Gedda; Nicolai

Mozart Magic Flute Klemperer/EMI C

Jed Distler

As with Karajan and Böhm’s first recorded Magic Flutes, and the pioneering Beecham set, Klemperer’s 1964 EMI version includes the arias and ensembles only, omitting

Boskovsky’s Controversial Fledermaus

Robert Levine

This 1971 recording has always stirred controversy: Some feel its Viennese-ness is overdone, especially by Fischer-Dieskau as Falke, but others, like myself, just love its

Haydn Seasons–Boring, Cut, Colorless

David Hurwitz

This rather boring, slightly cut recording of Haydn’s perennially fresh oratorio The Seasons was highly regarded in its day (the mid-1960s), when competition was sparse.

Gonnenwein Bach St Matthew

Jed Distler

Among traditional modern-instrument versions of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Wolfgang Gönnenwein’s 1968 recording has a lot to offer. Not least is the excellent choral singing