Kirsten Flagstad sings "Immolation Scene" from Götterdämmerung by Richard Wagner (1813-1883) Hilde Konetzni (Gutrune) Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano Wilhelm Furtwängler, conductor Milano 04.IV.1950
By very good fortune, I served as a student auxiliary usher at the San Francisco Opera in 1949 and 1950. I saw Kirsten Flagstad perform in both Tristan Und Isolde, and Die Walkure. Five years later I attended a Sunday evening radio concert called, "The Standard Hour," at the SF Opera House. Mme. Flagstad was the guest artist, and sang the, "Immolation Scene." She was about 60 years old at the time, but it made NO difference. I am still in awe at just remembering. Her voice, even when at a whispering softness, could be heard clearly in every inch of the house. She filled the air with an indescribable flood of gorgeous sounds that I don't believe will ever be reached, or even challenged by anyone else, (and I have been listening for 60 years since that magic night.) There will never be another like her.
+Murray Aronson flagstad is co wonderful I sm now 77 heard nilsson at the met in new York the audience went wild ovation after ovation we who love opera are very fortunate to sppreciate the greats of the opera world my personal thanks to all who post recordings on you tube, I recently discovered the standard program from the 1950 the human singing voice golly it warms my heart thanks to the sheer wonder of the internet we live in the greatest country in thw world thank you steve jobs tim cook I love you so much I am in your eternal thanks
YES, THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER LIKE FLAGSTAD BECAUSE NO ONE KNOWS HOW TO SING TODAY AS NOTED BY THE ROSA PONSELLE FOUNDATION WHICH HAS CLOSED ITS COMPETITION.
Have you heard either of these singers live? For sure Flagstad sounds warmer in recordings; but also they say Nilsson sounds much fuller and warmer in person than in recordings.
Sy.phonyBrahms: Nilsson didn't have the gorgeous full enveloping tone that Flagstad had. Also, Nilsson's intonation suffered as she got older. Believe me, I was there! Nilsson may have had more "temperment" in her performance but the phrasing of Flagstad and the smooth delivery of Flagstad far surpass Nilsson. Compare the phrasing of their Gooterdamerungs. As for Traubel, almost immediately she had trouble with high Bs, Cs, and even B Flats. Flagstad may not have had good Cs after the first few years at the Met, but she kept her high Bs into her 59th year...
Greatest singer ever recorded. I feel her voice inside of my own body when I listen to her. Her voice is like a life force all it's own. Amazing! Stunning! Gorgeous, beyond compare!
christin smith I agree! Nilsson had bad pitch problems later in her career. Kirsten's pitch never seemed to falter. Unfortunately, I have perfect pitch, and it is a curse usually! It was good for college music theory classes though, although I was not popular with some of the other students...
@@randysills4418 I never noticed that. But then I don't dislike Nilsson. I like Nilsson. I like Flagstad. I like Traubel. I like talent, and I'm not against other artists, even when they aren't my favorite.
What amazes me most is the absence of "register breaks," or ledges, in the voice. Farrell also had that unbroken line, but whacked the high notes. --Jack Frymire
OMG - I've heard dozens of Immolation Scenes, but never one that worked up to such a frenzy. It's hair-raising!. But what happened to Hagen's 'Zurük vom Ring!' at the end? Did some scenery fall on him???
Did anyone hear the attempt of the soprano at the metropolitan opera sing this last Saturday on the afternoon broadcast? Flagstad must be rolling over in her grave!
Would Verdi have the nerve for such an undertaking as to write an aria that lasts more than 18 minutes like the Immolation scene of Wagner? I think not!
Simply a stupid question. Verdi was looking for a way to integrate bel canto and verismo within the Italian language. For him, there was no need for such a long narrative as he was looking for the intensity of the present interaction not just a narration of the situation. Wagner and Verdi took the two strands of opera [narration and interaction] that had existed for almost 200 years and each took one strand to its ultimate potential thus demonstrating for all who followed what could be in opera. Thank goodness we still have composers [e.g., John Adams, Jake Heggie] who still are willing to find their own voices within those strands and provide new ways to hear the dramas of the world and the stories of those who live in it.
