The three superb vocalists are lovely, lyrical Pilar Lorengar as Donna Elvira, smart, dramatic Eliz Grummer as Donna Anna (although she sounds a bit shrill in some places), and, above all, the giant, gravel-voiced genius Josef Greindl playing the Commendatore. Greindl was the leading performer of Wagner's big bass roles in Europe during the 1950s and 1960s, and gave hundreds of performances at Bayreuth. He was best known for playing menacing villains like Hagen, Fafner, and Hunding, but he also excelled in the noble-bass roles like Gurnemanz and the Landgrave. His character here is both menacing and noble. For some reason he was not videotaped very often so this performance is a rarity.
Drawbacks: Fischer-Dieskau and Walter Berry are both pretty annoying and do not seem to have taken the measure of their roles. The picture is grainy, fuzzy black-and-white and the sound quality is not great.
Drawbacks: Fischer-Dieskau and Walter Berry are both pretty annoying and do not seem to have taken the measure of their roles. The picture is grainy, fuzzy black-and-white and the sound quality is not great.