To my ears Lawrence Tibbett and George London remain the supreme interpreters of this magnificient "aria". Power, grace and emotional expression remain unequaled.The illustrious Leopold Stokowski conducts the Philadelphia Orchestra (recorded 1934 in Camden).

It is unfortunate that Tibbett never sang any other Wagner roles besides Wolfram and Kothner (Die Meistersinger). He did sing Hans Sachs, which he considered his dream role, in a gala evening, but only the 3rd act and also in English. There are recordings (although not in my possession) of him singing both monologues in studio (and also in English). I have heard the "Was duftet doch der Flieder" and it is magnificient! I have the only existing recording of him as Wolfram from 1936 with Lauritz Melchior as Tannhäuser, Kirsten Flagstad as Elisabeth and Margarete Halstead as Venus. What a cast! Although the sound quality is at times terribly poor it is to me perhaps the greatest recording of this opera on record. (less info)