Stemme is focussed and expressive, and if Koch sometimes seems underpowered, that is only through comparison to her. Herlitzius is similarly impressive, and she and Stemme are sufficiently distinct in timbre to distinguish them in their many ensembles. Best of all is Camilla Nylund as the Empress.

Nylund is probably today’s reigning Empress, bringing shining tone – more silver than steel – to a role she’s made her own… Stemme is predictably fine as the Dyer’s Wife, too, offering the necessary powerful integrity to counter the character’s less appealing traits… Koch remains an eminently likeable Dyer…The chief glory, however, is undoubtedly the conducting and playing.

Sonically surely the best Die Frau has ever enjoyed...The conductor here is the true hero: Thielemann’s orchestral storytelling negates any vocal deficiencies, making for an engrossing Frau which carves out a very special niche in the opera’s rich recorded history.