This 1962 production of Xerxes was based on Rudolf Steglich’s 1958 edition, which closely follows the autograph score housed in the British Museum and uses a new German translation. The roles of Xerxes and Arsamenes, originally written for castrato sopranos, are here taken by tenor voices.

As regards the orchestral direction, Rafael Kubelík favours a reserved, rather than overblown, string sound and adopts discreet vibrato, Baroque terraced dynamics and tempo relationships that avoid extremes. For today’s listeners, therefore, his interpretation falls midway between the productions based on Oskar Hagen’s arrangement, which largely reflected a romantic interpretation of the Baroque, and the current period-sonority versions.

The star cast features Fritz Wunderlich, Naan Pöld, Hertha Töpper, Jean Cook, Ingeborg Hallstein, Carl Christian Kohn and Max Proebstl, demonstrating how high the standards of opera production were at the time.

Re-release of C476983

Cast:
- Xerxes: Fritz Wunderlich
- Atalanta: Ingeborg Hallstein
- Arsamenes: Naan Pöld
- Amastris: Hertha Töpper
- Romilda: Jean Cook
- Ariodates: Karl Christian Kohn
- Elviro: Max Proebstl