DESCRIPTION:
Here is a snippet from the second of three 1981 concert performances that yielded the famous and controversial "Tristan und Isolde" recording led by Leonard Bernstein. This passage is from the oft-omitted "Day and Night" section of the Liebesnacht, usually cut in deference to singers' stamina. Hildegard Behrens sounds just fine but most of the vocalism on display is from Peter Hofmann, in better-than-usual form. He wasn't the greatest Tristan (or Lohengrin or Parsifal) but he looked the parts and heroic tenors were in very short supply 30 years ago.