Above: Pierre Boulez
In April of 1967, the Bayreuth Festival's Wieland Wagner production of TRISTAN UND ISOLDE was brought to Osaka, Japan, for three performances, featuring a stellar cast: Wolfgang Windgassen (Tristan), Birgit Nilsson (Isolde), Hertha Töpper (Brangäne), Frans Andersson (Kurvenal), Hans Hotter (King Marke), Sebastian Feiersinger (Melot), Georg Paskuda (Young Sailor/Shepherd), and Gerd Nienstedt (Steersman).
These performances marked the only time Pierre Boulez conducted this Wagner masterpiece.
Watch and listen here.
For me, this recording captures, perhaps more truly than any other, the way Birgit Nilsson sounded live in the performances of hers that I heard at The Met.