It's like comparing Walt Whitman (father of American poetry) to Emily Dickinson (mother of AP). Whitman tells his story with a million words in an epic manner while Dickinson tells hers in a stingy manner. Whitman's language is abundant with words, flowing like a river. However, every word, even syllable Dickinson employes is there for a reason. Only an ignorant person would accuse Dickinson of lacking depth or Whitman of being verbose.
This is the voice of an era! She sings Wagner as belcanto , with unbelievable authority ,ease and atemporal style. If they lived in the same period I’m sure Wagner himself would be honoured to have Flagstad in most of his premieres. She was never surpassed nor equalled. She reigns supreme since her debut at the Met back in 1935. She’s my favourite singer, I collect almost all her recordings and I’m planning a trip to Norway to visit her museum in Hamar , her birthplace
Belcanto??? She is singing absolutely the opposite! PURE Wagner! And to my knowdledge I never heard that she sang Puccini and Verdi etc at all, why she should than have per se a Belcanto voice!
@@elsalohengrin7777 She did sing Tosca, Mimi and other lighter roles at the beginning of her carrier. She stated that she thinks that is a necessary prerequisit to singing wagner as one needs to build up the voice for Wagner. The clip where she explains it is on youtube.
With no disrespect whatever to others in this music . . . Traubel, Varnay, Moedl and Nilsson in particular who have enriched my life and listening experience . . . whenever I come back to this performance, I am simply overwhelmed. At 80 years of age, I've been listening to it for a long time. The impact is as great as the first time I heard it. James Forrest
She is so confident and has such command and presence over this mammoth orchestra and this piece that she makes the listener feel like they could sing this themselves. The challenge seems like child's play coming out of her. That's the hallmark of total ability and insane talent.
This is taken from the live La Scala. Now available in amazing sound from Pristine Classical. Flagstad said the most important thing I've have heard - Wagner comes to you. You do not go to Wagner. Nuff said.
This is definitely from La Scala. But I wonder which version? This is not Pristine, on Pristine I can't here Flagstaff's voice as good as here. A clue which one this is?
Maybe it's the Archipel Desert Island Version which, when I listened to again sounds actually better but then again I am a Flagstad maniac and to me she has the right gravitas for this role.
@@SVen-fh2dh could it be from Richard Caniell’s Dream Ring? I think it was released on Guild but is probably available from Immortal Performances. His work is excellent, meticulous and creative.
Just got back from San Francisco Opera’s most recent garbage production. Ugly sets and barely there voices. I needed reminded of what drove me to Wagner. This is Brünnhilde.
Again - FLAGSTAD was NO LYRIC SOPRANO. One needs to ignore her recordings of the 1930's because the sound technology of that time couldn't accommodate the sheer size of the Godzilla voice in her throat. The splendid truth becomes evident on her recordings made AFTER WORLD WAR II. Recording techniques had improved and Flagstad's voice was allowed to flower and bloom in all it's glory uncompromised by the primitive techniques of the 1930's. She was indeed fortunate that she maintained her voice to the very end of her life in 1962. Had she not died at age 67, she would probably have continued singing for another five years. She took her voice with her when she left this earth.
+metropolitan1966 -Flagstad was born with a voice that was never equaled BEFORE her birth or since her death in 1962. It's very interesting and very unusual that Birgit Nilsson, the other great Wagnerian soprano of the century, was just starting to begin her career as Flagstad was ending hers. We will not hear their like again.
I think we will get back to the basics. We need to get rid of the horrible non talent of today that our youth are focusing on like the pop industry and get back to what made this genre tick.
I heard both Nilsson and Behrens in live performances at the Met in Wagner roles. There really is no comparison. Nilsson was vastly superior, and no one since her comes close.
LA Brunnehilde DÉFINITIVE ????..... malgré Nilsson, Behrens, Mödl et autres Varnay.....Quel légato, quel phrasé, quelle ampleur !!!!! Une Brunnehilde comme Wagner a dû en rêver !!!!
