In Oxford University Press's "Dictionary of Opera Characters" (2008), Joyce Bourne writes, "Among famous Salomes, e.g. Emmy Destinn, Maria Jeritza, Maria Cebotari, Christel Goltz, Birgit Nilsson, Josephine Barstow, Hildegard Behrens and Catherine Malfitano, probably the most famous was the Bulgarian soprano Ljuba Welitsch. Welitsch's international career ended at about the time long-playing records were becoming the predominant medium for recordings. They opened the way for complete recordings of a large number of operas, but Welitsch retired too early to be part of this new development. Her only studio recording of a complete opera was "Die Fledermaus" (in English, without dialogue) recorded for the American Columbia label in December 1950 and January 1951 with the same cast and conductor as the contemporary Metropolitan Opera production. There were plans to make a complete studio recording of "Salome", with Reiner conducting, but they fell through for lack of funds. Complete live recordings of Welitsch in "Salome" were made in 1949 and 1952 and have been released in CD transfers. The critical consensus is that the first has Welitsch in better form, but with a weaker supporting cast than that of the 1952 set. Studio and off-air recordings of Welitsch in the final scene of "Salome" have been issued. The most widely circulated was a 1949 studio recording conducted by Reiner. The version mentioned by Steane, above, was recorded in Vienna in 1944 with Lovro von Matačić conducting. Other off-air recordings of complete operas featuring Welitsch are "Elektra" (BBC, 1947), "Un ballo in Maschera" (Glyndebourne company at Edinburgh, 1949), and "Aida" (Metropolitan, 1949 and 1950). A live recording of "Don Giovanni" was made at the Salzburg Festival in 1950, conducted by Furtwängler, with Tito Gobbi as Giovanni, Welitsch as Anna, Schwarzkopf as Elvira and Irmgard Seefried as Zerlina. It has been released on CD. Welitsch sings Marianne in two complete recordings of "Der Rosenkavalier". In addition to the Karajan set mentioned above, she plays the role in a 1957 Italian recording conducted by Artur Rodzinski. Early in 1946 the recording producer Walter Legge, talent-spotting in Vienna, signed Welitsch up as an EMI artist.