Till well into the 1960s it was common practice to perform operas in the language of the country where they were being performed. What now seems strange to us, with our reverence for the original, was taken for granted then. Whatever the language, the artistic value of the performance depends very much upon its exponents. The proof is in the five recordings that make up this box set. The cast lists read like a Who's Who of contemporary vocalists. We can count ourselves lucky to have these audio documents - edited to the highest possible technical standards - at our disposal.

Above all the recordings hangs the shining star of the great Rudolf Schock (1915-1986). Schock sang early on under the truly great conductors of his time such as Wilhelm Furtwängler, Georg Solti, Erich Leinsdorf, George Szell and Karl Böhm. He was one of the first German singers to be invited to London's Royal Opera House Covent Garden, as was the case in the 1948/49 season. He concurrently and consistently expanded his repertoire in both directions, into operetta and into the works of the contemporary avant-garde.