The performances on this cd are excellent. All of the singers are wonderful, and Dmitri Mitropoulous is superb! He conducts as a man driven, obsessed with the magnificent and powerful score of this Richard Strauss masterpiece. The sound is good for a live performance from the 1950's. The met opera cd guide gives this performance a bad review. I totally disagree. This historic performance deserves to be preserved and listened to- it is powerful, well sung, and magnificently conducted.