Paul Kuen (tenor), Nicolai Gedda (tenor), Kerstin Meyer (mezzo-soprano), Christa Ludwig (mezzo-soprano), Otto Edelmann (bass-baritone), Karl Friedrich (tenor), Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (soprano), Franz Bierbach (bass), Harald Proglhoff (bass-baritone), Harald Pröglhöf (bass-baritone), Ljuba Welitsch (soprano), Erich Majkut (tenor), Gerhard Unger (tenor), Anny Felbermayer (soprano), Teresa Stich-Randall (soprano), Eberhard Wächter (bass-baritone), Bancroft's School Choir (performed by), Loughton High School For Girls (lead vocals), Loughton High School for Girls' Choir (performed by), Bancroft's School Chorus (lead vocals)
Philharmonia Orchestra, Children's Chorus from Loughton High School for Girls and Bancroft's School, Philharmonia Chorus
Herbert von Karajan
Recording Venue: 10-15 & 17-22 December 1956 / Kingsway Hall, London
"I wouldn’t be without Ludwig’s unusually earthy Marschallin for Bernstein either (though the cast is less even than on this studio recording from 16 years earlier), but her Octavian for Karajan just pips it to the post, not only for her chemistry with Schwarzkopf’s cultivated Marschallin but also for a Presentation of the Rose scene that captures all the tremulous thrill of love at first sight." - Katherine Cooper, Presto Classical, 16th March 2018.
