8 April 1932, with the Philadelphia Orchestra, soloists and chorus. First recording Stokowski's performances on 9 and 11 April 1932 were recorded 'live' by RCA Victor (see below). The company issued the 11 April performance on twenty-seven 78rpm sides, and remained the only recording of the work in the catalogue until the advent of the modern Long Play record. RCA Victor eventually reissued the recording on LP and CD. Bell Laboratories had been experimentally recording the Philadelphia Orchestra in high fidelity and stereophonic sound; RCA Victor reportedly used the new technology to record the performances on 33 1/3 rpm masters. Other performances A performance of Gurre-Lieder without intermission runs over an hour and a half. Riccardo Chailly's 1990 Decca recording, for example, lasts more than 100 minutes and takes two compact discs. In 2014 the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam was the first company to perform the Gurre-Lieder as a stage presentation, in a production directed by Pierre Audi. Structure The cantata is divided into three parts. Whereas the first two parts are scored for solo voices and orchestra only, the third part introduces a further two soloists, a narrator, three four-part male choruses as well as a full mixed chorus. Plot In the first part of the work (approx. 1 hour), the love of Waldemar for Tove and the theme of misfortune and impending death are recounted in nine songs for soprano and tenor with orchestral accompaniment. A long orchestral interlude leads to the Wood Dove's Song, arguably the most famous part of the work, which tells of Tove's death and Waldemar's grief. The brief second part (5 mins) consists of just one song in which the bereft and distraught Waldemar accuses God of cruelty. As punishment for this, God curses Waldemar and his dead men to ride across Gurre lake each night. In the third part (approx. 45 mins), Waldemar summons his dead vassals from their graves. The undead's restless roaming and savage hunt around the castle at night is thunderously depicted by the male chorus. During this, a peasant sings of his fear of the eerie army. Waldemar then proclaims that Tove may be watching his actions from heaven. There is a humorous interlude in the grotesque song of the fool Klaus who is forced to ride with the macabre host when he would rather rest in his grave. As the sun begins to rise, the undead