This 1972 production of Salome, starring the wonderful Leonie Rysanek in the title role and set in a Klimtian fin-de-siècle dream world, had the local and international critics clamouring for superlatives, and it is not hard to hear why. Quite apart from the vocal splendours of Rysanek in full-throated majesty, and the powerful support from Hopf and Hoffman, the orchestral playing has to be heard to be believed. Karl Böhm turns the Vienna Philharmonic into another character in the drama, so flexible and responsive is the ensemble to every nuance of the drama. This double CD set is part of a series of remastered historical live recordings called "Wiener Staatsoper Live", and comparing this disc with the earlier live recordings in the series (Rosenkavalier, 1955) the sound quality seems to be of a far higher standard. Quibbles? Jochanaan's pronouncements from the well have been done a little more mysteriously (and with a bit more reverb!), and Rysanek plays Salome as an imperious mature force, rather than the mercurial 16-year-old she is supposed to be That aside, this is a remarkable document of a great performance. --Warwick Thompson