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Powerful of voice, though without the deep, cutting tone of some of his predecessors, bass Karl Ridderbusch nevertheless made a strong impression in the great Wagner bass roles. His plush instrument boasted thrusting top notes during the years of his considerable prime and possessed sufficient size to dominate a large orchestra. In addition, its fine focus made him a splendid singer of Bach, as was evidenced by his beautifully sung Christus in the composer's St. Matthew Passion. Originally trained in engineering, Ridderbusch turned to singing when he won an amateur competition and was noticed by German tenor and TV personality Rudolf Schock. Schock was sufficiently impressed to help underwrite a program of studies at Essen's Folkwangschule. Ridderbusch made his stage debut at Münster's Städtisches Theater in 1961 and shortly thereafter accepted a contract at Essen where he began to undertake the Wagner, Verdi, and Strauss roles that would form the core of his subsequent repertory. In 1965, he joined the Deutsche Oper am Rhein. In 1966, he made his American debut singing Sarastro with Lyric Opera of Chicago and in 1967, he first appeared at Bayreuth. Ridderbusch made his first Metropolitan Opera appearances in 1967 and sang in an impressive Ring cycle at Covent Garden in 1971. His Hagen, somewhat heartier than most, was nonetheless a dangerous personality and was vigorously sung. Meanwhile, he had begun a long-term relationship with the Wiener Staatsoper and was frequently heard in Munich as well. Soon, he came into conductor Herbert von Karajan's circle of preferred singers and became a regular at the Salzburg Easter Festivals and in the conductor's related recording projects. During the period in which he was Karajan's leading bass of preference, Ridderbusch recorded such roles as Pogner in Die Meistersinger, Marke in Tristan und Isolde, Heinrich in Lohengrin, Hagen in Die Götterdämmerung, and Rocco in Fidelio. Nor was he unaccustomed to recording with others. Daland and Falstaff in Nicolai's Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor were sturdy interpretations sung under the direction of other leading conductors. Given his facility in the top register, Ridderbusch moved to undertake Hans Sachs and quickly became one of the role's leading proponents. His Sachs in the Chicago Lyric Opera's 1977 production of Die Meistersinger was, if somewhat bluff, richly and warmly sung.

Hans Sotin made a powerful impression in several venues in Europe well before he had reached the age of 30. His instrument had both a cutting edge and considerable velvet about the edges. His fluency in the upper register led him to the role of Wotan in Wagner's Ring der Nibelungen. There, he supplied a near ideal balance between declamatory vigor and a long-lined flow of beautiful tone. Only an interpretive shortfall kept him from being definitive in the daunting assignment. Over the years, some diminution in sheer size was noted, but the voice retained most of its handsome quality of sound. After studies at the Dortmund Hochschule für Musik, Sotin made his stage debut at Essen in 1962 as the Police Commissioner in Der Rosenkavalier. Two years later, he was engaged by the Hamburg Staatsoper, where he took part in the premieres of operas by Krzysztof Penderecki, Boris Blacher, and Gottfried von Einem in addition to singing increasingly more important roles in the standard repertory. In 1970, he appeared at the Glyndebourne Festival singing an impressive Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte. A year later, he appeared at Bayreuth for the first time as the Landgraf in Tannhäuser. In America, Chicago heard him before he appeared at the Metropolitan Opera. In 1971, making an auspicious debut with Chicago Lyric Opera, he faced down the large-voiced Filippo of Nicolai Ghiaurov with a stentorian Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlo and proved a menacing Rheingold Fafner versus the softer-voiced Fasolt of Bengt Rundgren. Not even the mighty Alberich of Gustav Neidlinger outvoiced Sotin in the Lyric production. In 1972, Sotin made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera singing Sarastro, the first of many roles he presented to New York audiences. Debuts followed in other important centers as well: the Wiener Staatsoper (1973), Covent Garden (1974), and La Scala (1976). In addition to his stage appearances, Sotin has been heard in oratorio, particularly in cantatas by Bach, Haydn's The Seasons (a worthy recording of this was made with Dorati), the Missa Solemnis and Symphony No. 9 of Beethoven, and Mahler's Symphony No. 8. Recordings of Tannhäuser and Lohengrin represent him at close to his best. A live Parsifal from Bayreuth casts his fluent Gurnemanz against the unsteady, leathery Parsifal of Peter Hofmann.

Anna Reynolds was a leading British mezzo-soprano with a strong Italian operatic career.

She was born Ann Reynolds in Canterbury, and studied piano as a girl. It was to train as a pianist that she went to London to attend the Royal Academy of Music. While she was there, her vocal talent became clear, and she changed her area of study to voice. She went to Rome to continue her voice studies with Debora Fambri and Re Koster. It was at this time that she adopted the name Anna.

She made her operatic debut in Parma in 1960 as Suzuki in Puccini's Madama Butterfly, then first appeared in Vicenza in 1961. She also sang regularly at Spoleto, Rome, Trieste, Venice, and La Scala in Milan.

Her British debut was in Glyndebourne in 1962 as Geneviève in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande. She scored another major success in her home country in 1963, when she sang the part of the Angel in Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius in London under the direction of Sir John Barbirolli in 1963. Another major Covent Garden success was her portrayal of Andromache in Tippett's King Priam.

Her Italian career continued to develop. In it she showed a great range of technique and style. Among her roles were Charlotte in Massenet's Werther, Elizabeth I in Bellini's Maria Stuarda, Rossini's Tancredi, Adelaide in Strauss' Arabella (her Covent Garden debut role in 1967), and Dido in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas.

She debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1968 in the relatively small Wagnerian role of Flosshilde, but two years later, she made her first appearance at Bayreuth as Fricka in Die Walküre. She continued to sing annually at Bayreuth through 1975.

Also in 1970 she made her first appearance in the Salzburg Festival, and there she sang in the famous Wagner Ring cycle directed by Herbert von Karajan.

Some of her most important recordings document her effectiveness in the concert and recital repertory, including Bach cantatas, Schumann songs, participation in Leonard Bernstein's pioneering traversal of the complete Mahler symphonies, and, especially, Das Lied von der Erde and other Mahler songs. She participated in the premiere performances of the debut work by young British composer John Tavener, The Whale, and sang on its commercial LP release, the only classical release on The Beatles' own label, Apple Records.