This performance of Don Carlos, recorded live in Berlin in 1948 and sung in German, will be of interest only to fans of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who was making his operatic debut as the Marquis of Posa, and of Josef Greindl, who sings King Philip. Just for the record, the edition used is a slightly abbreviated five-act version and the sound is quite good, allowing us to hear every sung word–and I can tell you that the opera sounds terrible in German translation. Fischer-Dieskau is very impressive. His voice is light but even then it was very well inflected, and out of Posa he correctly creates a very enviable character. Greindl’s Philip is hugely imposing in a Wotan/Hagen sort of way, not quite pitiable or sad enough in his big aria, but awesome throughout. And that’s about where the good news ends. Ferenc Fricsay’s conducting is urgent and has great impetus, but there’s very little beauty to behold anywhere. Irma Demuth is a passable Elisabeth, but her voice is not memorable and her pitch is unreliable; Johanna Blatter’s Eboli is entirely lacking in seductive tones; and the less said about Boris Greverus’ Don Carlos, the better. Josef Hermann is scary as the Grossinquistor. A bonus offers Greindl in excerpts from Dutchman, Meistersinger, Rheingold, Walküre, and Othello (sic), all of which are impressive and none of which could convince me to buy this set. Only Fischer-Dieskau-heads need obsess.
