Rene Kollo sings Oberon-"Von Jugend auf in dem Kampfgefild" 

I respect and admire this pure german heldentenor. In his times he was one of the greatest I prefer his full of expression sung Tanhaeuser. These highest dramatic Tenors begin early to pay their voicetoll in view of what they sing/sang

Kubelik both conducts and sings!!! What a marvel! lol

The basic sound of the voice is just fabulous. This may be Kollo's best recording. But he smudges the runs and seems to sing the wrong words in a couple places. He goes for a full voiced top note on 'liebe' where most tenors sing it in falsetto, but I have no complaint about his style or approach. He was caught this day in exceptionally good voice. Very fine singing of a wonderful aria seldom heard live. Kollo wasn't always so good. He came into town (San Francisco) a dozen or so years ago. We heard him in a solo recital and then in one of his big roles. In the first half of the recital his voice was obscured and out of focus. After the intermission he pulled himself together and was much better - but still not as good as he is here. I think Kollo never had his voice completely under control. He had good days and bad days and some days he had both. I sang regularly with less good singers and I was familiar with singers who had good days and not-so-good days. Pavarotti - whom I heard early in his career and later too - was always the same. He was very reliable but many singers can't be so steady and predictable.