I notice that she sings the low notes with a kind of nasal, conservative placement that seemed popular with Germanic singers. I think i much prefer the darker, heavier chest placement from Italian singers.
She is amazing. The lower end needed work, obviously, but I love how young, energetic and oftentimes sweet she can sound singing at the volume that she does. If you love Wagner, give her a try so you can hear a fresher, brighter Brunnhilde cut right through heavy orchestration without barking.
I never liked this woman's voice. Pitchy, and bleaty, her borderline wobbly voice drives me through the roof. She also sounds like an up jumped lyric soprano, rather than a mature dramatic. I much prefer Traubel, Flagstad, Varnay, etc. Loud as all hell, though, and possessing suprising flexibility. Her musicality isn't bad, either! I just can't stand the sound she emits lol.
The most pitchy of the famous Wagnerians. She could even give Rysanek a fright. And yet I've heard people on RU-vid praise her pitch... Nice A and B-flat tho.
I don't think she had a very huge voice. Yes, her top is very strong but average and low notes are not big. Compare them with the low voices of Astrid Varnay and Ellein Farrel.
I think it is a very loud voice but not a particularly heavy voice. Certainly, Varnay's was notably heavier. I'm not sure about Farrell. I've always thought Farrell and Grob-Prandl were quite similar naturally.
Верха Фаррелл просто отвратительны. Хуже чем у Варнай. Вне оперы, да, у неё есть нижний регистр. Но когда доходило до определённых опер, она всё это дело кастрировала. Пела ту же Джоконду так же, как она бы напевала какие - нибудь поп вариации 60 - х. Варнай очень хороша, велика, но не без проблем. И её нижний регистр можно объяснить разницей тесситуры и тем, что она курила 40 лет.
@@Thearchivebeyondimagination У Варнай голос был просто шикарный, особенно средний и нижний регистры. Верхние ноты она тоже великолепно пела, хотя давались они ей не так легко, как Нильссон, Джонс или Гроб-Прандль. Однако, в моем понимании драматическое сопрано должно мощно звучать во всем диапазоне. Варнай, Флагстад в этом плане эталонны. Что касается Гвинет Джонс, Биргит Нильссон, Хильдегард Беренс и Гертруды Гроб-поандль, то их низы звучали слабо, сиедний регистр тоже не ахти. Все-таки драматическое сопрано обязано иметь мясистый низ и обьемную середину.
I love the combination of her wonderful German diction and energetic phrasing with her powerful voice. She's my go-to dramatic soprano in the German repertoire.
@ER1CwC you're right, it gets bleaty but I'm a sucker for natural diction and phrasing. For this reason, Nilsson doesn't do it for me, so it's a compromise I have to make.
@ER1CwC I adore Traubel but I consider her a lower voice, comparable to Flagstad's. And I find myself preferring Traubel's phrasing and expression to Flagstad's monumental and lethargic, as you once called it, Lol.
@@Orfeus80 All fair points. I think that Flagstad had a special glow to her voice that did a lot of heavy lifting. I agree on the relative merits of Traubel, but she just didn’t have that.
According to herself she trained in the Italianate way. I think you can hear it in the low notes and the in the fast vibrato on top. It is similar to pre-war Italian sopranos.
I love Madame Gertrude Grob-Prandl's massive, ocean-like voice. She may not be a total vocal actress. However, her vocal size and excitement thrill me to a high degree!
Thanks. I was at this concert. Nothing has come close in the years since and I have been a regular at Covent Garden for about fifty years now. I stopped going about ten years ago. What you don't hear here is the tremendous energy from the audience. After the I Love You encore the applause was so monstrous and never ending that Sir Malcolm Sargent got fed up and began conducting the next piece. There was also a funny moment later when a gentleman came on stage to play the piano but for some reason Madame Flagstad remained on stage to the side! The poor fellow must have been annoyed because I'd wager many of us were watching Flagstad over him!
Yes. But the title is just referring to the cry at 13:08. Don't take it too seriously. By the way, she sometimes sang a C on the "ich verlachte haHA" at 8:46. It is not so clear in this version but it is a clear C in the 1938 recording.
Two years later she recorded the role of Fricka in Solti's Das Rheingold. Apparently when this very matronly woman arrived for her first session some of the younger members of the Vienna Philharmonic were snickering. But when she sang her first notes they nearly dropped their instruments in astonishment!
