You needn't do more than compare the Act 1 Prelude in these two performances to hear the superior sound-quality of Sir Georg Solti's Decca recording. Even after digital remastering Rudolf Kempe's account on EMI has less presence, a narrower perspective. There's a difference in interpretation, too. Solti phrases spaciously, but with no sense of sluggishness: Kempe is less expansive, with a hint of urgency verging on restlessness. However, Kempe doesn't invariably drive the music more forcefully than Solti—his Act 3 Prelude is relatively sedate: and Kempe sustains the theatrical dynamism of the work in the recording studio no less successfully than his rival.
When it comes to singers, I find Kempe's pair of plotters (Ludwig and Fischer-Dieskau) superior to Solti's, both musically and dramatically. There is also much to admire in Elisabeth Grummer's vulnerable Elsa and Jess Thomas's plangent but never merely lachrymose Lohengrin. Thomas has the full dramatic range for the part, but in Act 3 the voice sounds less fresh and full than it might. Placido Domingo, for Solti, conveys more passion with less effort, inspired by Jessye Norman's powerful yet never overbearing Elsa. Solti's performance as a whole reaches a significantly higher peak in Act 3 than Kempe's.
It should nevertheless be stressed that Kempe's performance has no serious weaknesses. Moreover, it has been issued on three well-filled CDs, as opposed to Solti's four. This means that side-breaks come in irritating places but, given the saving, it may prove a minor irritation.
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