Eileen Farrell sings Isolde (vaimusic.com) 

She and Birgit Nilsson were the greatest sopranos I have ever heard. Their live voices in the house were towering, huge and exquisite -- way beyond anything you can hear today. Both had ABSOLUTE control of their breath, both consummate artists. Thank you for sharing this.

God, I love her! She is gorgeous beyond belief. You're fortunate to have heard her live.

Beautiful voice. She sings with such passion and sweetness.

goddess, I love the technique of her time, as well as her gorgeous voice. High and easy, no damaging push as too often now.. A joy to hear. Thank you very much for the gift of this.

Her duets with Richard Tucker were my entry into opera appreciation.For this and her great talent-I sincerely applaud her.

Amazingly, this is a color videotape from a *1959* broadcast!! Remarkable sharpness and clarity. And Ms. Farrell is a perfect interpreter for the Wagnerian. This aria is gorgeous!! Thank both NBC for "Bell Telephone," and vainmusic for putting this all on DVD!!

Incredible! Wagner sung with such purity of tone that it takes the breath away! What an amazing voice! She didn't have as long a career at the Met as her talent warranted so it's nice to have these little excerpts to we can more fully appreciate her great gift. Thank you for posting!

Thank you for this. What a beautiful sound. Bel canto Wagner - and all the better for it!

goodness, shivers up my spine. amazing

Up there with the very best! Brava!

What a wonder of a voice, and how well it was used. As if Farrell's talent at operatic singing was not enough, the many musical styles she commanded even included blues.

Ms. Farrell was one of the greats. My gosh, what an incredible voice and stage presence that this woman had!! Unbelievably flexible register--no break in it! And it goes without saying--amazing breath control. She's a cross between Horne and Flagstad. To label Ms Farrell a mezzo would only be partly true--she had such incredible range and ringing tone. One is reminded of the term "Golden". Why wasn't she at the MET more often??

yes, I was lucky enough to tape INTERRUPTED MELODY off of TCM (in letterbox, no less!) and it is one of my treasures! I saw that movie when I was just a kid & it inspired me- little did I know at that time that the fabulous voice I was hearing singing 3 languages and soprano & mezzo and Wagnerian roles was all one fabulous soprano, Eileen Farrell (not given any screen credit, though she has a small cameo as a singer who can't ironically, hit a high note in Vissi d'arte) Her art is unequalled.

Amen

She was a great dramatic soprano, woefully underrecorded. One of her few complete opera recordings is Maria Stuarda with Beverly Sill, where Farrell sings Queen Elizabeth I.

HOLY SHIT.....she can SANG some Isolde!

Absolutely glorious singing from one of the greatest American artists. As kraftpr has said- where is great music on TV now- commercial television has become a cesspool of trash- to think that the A&E channel- which stood for Arts and Entertainment is all "reality Crime" shows. And worse- but it will not improve unless the public demands it, and that is very unlikely.

Once, in an interview, Callas is supposed to have said something like "The Met, they think they have everything. They don't have Farrell." Even Callas rated her high.

Sound from this broadcast doesn't get even 1/2 her voice. It was a huge sound sweeping over orchestra like a tidal wave. Unlike the focused, silver lightning of Nilsson, this was a sweet, bright, and huge, round sound. Listen to the NY Philharmonic live recording with Bernstein conducting. Someone recorded from the audience, back some distance in the hall. She covers the brass and full orchestra in Brunnhilde's Immolation Scene!

One slight carp: hate the breath between 'hoechste' and 'lust' at the end. There's no need for it even for a non-immortal voice.Flagstad didn't do it, Traubel didn't do it, Nilsson didn't do it. For the rest, superb.

A for effort. It's a shame she has to take a breath not only between words, but between syllables on occasion.