This is arguably the best sung version you will find anywhere. Look at the cast: Lucia Popp AND Edita Gruberova! And Bernd Weikl, although a genuine baritone, does not cheat his way through the tenor part of Eisenstein like Wächter or Prey, but actually sings it as written, and beautifully. Pros Walter Berry and Erich Kunz likewise accomplish the incredibly difficult task of singing all of the music they are given accurately, while maintaining an almost improvised style of comedy in their respective roles. Likewise Josef Hopferwieser. Theodor Guschlbauer, the conductor, stays glued to the proceedings, so that there is never a slip between the goings on onstage and the orchestra, and conducts with admirable verve. And the cherry on top is Otto Schenk's famous staging, with dialog and "shtick" personalized for the specific talents of each performer. And it's all live! This and the Covent Garden performance of 1984 are my all time favorites, with honorably mentions for the other two Schenk versions (1972 and 1987).
