When we turn to live recordings, we enter another world, one in which the performances have, on the whole, a greater consistency of thought and execution. That applies in spades to the famous Bayreuth set of 1966. Karl Böhm's swift, incandescent, very theatrical interpretation isn't to everyone's liking. Yet, for all the fast speeds, the charge of superficiality is misplaced. Böhm's direct, cogently thought through reading, in which tempo relationships, inner figures (as one might expect from a Mozart and Strauss specialist), and instrumental detail are all carefully exposed and related to each other, offers rich rewards. Expressive intensity is here married ideally to a transparency of texture.

Conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler already enjoyed a worldwide legendary standing during his lifetime - he was considered the German conductor and performances were greeted with rapturous applause. Today, more than 50 years after his death, Wilhelm Furtwangler is still an icon and his work has become an integral part ofthe music scene.

Right on time for the festival season, Deutsche Grammophon releases Uwe Eric Laufenberg's acclaimed production of Richard Wagner's "Parsifal". Under the direction of Hartmut Haenchen, this musical and staging masterpiece was first performed in Bayreuth on 25 July 2016 and is now available on DVD and Blu-ray. The great success of the premiere is due above all to the powerful-voiced protagonist ensemble: Klaus Florian Vogt as Parsifal, Georg Zeppenfeld as Gurnemanz, Elena Pankratova as Kundry and Ryan McKinny as Amfortas shone in their roles. This is why this production will be performed several times at this year's Bayreuth Festival.