One of the best Holländer rcordings is the one Philips produced in 1961 with Anja Silja and Franz Crass, conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch. It’s a live compilation from the Bayreuth festival. However there is another Holländer recording from the same year. Andromeda released the radio broadcast from the Bayerischer Rundfunk. The big difference is that in the radio broadcast George London sings the dutchman whereas Philips decided in favor of Franz Crass. Both are excellent, personally I prefer Crass. Anyway, now at least we have the chance to hear London in one of his best Wagner roles.

The year before, in 1960, Anja Silja made his Bayreuth debut at the age of 20. Interestingly a Holländer broadcast from that year has been revealed again from Andromeda. The cast is the same as on the Philips recording. From a artistic point of view there is not much difference between the two recordings. The Philips release is preferable because it has the better sound and was recorded in stereo (both broadcasts from 1960/1961 are in mono). So if you have the Philips recording there is not much incentive to get the 1960 broadcast, it’s mainly for Wagner and Silja aficionados.