Amazing dynamic control in the middle voice at 24:21. Thank you for uploading, the audience reaction is very endearing. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say this is the greatest soprano voice on record. ❤
She sang like this at 62 because she PRACTICED DAILY. Remember her recording career at this time was still going full guns. What a gorgeous voice she had, and steady as a rock till the end. Her last commercial Decca recording was from January 1959.
I recall a letter she wrote to Culshaw in 1961-62 telling him that the doctor had told her to stop her singing exercises, and she commented that (paraphrasing) it hurt so much to stop singing when you still have so much voice left (at age 66-67)!
All singers need to continue singing a few times a week - even just vocalises. The elaborate coordination between the body and voice otherwise goes and the singing is no fun and no good!
If you can get to the end of a very long career sounding as excellent as this then you are truly an outstanding singer. Flagstad had an exceptional voice , a magnificent instrument and the musical sensitivity to use it well.
I heard in Vienna in the late 60s when she came out of retirement in an emergency to sing Brunhilde in Gotterdamrung. She had a huge voice, I thought the people sitting in the terrace of the Sacher Hotel across the street behind the opera house could hear her loud and clear. WZ
Really? That's surprising to me because her voice was quite bright while Flagstad's was quite dark. I personally hear more similarities between the likes of Nilsson, Grob-Prandl, Rita Hunter, and to an extent, Gwyneth Jones. Whereas the voices of Helen Traubel, Kirsten Flagstad and Astrid Varnay are a bit different. According to Flagstad herself, the voice most close to hers was Astrid Varnay while Nilsson's she thought was quite different (from Times 1960 IIRC but I'm struggling to find the article now!). Though I suppose you might not have meant they were similar voiced but something else... :)
Every time she sings, there is that intensity in her voice. Her voice is like an erupting volcano. She's one of the loudest dramatic sopranos I've ever heard. In fact, she must be so deafening in person 🔥
Astrid Varnay seems to be the only Wagnerian who makes an effort to sing the low note on "Verruch-TER" (4:23). Grob-Prandl does a good job otherwise, but I personally prefer a darker Isolde for Act 1. Prandl is great in Act 2.
In her interview with Rasponi, Grob-Prandl mentions that she had perfect pitch, but when listening to her recordings it is hard to believe this claim... So many sharp notes.
I skipped the famous names (Tebaldi, Nilsson) because they’re well-known quantities. Much more interested in the fantastic Tinsley, who I saw once at the NYC Opera as Elisabetta to Sills’s Maria Stuarda. Also the marvelous Hunter, who I saw at the Met as Brunnhilde, unfortunately pigeonholed as a Wagner singer, when she could really sing anything. Madeira had thrilling low notes, not-so-thrilling highs.
The difficulties with certain passages, which is forgiven for 1970, have nothing to do with "difficulties above G". There is some bullcrap in here. There is no problem for C in 2nd act in all 5 events, neither for B's at the big final nor for B - flats at the end of poker scene.
A good high C here from Hunter in Norma. This is a tricky passage. My problem with her is the same problem I have with Roberta Peters, oddly enough; the middle is strong and even but then the top is shrill and kinda resembles a tin pot. Yes the notes are there but I miss the fullness in the upper register. I hear fullness in Nilsson and Tinsley, among others and that is more pleasing. About Madeira's top, the less said the better. In the middle and bottom she is putting Barbieri and even Flagstad to shame here. Truly exciting to listen to her where she sings more comfortably.
People are gonna hate me for this but I don't think Hunter was even close to a natural dramatic soprano. She had a big voice so was able to get away with singing the repertoire, but her voice was not really weighty perse. There's worlds of difference between her voice, and say, Flagstad or Varnay who had dark, smoky timbres but less vibrant and accessible highs. Most likely a spinto soprano naturally, but at times her top notes sound even lyrical. She reminds me of Grob-Prandl, both very bright with quick vibrato on the top, but Hunter not quite as heavy.
@pixelchords3201 she never was. A spinto for sure. Some people have doubts about Nilsson, Grob-Prandl, Jones, Rysanek, and Tinsmey as well. For certain reasons that you probably know yourself.
