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Title: A beloved classic showing its age
Review: This was the first Rosenkavalier I ever heard, some forty years ago, and I must have gone to the library ten times to listen through earphones to it. But on reacquaintance I must say that the mono sound is more than a bit edgy and shallow. When reviewers say that Maria Reining is past her prime, I think it should be clarified; her voice is mature but still beautiful--she's a Marschallin well into her forties. Of course, if you love something, you love it as a whole. On the whole I still love Kleiber's conducting, which is so clear and unsentimental (insofar as that's possible amidst so much strawberries and cream), and even more I love the touching reminder of old vienna before the horrors of WW II descended and destroyed a golden illusion.
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