Wagner - Tristan und Isolde - Nilsson-Vickers

Flac & cue; cover, inlays, booklet & discs scans

This is the first time Nilsson and Vickers sang Tristan und Isolde together: it looks like Vickers waited until his voice was mature enough to sing Tristan, particularly to do it next to Nilsson. According to her memories, she also waited, about 14 years for Vickers to be her Tristan. The wait really paid off judging by the results.

Reviews:

"Before this recording was available, I often thought Nilsson and Vickers would be the IDEAL Tristan and Isolde together--if only there were a recording. Now there is! Strangely, I had also cast Grace Hoffman as Brangaene in my mind, and she's there too! This is one of those performances (live from Buenos Aires) that no matter how bad the sound balances are, the listener is transported to stage with the singers leaving your headphones and easy chair miles away. This is because the singers' performance transcends the material as a great opera performance should but rarely does. For me to give any opera recording five stars, no less a live performance from 1971, is altogether phenomenal. It's worth any price."www-amazon.com - Daniel Mitrano . December 3, 1999

"I really cannot understand all the recent hoopla over Eaglen and Heppner in TRISTAN! Anyone who knows anything about the opera and has heard recordings such as this one (or Nilsson & Windgassen under Bohm on DG) - to say nothing of the old Met broadcasts - will recognize this for the "real thing" rather than a tenuous and uninteresting sight-reading by comparison. Nilsson and Vickers get into the roles and create something truly magic and spellbinding. Stein may not be Furtwangler but he leads a flowing performance with authority and strength. The supporting cast is first-rate. Grab it before it disappears (which the good stuff seems to do with alarming frequency)." www-amazon.com - W.Russell . September 26,  2000