The Boulez production was bad. (Updating the time frame to the industrial era). The Barenboim production was worse. (People in evening wear sipping cocktails and watching Brunnhilde's Immolation on tv sets). The recent Met production was the very worst. (The wooden 'Machine' creaking and groaning as the singers perched themselves on it and tried to keep from falling off. Appalling). But I will mention one outstanding good production. The best production that I have seen is the 1992 Met traditional setting. Beautiful. I hope that we can return to that sort of production.
I have wondered in this growing era of evermore spectacular movie magic due to computer generated/enhanced special effects, why they have never put Wagner on film. (I guess it's probably too expensive for a limited market.)
No one would change a word of the text. No one would change a note of the music. Yet, Wagner had an assistant make volumes of notes on how the work was to be staged, and the modernists ignore them. I think that in pushing their political, social justice messages, many productions fail to acknowledge the binding force of the entire Ring. That of nature. The entire work is filled with nature. And, yet, we reduce the beauty of the flickering flames of the Magic Fire, to laser beams and neon lights. Tragic.
But Wagner was provocatively asking for the impossible. Just read his stage directions. What he asked for could not, nor cannot ever be staged. He is implicitly asking designers and stage directors to respond imaginatively. He certainly didn't fix it as fake breast plates, fake real trees, etc. All that stuff does is emphatically demonstrate what it is not. The Appia-inspired (lighting and space) productions of Wieland Wagner in the 50s and 60s by contrast let the imagination run free.
It is the pinnacle of performing arts. I'm impressed. Listened to this performance many times and never paid much attention because of the poor quality. In this capacity, the recording sounded all the colors. Reference, unattainable fulfillment of the great Flagstad and Furtwangler. Thank you very much WeicheWotanWeiche for the incredible pleasure!
*EQ-Regelung* hat *nichts* direkt mit Restauration zu tun. Sie wirkt eher wie eine 'Hörbrille' und kann bei sehr alten Aufnahmen fast stets zu einem klareren Ergebnis der *Wiedergabe* führen - so mAn. eindrucksvoll auch hier! Es ist *NICHT LEICHT,* mit einem EQ merkliche Besserung der gesamten Klangqualität sehr alter Aufnahmen zu finden. Dazu gibt's kein Preset! Die meinerseits angegebene Einstellung hat hunderte Stunden kleiner Schritte der Verfeinerung erfordert (mit Abgleich vieler alter Aufnahmen von ECaruso, Orgel, Violine, Klavier usw. - mit WFurtwängler, ATatum, KRichter, ACortot, etc. etc.), um alle 'Tests' zu bestehen. Insofern ist nur eine *GENAUE* ! Befolgung wirklich wertvoll: Dabei sein 'in 1. Reihe'.
Can you imagine how collosal her voice was? The orchestra of over 80 players is going full-tilt at the end, and she just defiantly sings above and louder than them. It's like Nilsson, only where Nilsson's best notes were at the top, Flagstad's sit in the middle.
The Golden Age of Wagnerian Opera. During that time we had Flagstad, Traubel, Modl, Varnay, and Nilsson. And Melchior. And Furtwangler. Giants. Today we have pygmies.
Res ipsa loquitur. All things taken into consideration, the greatest Brunhilde of all time. (Not to mention, Isolde!) Nilsson and Varnay had superior "parts", but Flagstad the integrated "whole", perfection.
I had the privilege of hearing both Flagstad and Nilsson live (Flagstad in her last Goetterdaemmerung Covent Garden 1951). I thought that we should never hear voices like these again. I now think that perhaps I was wrong. Has Norway produced another - different but equal- we will see?
The dramatic wagnerian fach into its fullest splendour , with the most absorbing and formidable music in the hands of this two geniousses of singing and conducting it is truly a goodlike musical experience, impecable,sublime and mesmering ,without words
14:50 onwards just gives me life... Seriously, though I have a bias for Hildegard Behrens (as hers was the first recording of the Ring that I ever experienced), dear GOD Flagstad knocks it out of the park and somewhere into the orbit of Jupiter (possibly further). The second she strives above the staff, she just drowns out the full 80-piece orchestra. It's legitimately terrifying, but more than that, her voice isn't sharp and cold the same way that Nilsson's was at full volume (in the best sense), it's just such a warm, beautiful sound from top to bottom...I have no words.
