It is hardly credible that 30 years have passed since this performance was recorded at the newly rebuilt Nationaltheater in Munich, where the Music Director was then Josef Keilberth, a good routinier but an uninspired conductor. The results immediately came into competition with the 1957 studio-made Decca set under Solti. In the course of a long review in these pages EG concluded that, in spite of Fischer-Dieskau's superb assumption of Mandryka, which he repeated a year or so later at Covent Garden, it has to yield first place to the Decca set. I see no reason, now that they have both been re-released at mid-price, to argue with EG's verdict. Decca offer the original score complete; DG, or rather the Bavarian State Opera, opt for the revised version of 1939, the composer making a number of significant cuts (at Krauss's suggestion), most damaging in Act 3 in order that Acts 2 and 3 could be run together. Then, though I am one to favour live performances, on this occasion there's no questioning the superiority of the studio version. The balance here changes uncomfortably, the orchestral sound is often indistinct (especially unfortunate in Strauss), and in the pit Keilberth is no match for Solti, even if the latter was in 1957 not himself the ideal Strauss conductor—for that you will need to pay extra and acquire Sawallisch's full-price Orfeo set.
Where the singing is concerned, Della Casa—although she was still an ideal interpreter of the title-role in 1963—no longer had quite the bloom on her tone or ease of delivery of 1957. One admires the keen understanding of the text but that's not quite compensation enough for the loss of some comfort in the soaring phrases in which the piece abounds. There's not much to choose between the excellent Zdenka of Rothenberger and Gueden (Solti) though I differ from EG in slightly preferring Gueden's less effusive delivery. Fischer-Dieskau and London (Solti) are equally accomplished, near-ideal interpreters of the part of Mandryka. It depends whether you prefer the former's more detailed or the latter's more straightforward approach. Edelmann (Solti) and Kohn are both splendidly rotund and characterful Waldners. On the whole, the smaller roles are more effectively taken in the older version. Dermota is certainly the preferable Matteo. All that said, if you want a full picture of the Arabella discography, you will want this set for Fischer-Dieskau's Mandryka when he was at the height of his powers and as a souvenir of his partnership in the opera with Della Casa. If money is no object the best choice of all is undoubtedly the modern-recorded Sawallisch with Varady an apt successor to Della Casa and Fischer-Dieskau again.'