Where second-rank works are concerned, the extent to which performance quality can change one's perspective is exemplified by this set of the premiere of Strauss's penultimate opera. Last month I was lukewarm about the piece: hearing it done here by singers steeped in the Strauss tradition and with voices appropriate to his music, the work sounds much more convincing. In fact, I was enthusiastic about this reading when it appeared briefly on LP some 21 years ago, not least thanks to Krauss's complete understanding of the idiom and the superb playing of the Vienna Philharmonic. Excellent as Howarth and his players were at Garsington, there is a special frisson of authenticity here that they cannot match.
Even more important, Anneliese Kupper, in the title-role, though possessing an essentially less attractive voice than Orla Boylan, creates a real character through the aegis of her expressive phrasing and keen diction. Schoffler has the vocal weight and presence his Garsington counterpart lacks and, obviously, better German: indeed, he is Jupiter to the life. Gostic's voice, hovering between the lyric and the heroic, provides all the ardour the part of Midas calls for, showing that in this late work Strauss for once wrote sympathetically for his tenor. All the Viennese stalwarts (many of them renowned names) engaged on the smaller roles surpass their Garsington interpreters.
Of course, the sound hasn't the breadth and colour of the new version, and there are a few cuts which Garsington restored, but if you want to understand what this piece is about, this Salzburg Festival set is the one to have - though, unfortunately, you will have to do without a libretto.'