MartyHasNoLife I can understand your attachment for Berens because it was your first time with this amazing music, HOWEVER, Berens did not have a big enough voice for this music. I watched her broadcast of "The Ring" and she was fine in the softer orchestral passages, but when the orchestra was playing full out there simply not enough voice. You are correct: Flagstad hit this out to Jupiter or most likely beyond, Behrens barely made it to Mars....
@randysills4418 I liked Behrens and also liked that she couldn't go over the orchestra sometimes (which she did one specific example is the scene in the Prologue with Siegfried). I find Brunnhilde to be one of those characters like Kundry that tend to scream rather than sing so it's nice to have a Brunnhilde that allows the music to be heard but also has a beautiful voice. That's what I like about Behrens' version which is my favourite along with her Elektra and Salome.
EVERYTHING she recorded over 40+ years was superlative. It is so fortunate that a few of her later year recordings with vastly improved technology are available. (even a little Bach at age 62.) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Gs6KvdWzigY.html
Same here. For that reason it is rather difficult to pass judgement when comparing a live performance vs a recording. There must have been some who attended performances of both Flagstad and Nilsson. I'd like to hear what they had to say. However, it should be noted that since Nilsson's departure, no one has come close to approaching her level.
Impresionante. Y siempre me admira su "Weiss ich nun, was dir frommt? Alles, Alles..." hasta el irrepetible "Ruhe, ruhe, du Gott!" No he escuchado a ninguna que interprete este fragmento con tanta perfección e intensidad. Gracias por compartir.
The last line of this scene is missing. It is sung by a man. Flagstad appeared with Furtwangler again JUST for the Immolation scene in 1951 or 1952. I have a suspicion that this is from that performance. I will go through my recordings soon. I am almost positive that this was that later performance. I will find out...
Randy, I have four different pressings of the La Scala and I can't hear Hagen in them BUT on the Archipel version there are some extra scenes from 1952 Rai with Furtwangler and Flagstad and you can actually hear Hagen (sung by Josef Greindel) sing "Zuruck vom Ring"
I can't imagine that the Archipelago from 1952 would be a complete Wagnerian opera that Flagstad would have been in. She stopped singing Wagnerian operas in 1951...her hip was bothering her a lot. Maybe Furtwangler talked her into doing a complete act...hence us hearing Hagen. I need youth to look thru all my recordings, but I will check "The Flagstad Manuscript" to see if it sheds any light on this... Anyway, this performance is SO stunning!!! Thank you for your imputed about Flagstad The Great!
@@randysills4418 What was the outcome of your search here? The missing Hagen line must surely mean it was a concert version. Unless he was somehow struck dumb by Flagstad, or the mike was pointed only at her?
Boy! Furtwängler has some fast tempos in this performance. Not what I would have expected from him. But very interesting. I wonder how the strings got along with their parts in these tempos! But then they would have been used to Toscanini I guess.
Amazing. True, thoughtful, takes me there. And all this,beauty at the end of singing 3 operas. I always feel bittersweet about this aria. I look forward to it, but then it is over. The experience has transformed me. And I am always surprised when I begin breathing again, and realise I have been holding my breath for four days. The magic of Wagner is leitmotifs that let us know there will be another Ring. Soon. I am always tempted to shout “ENCORE “!!!!!
Uh, its quite something to hear Hilde Konetzni against Flagstad here. She sounds weak and small. And Konezzni was a good singer, better than todays "dramatic" voices. Flagstads singing becomes yet more impressive this way.
Meine *EMPFEHLUNG* der EQUALIZER *- Anpassung* *'Caruso'* Einstellung (classical modified) -11,2 dB (60Hz) -13,0 dB (230Hz) -14,8 dB (910Hz) -15,0 dB (4kHz) +15,0 dB (14kHz) Der Eintrag wurde ergänzt, weil es sehr unterschiedliche EQ gibt. Profis wissen das. Er bezieht sich hier allgemein auf eine *'Bass Booster App'* 🎧 ohne das Zuschalten des BASS BOOST. Die meisten gehen ja heute mit *Bluetooth* an ihrem Endgerät/Handy richtig um (Advanced settings der App überprüfen, den BBoost selbst vorsichtig verwenden, falls man ihn nutzt). 'Compatibility Mode' und 'Sound Field *FLAT'* der Anlage. Beeindruckende Brillanz!
