A live performance from Bayreuth in 1953 lead by Eugen Jochum
Astrid Varnay and Ramon Vinay were among the leading interpreters of these roles in the 20th century
This 1953 Bayreuth production of Richard Wagners Tristan und Isolde is most noteworthy for being the only recording of the great Swedish-American dramatic soprano Astrid Varnay, one of the great Brünnhildes of the 20th c., in the role of Isolde. The sure, steady and consummate hand of conductor Eugen Jochum leads the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra and a typically wondrous for the time cast that includes Ramón Vinay as Tristan, Ludwig Weber, Gustav Neidlinger, Ira Melaniuk, and a young Theo Adam as the coxswain or steersman of the ship in this powerful and thankfully documented performance.