Wagner - Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Currently listening to the recording conducted by Rafael Kubelik (4 1/2 hours long), to compare it with that by Goodall (in English, runs 5 hours) which I listened to yesterday. The Goodall recording is from a long-lost BBC tape of a broadcast in 1968, just a couple of months before I joined the Beeb - the tape has clearly been badly stored, and I would be seriously embarrassed to issue something with so many faults (dropouts, and phasing effects caused by tape weave, mainly); I think it has only been allowed out to silence people demanding this specific "classic" performance. The Kubelik was recorded by DGG in 1967, but release was blocked by contractual issues, and it was only made available through another company recently - it is now considered the best account of the work, and is certainly better than the Goodall, as well as being in incomparably better sound.