassbaender imaginatively concerned. Fischer-Dieskau altogether out of sorts for Kleiber, ardent and upright for Furtwangler. All three basses are infinitely moving as Marke.
So far as sound goes, the DG has been remixed by the engineers with Kleiber's assistance, much to its advantage. By Comparison with the Philips the voices are more forward; you feel the orchestral presence much more vividly on Philips. The remastered EMI comes somewhere in the middle. Amazingly, I find it still the most truthful in balance. One final factor is that the Philips stretches over five CDs, the others take only four. In my book, the HMV and Philips rate about equal, the DG a shade behind, but as I say the choice is very much a personal one. I would urge DG to give us the Bohm/Bayreuth set on Compact Disc: RO and I are at one in finding that version, recently remastered on LP, the most worthwhile and vivid interpretation of all.'