Es ist *NICHT LEICHT,* mit einem EQ merkliche Besserung der gesamten Klangqualität sehr alter Aufnahmen zu finden. Dazu gibt's kein Preset! Die meinerseits angegebene Einstellung hat hunderte Stunden kleiner Schritte der Verfeinerung erfordert (mit Abgleich vieler alter Aufnahmen von ECaruso, Orgel, Violine, Klavier usw. - mit WFurtwängler, ATatum, KRichter, ACortot, etc. etc.), um alle 'Tests' zu bestehen. Insofern ist nur eine *GENAUE* ! Befolgung wirklich wertvoll: Dabei sein 'in 1. Reihe'.
I was too harsh with my comments about advertisements below. I know they are necessary. It is a pleasure to hear this great scene in better sound than I ever heard before!
Flagstad ist eine der wenigen Wagnersängerinnen, die man hören kann. Die meisten wobbeln sich durch die Opern, dass man seekrank wird und am Ende bleiben Stimm Ruinen übrig.
When I first heard this performance, it was from a bad transfer off of 78 RPM records! Still, the great singing of Flagstad The Great came through. It is amazing that modern technology has improved this live performance astronomically! Kirsten Flagstad had perfect pitch and an incredibly even voice from top to bottom, and it shows here even at the age of 55! There will nobody as great for Brunhilde, Isolde, Sieglinde, Senta, Kundry, or Elsa again, ever!
One of the most beautiful expressive voices recorded. There is no better... for what she chose to sing. Don't think she would have made the best Rosina... but you never know do you?
You obviously have no knowledge of opera or voice. Rosina is a light and very florid role. Putting Flagstad in that kind of role would be like letting a bull run amok in a china shop. Flagstad's voice was much too big and gigantic for such a role as Rosina. HER composer was Wagner!
of course, flagstad was outstanding - but she was no match for lili lehmann, wagners own brünnhilde, isolde, rhinemaiden... (and she had a vocal equal in the forties and fifties in getrude grob-prantl...)
An actress I knew in the 1970s told me that she'd heard Flagstad sing when she was a young woman - she said that she'd never been so transfixed in her life - Flagstad's voice live was like listening to 'molten gold'.
I like her dress the best. I think this fits the meaning of Wagner. Her voice reaches into the German spirit. She is like a time machine carry the work in the purest form!
Well, she was a lyric soprano when she started singing and then the voice grew and grew. She did her first Wagnerian opera when she was 37 and retired at 58. She made her debut when she was 18...
Absolutely terrific. When I was a child my father used to play me his records of Flagstadt singing Brunnhilde, particularly her waking up after the long sleep. I always remembered it and it's wonderful to hear her sing again.
You refer to her name as "Flagstadt", as in German. Flagstad loathed people addressing her as Mme. Flagstadt, as though she were German. She would get very curt with them and tell them that she was Norwegian, and that her name was FlagSTAD. She once admonished a reporter after he made this error.
Mache' 404 views???? non e' possibile!!!! Con le cretinate guardate da millioni....com'e' possibilile...con le cretinate che 4millioni guardano!!! Ma o, ragazzi!!!! questa e' Flagstad. E Furtwangler!!!
A few years ago I attended this opera with some friends. I'd never seen an opera by Wagner. Programs were given but were worthless. The house darkened. Strains of music began and the curtains opened. Colorful images, transcendent music continued, flowing formlessly. It was too dark to read the program and I don't speak German. It was no use for me to try to follow the plot and there were no intermissions. I just surrendered to what seemed like a psychedelic experience. When the lights came on my party and I just sat for a long time, overwhelmed by what we had seen and heard. Yes, I would go back, even under the same circumstances.