Only 63.000 views? It should be in the millions! I first heard Waltraud Meier in Parsifal in Bayreuth in the 80's and have followed het ever since, however, this is beyond belief, no mater how often I watch and listen.
And her facial expressions matched perfectly with the feeling of the music. I am in love with an ideal, which she and this music represents. Utter perfection!
Das erste Mal als ich Waltraud Meier hörte, war ich so faziniert, sodass ich Richard Wagner verziehn habe, dass ich in Berlin bei Parsifal eingeschlafen bin. Er ist wirklich einmalig, aber Waltraud Meier hat mit Herz und Seele gesungen. Bravo Lupita.
So happy you are a Wagner fan, and saw Parsifal in Berlin. I'm from Chicago and saw Tannhauser several years ago. I'm so happy to be in a city with many great venues for the performing arts. Seien Sie vorsichtig und hören Sie sich die großen Klassiker an!
Ich habe ihren Abschied von der Isolde gehört. Tränen .. Tränen wie nach dem Freitod der Mutter meiner drei noch sehr jungen Kinder. Dankbarkeit erfüllt mich. Habe ich doch durch ihre Isolde den Wunsch nach Erlösung erfassen, verstehen können. In Liebe...
Transcendent! Kirsten Flagstad, Birgitt Nielson and Waltraud Meier (and perhaps Jessye Norman) - how is it possible to choose a favorite from these ultimate Wagnerian sopranos?! Very, very difficult, but I will have to go with Meier, I guess because German is her first language and she is familiar with every nuance and emotion behind the lyrics. The other two are rightly acknowledged because of their heart-felt interpretations, sheer volume and stamina, and it certainly does take stamina to sing a role like this; it is not for the faint of heart, it separates the 'wannabes' from the superstars.
I love the first and last of these three, both amongst the greatest ever. But I would add Martha Modl to that list - her version of the aria is available on RU-vid. Magnificent.
Yes, I agree ... it's difficult to select a favorite for this awesome aria. After Meier, I would have to say that Flagstad had the right emotions and clarity. Keep listenin g!
Easily. Waltrud Meier. Noone matches her Liebestod. Jessie Norman is a music genious, apart from a huge, inhumane in range and abilities voice. But her Isolde is very far from Meier's
This woman justs comes in and I feel as if I am in a possessed trance. There are really opera singers out there that can take an absolute genius' work to a level we never imagined.
Der liebe Gott hat uns einen Einblick ins Paradies geschenkt. Waltraud Meier ist eine göttliche Isolde, besser geht es nicht. Bei meiner Beerdigung lasse ich sie den Liebestod singen.
Maybe the greatest Isolde. It is amazing her precision in tone, phrasing and vocal delivery. Everything is just as it might be done. No more no less. Wagnerian perfection.
Óutstanding, in as much as the orchestra may be heard playing the Melody at least equal to if not more audibly to the soprano signing accompaniment as when same occurs. This is moreso in this performance than in others. Most of this soprano performances have their own variations of highlights. This may be my favorite
Likely the best recorded rendition. I love what Meier says about "parlando" in one of her interviews. Even in the most exalted moments, you get the impression that she is just TALKING to you.
There is another version of this performance on RU-vid with subtitles in both German and English. One of the great operatic performances of all time IMHO!
Mildly and gently, how he smiles, how the eye he opens sweetly --- Do you see it, friends? Don’t you see it? Brighter and brighter how he shines, illuminated by stars rises high? Don’t you see it? How his heart boldly swells, fully and nobly wells in his breast? How from his lips delightfully, mildly, sweet breath softly wafts --- Friends! Look! Don’t you feel and see it? Do I alone hear this melody, which wonderfully and softly, lamenting delight, telling it all, mildly reconciling sounds out of him, invades me, swings upwards, sweetly resonating rings around me? Sounding more clearly, wafting around me --- Are these waves of soft airs? Are these billows of delightful fragrances? How they swell, how they sough around me, shall I breathe, Shall I listen? Shall I drink, immerse? Sweetly in fragrances melt away? In the billowing torrent, in the resonating sound, in the wafting Universe of the World-Breath --- drown, be engulfed --- unconscious --- supreme delight!
