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Kirsten Flagstad

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Kirsten Målfrid Flagstad (July 12 1895 – December 7, 1962) was a Norwegian opera singer, one of the greatest Wagnerian (dramatic) sopranos of the 20th century. A restrained and expressive stage performer, she was admired internationally for her voice's sheer tonal beauty, power, stamina, security and consistency of line and tone.

Early life and career

Flagstad was born at Hamar in a musical family; her father was conductor Michael Flagstad and her mother pianist Marie Flagstad Johnsrud. She received her early musical training in Oslo and made her stage debut at the National Theatre in Oslo as Nuri in Eugen d'Albert's Tiefland in 1913. Her first recordings are from 1913-1915.

After further study in Stockholm with Dr. Gillis Bratt, she began a career in opera and operetta in Norway. She was engaged at the newly opened Opera Comique in Oslo in 1919, under the direction of Alexander Varnay and Benno Singer. Varnay was the father of the famous soprano Astrid Varnay. She learned how to perform and learn parts quickly, often from one day to another. She sang Desdemona opposite Leo Slezak, Minnie, Amelia and other smaller parts at the Opera Comique. She was engaged in the city theater of Göteborg, Sweden from 1928 to 1932. Flagstad made her debut singing Agathe in Der Freischütz by Weber. In 1930 there was a revival of Carl Nielsen's Saul and David in which Flagstad sang Michal. In 1932 she made her debut in Rodelinda by Handel. Critics stated that the voice was too big for Handel, but much more suited to Wagner.

After singing operetta and lyric roles such as Marguerite in Faust for over a decade, Flagstad was convinced to take on heavier operatic roles such as Tosca and Aida. The part of Aida helped to free the dramatic abilities in Flagstad. At the time she was almost 40, and was already considering retirement. In 1932, she took on the role of Isolde in Wagner's Tristan and Isolde and appeared to have found her true voice. Ellen Gulbranson (1863-1946), a Norwegian soprano at Bayreuth, convinced Winifred Wagner to audition Flagstad for Bayreuth. Flagstad was hired for minor roles in 1933, and the 1934 festival for the role of Sieglinde in Die Walküre and Gutrune in Götterdämmerung.

Career at the Metropolitan Opera and elsewhere

Her Metropolitan Opera début as Sieglinde, broadcast nationwide on February 2, 1935, created a sensation. Four days later, Flagstad sang Isolde, and later that month, she performed Brünnhilde in Die Walküre and Götterdämmerung for the first time. Later that season, Flagstad sang Elsa in Lohengrin, Elisabeth in Tannhäuser, and her first Kundry in Parsifal. Almost overnight, she had established herself as the pre-eminent Wagnerian soprano of the era. According to most critics, she still remains the supreme Wagnerian dramatic soprano on disc by virtue of her unqiue voice. Fidelio (1936 and later) was her only non-Wagnerian role at the Met before the war. It has been said that she saved the Metropolitan Opera from looming bankruptcy. In 1936, she performed all three Brünnhildes in the San Francisco Opera's Ring cycle. In 1937, she first appeared at the Chicago City Opera Company.

In 1936 and 1937, Flagstad performed the roles of Isolde, Brünnhilde and Senta at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden under Sir Thomas Beecham, Fritz Reiner and Wilhelm Furtwängler, arousing as much enthusiasm there as in New York.

Her rendition of Brünnhilde's Battle Cry from Wagner's Die Walküre was captured on-screen in a segment of the anthology musical The Big Broadcast of 1938.

However, her career at the Met was not without its ups-and-downs. Flagstad got involved in a long-running feud with costar Lauritz Melchior after Melchior took offense to some comments Kirsten made about "stupid publicity photos" that Flagstad felt Melchior pressured her into doing. Flagstad also feuded with Edward Johnson after Arthur Bodansky's death, when she wanted to be conducted by her accompanist, Edwin McArthur, rather than Erich Leinsdorf. When she left the Met during the early 1940s she had patched up her differences with both Melchior and Johnson. Melchior and Johnson, however, did little to help Flagstad when she was attacked after World War II.

Flagstad returned to Norway during World War II, though she sang only in countries (like Sweden and Switzerland) not occupied by Germany. Her husband was arrested after the war for profiteering from war-time sales to Germany, and this, together with her decision to remain in occupied Norway, made her unpopular, particularly in the United States. The Norwegian ambassador and the columnist Walter Winchell spoke out against her, and Arturo Toscanini bypassed her to choose Helen Traubel for his NBC radio broadcasts.

Later career

During four consecutive Covent Garden seasons, from 1948 to 1952, Flagstad repeated all her regular Wagnerian roles, including Kundry and Sieglinde. It was also during this time that she gave the world premiere of Richard Strauss's "Vier letzte Lieder" under the baton of Wilhelm Furtwängler at the Royal Albert Hall. The final rehearsal in May 22, 1950, was a legendary performance and was captured on tape and is commercially available today[1], although the sound is unfortunately quite poor. She toured South America in 1948 and returned to San Francisco in 1949 but was not invited back to the Met until Sir Rudolf Bing became manager. In the 1950-1951 season, although she was well into her 50s, Flagstad showed herself still in remarkable form as Isolde, Brünnhilde and Fidelio.

She gave her farewell operatic performance at the Met on April 1, 1952 in the title role of Glück's Alceste, and in London as Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at the Mermaid Theatre (in the 1951 Festival of Britain season[2]): the portrayal was recorded (in studio), and issued by EMI in January 1953 (see: Recordings).

