In the 1960s, Sándor Kónya was the go-to tenor for the Jugendlich roles of Walther, Lohengrin, and Erik. He sang lots of Italian opera, too, Puccini first and foremost, but it was in those lighter Wagner parts that he was best in class during that decade.^(I) Of the postwar Stolzings I listed earlier, he was the most effective I heard in person, and on this recording it is gratifying to hear him in top form. His is the most beautiful timbre of the group, and more echt-sounding than those of the excellent Americans, Thomas and Heppner (though, as I’m sure some of my German-speaking readers will observe, traces of his Hungarian origins linger). His singing is impetuous and emotionally committed, and the tessitura has no restraining hand on his vocalism. A thoroughly winning performance.

A second outstanding outing comes from the English bass-baritone Thomas Hemsley, as Beckmesser. Hemsley was a protean vocal stylist, a teacher, and author of an engaging and  knowledgeable book on the relationship of technique and emotion in singing.^(II) He was Bayreuth’s Beckmesser for several seasons following the broadcast on which this recording is based. Possessor of what sounds like a character bass of fair amplitude and good command of the challenging range-with-dynamic-control requirements of this part, he burrows into its interpretation in a granular way quite unusual for a “foreigner,” and when a good Beckmesser (one who takes the character seriously) must try his honest best to compete with superior legato and sympathetic tone, Hemsley is able to oblige.

In four of the significant supporting roles, too, this performance offers high quality. Without harking back to the days when great contraltos undertook this assignment, Brigitte Fassbänder is the best Magdalene I have heard—a full, firm mezzo-soprano voice of no weakness in the part’s compass, and a vivid characterization that turns Lene into a major presence. Franz Crass provides exactly what Kowaljow lacks in terms of musical continuity, plumpness of tone, and sheer ease, though as often with this highly listenable singer, there’s something of a facelessness about his work, and the suspicion that what sounds like the groundwork of a truly great bass voice at the bottom has found the easy way out higher up. Gerhard Unger notches at least his fourth recording of the role of David, reflecting his frequent onstage employment in it. His tenor is slight compared with that of, say, Holm, or the Met’s regular David of the ’50s, Paul Franke, to say nothing of that of Anton Dermota, the luxury-casting David of the  Knappertsbusch studio version. He doesn’t possess a trill, and sloughs off a few other ornaments. But the voice is pleasing, clear, and true, and Unger, a good physical actor, is expert with the verbal and musical gestures that add up to an audible personality. And for Kothner, there is the solid bass and observant style of the longtime Munich stalwart Kieth Engen. (The revised spelling made this American’s first name locally pronounceable.)