Viele Drama-Mezzos und -Sopranen konnten in dieser Rolle überzeugend liefern. Mit Demut verneige ich mich jedoch vor W. Meier, eine Virtuosin wagnerischen Könnens. Keiner versteht es so sehr, die tiefe Sehnsucht, die Trauer und den Weltschmerz dieser Arie zu erkennen und stilsicher mit goldenen Tönen unseren Seelen derart zu schmeicheln.
@Joy Betain Flagstad sings 1930~40s old fashioned style and high notes (specially the last note) in many recordings is shaky and not precise. for Wagner, my other favorite is Brigit Nilsson.
She is amazing. As a Latin American, I must say that Nordic peoples scare me a bit. There is something harsh in that perfection, that is very different from the culture we inherited from Spain and the original people from our lands.
Waltraud Meier is as if made for Isolde. I continue to compare her with Kirstin Flagstad, and Birgit Nilsson, but haven't made up my mind who is most brilliant. I suppose it may be the times in which this wonderful aria was performed that makes it so longing.
@@TheYopogo We certainly are! and there are so many ways to access all this wonderful music these days. I'm happy you are a Wagner fan. He's one of my fav composers besides, Ravel, Prokofief, and Grieg. Thanks for responding!
@@dalestroker4735 I'm a classical fan in general as I head into my late 20s, but I remember discovering Wagner as a teenager and being absolutely blown away by the power and emotional intensity of his sublime music. People talk about Wagner's (undeniable) sophistication as if it's this abstract, intellectualised thing, and it is certainly worth analysing his music in detail; but at the same time his music isn't at all remote or abstract, it's immediate. And immediately human. When 15 year old me listened to the Solti recording of Siegfried's funeral march I "got it" instantly.
@@TheYopogo Good to hear from you again. You most certainly have a clear mind for understanding and appreciating Classical at such a young age. In my late 20's is when I gained this interest too. Now I'm 65 and lucky to have grown up in Chicago, and have seen Sir Solti conduct many times. I also saw the opera, Tannhauser once at the best opera house in town! That was in 1989, last time it was performed here in the Windy City, and I was in awe for a full 4 hours! Take care! Keep in touch anytime! Wagner had a decent sense of humor as well.
Kirsten Flagstad was "THE" Isolde. This singing is quite odd because slow tempi indicates labored singing as noted by the consonants, along with a curled, shaking tongue and covered tones on certain phrases. The orchestra sounds magnificent but it is very difficult for a singer when the tone is not brilliant
You may find that by many accounts Waltraud Meier has been credited with being 'THE' Isolde. Not that it'd matter (and it's not a contest per se), but if you really came to this absolutely sublime and profoundly moving, masterful performance to criticise, then I'd recommend finding better things to do with your time. You can keep your Flagstad, but do pay the highest respect where it's due. Meier's achievement here is almost otherworldly.
Don't pay any attention to them. You have all rights to prefer Flagstadt's Isolde, we're still in democracy I hope. Frau Meier's wonderful Isolde doesn't need those loony zealots!
Sternumstrahlt klingt aber nicht gerade wie sternumstrahlt vom Ausdruck her Recht seichte Betonung.Trotzdem tolle Stimme! Jedoch muss die Interpretation einfach tiefer gehen, mitreißen und, was schade ist. Für die jenigen, die nur die Stimme beurteilen ohne auf das Stück, dessen Bedeutung und interpretation einzugehen, mag es sicherlich gut bewertet werden. Gut und schlecht hat aber nicht immer was mit schön und nicht schön zu tun sondern eher mit Fachwissen und sollte nie verwechselt werden! Ein Laie darf gar nicht von gut oder schlecht sprechen, es kann höchstens gefallen oder nicht!