After her retirement from the stage, she continued to give concert performances and record, primarily for Decca Records. She even made some stereophonic recordings, including excerpts from Wagner's operas with Hans Knappertsbusch and Sir Georg Solti conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1958, she sang the part of Fricka in Wagner's Das Rheingold, the first installment in Solti's first complete stereophonic set of the Ring Cycle, released by Decca on LP and reel-to-reel tape.

From 1958 to 1960, Flagstad was the general manager of the Norwegian National Opera.

Kirsten Flagstad on the Norwegian 100 kroner bill

Of her many recordings, the complete Tristan und Isolde with Furtwängler is considered the finest representation of her interpretive art in its maturity. Her pre-war recordings, however, are said to showcase her voice in its freshest brilliance and clarity. Throughout her career she recorded numerous songs, by Grieg and others, and these are evidence of a voice that maintained its stable beauty during her many years in the limelight.

Flagstad died in Oslo from bone marrow cancer at the age of 67. Her portrait appears on the Norwegian 100 kroner bill.

The Kirsten Flagstad Museum in Hamar, Norway, contains a private collection of opera artifacts thought to be the largest in the world. Her costumes draw special attention, and include several examples on loan from the Metropolitan Opera Archives.

Representative recordings

A comprehensive survey of Flagstad's recordings was released in several volumes on the Simax label, which seems to be mostly unavailable or out of print in the US.

Her pre-war recordings include important studio recordings of Wagner arias, Beethoven arias, and Grieg songs, as well as duets from Lohengrin, Parsifal, and Tristan und Isolde with Lauritz Melchior. These have been (and probably still are) available on RCA/BMG CDs, as well as on good transfers from Preiser and Romophone.

Many Metropolitan Opera broadcasts survive and have circulated among collectors and more recently on CD. These include:

  • Die Walküre, Act I and fragments from Act II from her 1935 début broadcast.
  • Tristan und Isolde, performances from 1935, 1937, and 1940 all readily available.
  • Tannhäuser: 1936, with Melchior and Tibbett, and 1941 (the latter having an official release on Metropolitan Opera LPs).
  • Siegfried: 1937, Lauritz Melchior and Friedrich Schorr (available on Naxos and Guild labels).
  • Lohengrin: 1937, with René Maison
  • Fidelio: 1941 with Bruno Walter (available on Naxos)
  • Die Walküre: 1940, various labels.

After World War II, many important studio recordings followed including:

  • Wagner Scenes including the final duet from Siegfried (Testament CDs, licensed from EMI)
  • Götterdämmerung: Final Scene, with Furtwängler - EMI
  • Norwegian Songs: EMI
  • Götterdämmerung: Walhall. With Fjeldstad and Bjorner and Set Svanholm. 1956
  • Der Ring des Nibelungen: Gebhard. From Teatro alla Scala with Furtwängler, Lorenz, Svanholm, Frantz. 1950

Perhaps her most famous operatic recording is the 1951 Tristan with Furtwängler, which has never been out of print. It is available from EMI and Naxos, among others. Another Tristan of note is the live performance from the Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires), with Viorica Ursuleac as Brangäne, Svanholm as Tristan, Hans Hotter as Kurvenal, conducted by Erich Kleiber.

Two live concerts are of particular historical significance:

  • Flagstad's celebrated 1951 appearance at the Mermaid Theatre, London in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas is represented by a cast recording in which the Mermaid Belinda (Maggie Teyte) was replaced by Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, but under the original direction of Geraint Jones. (HMV ALP 1026, EMG review January 1953).[3]
  • The Alceste (original Italian version edited by Geraint Jones) in which she also made a farewell was recorded with Raoul Jobin, Alexander Young, Marion Lowe, Thomas Hemsley, Joan Clark, Rosemary Thayer, Geraint Jones Orchestra and singers, Geraint Jones (Decca LP LXT 5273-5276;. c. 1952)

After about 1955, she moved to Decca where in the autumn of her career further important studio recordings followed:

  • Several albums of Grieg, Sibelius, Brahms, etc., with orchestra and piano
  • Wagner arias with Knappertsbusch (stereo)
  • Acts I and III of Die Walküre (as Sieglinde and Brünnhilde respectively) as well as the Brünnhilde/Siegmund duet from Act II (these conducted variously by Knappertsbusch and Solti, as a sort of preparation for Decca's complete Ring project).
  • And her great valedictory as Fricka in the Decca Rheingold of 1958.

Sources

References

  1. ^ Wilhelm Furtwangler's discography(3), from Mozart to Verdi ; Youngrok LEE's music Page
  2. ^ Earl of Harewood, Kobbé's Complete Opera Book (Putnam, London 1958 printing), p16.
  3. ^ E. Sackville-West and D. Shawe-Taylor, The Record Year 2 (Collins, London 1953), 235-6; M. Teyte, Star on the Door (Putnam, London 1958), 184-5.

Bibliography

  • Biancolli, Louis (1952). The Flagstad Manuscript (Putnam, New York) 293 pgs (available online at Questia)
  • Edwin McArthur (1956). Flagstad: A Personal Memoir (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, reprint 1980).
  • Lanfranco Rasponi (1982). The Last Prima Donnas (Alfred A Knopf). ISBN 0-87910-040-0
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