Birgit Nilsson "Immolation Scene" Gotterdammerung 1/2

[eusebium7]

Nilsson was the finest Brunnhilde...

[LeRinkRat]

listened last night (Dec 29th) to Sixten Ehrling's 1975 Met Gotterdammerung on the SiriusXM Met Opera Radio channel with Nilsson as Brummhilda and Jess Thomas as Siegfried. SPECTACULAR!!! was worth it just for Nilsson's Immolation Scene.

hopefully they will play Ehrling's Rheingold and Siegfried in the near future. it was the ONLY complete Met Ring Cycle from 1961 until the Levine productions in the late 1980's

[LeRinkRat]

a heads up for Birgit Nilsson fans. the SiriusXM Met Opera Radio channel is broadcasting her 1975 Live Met performance as Brunnhilde in Die Walkure Tuesday Oct 4th, Thursday Oct 6th and Saturday Oct 8th with Donald McIntyre as Wotan and Jon Vickers as Siegmund. mid 1970's "Met Wagner Specialist" Sixten Ehrling conducts.

hopefully it's a good recording.

[LeRinkRat]

@LeRinkRat ref: "hopefully it's a good recording". IT WAS!!! definately the BEST I have ever heard and I'm a HUGE fan of the Met's late 80's Ring Cycle. hope all YouTube Wagner fans heard it.

[javertim]

I really wish Mackerras had conducted a full Ring Cycle!

[Disley74]

@javertim I did see him conduct English National Opera in Gotterdammarung in 1972 at Manchester's Palace theatre.. I went twice to it, having been totally blown away aged 17. In 1977, I played fourth horn in a performance of this very Immolation scene with Rita Hunter, conducted by Mackerras at Manchester's Free Trade Hall and the BBC Northern Symphony as it was called then. Some things you don't forget!

[tatertotluvzknives]

Brava! I was born 1995 and enjoy the classics

[ClareBElsey]

shun the 1 person who DISLIKED THIS!!!!

you know who you are... go hang your head in shame... =)

[muatlas]

I was taken to my first opera when I was 18. My host had a box at the old Met (before it was closed) in New York. Brigrit Nilsson sang, acted, and DANCED the role of Salome. She hooked me.

[orovalleydude]

Thank you for posting!! She was 55 when she sang this!!!

[MastersoftheOpera]

Why was I born so late ? I was born in 1980 and I'm 30 now that it's 2010. I've missed alll the great singers of the 20th century! Callas, Nilsson, Varnay, Leontyne Price, Caballe, Sutherland, Sills, Horne, Bumbry, Verrett, Moffo, etc, and since I was only a child in the 80's I've missed 80's singers like Vanness, Dimitrova, Anderson, Gruberova Te Kenawa, etc. Listen to the PERFECTION of Nilsson singing this aria. And I wasn't there to hear it! I'm stuck with the awful singers of today

[deusirae76]

@MastersoftheOpera I just came back from David McVicar's rendition of Wagner's masterpice, I didn't find Jeanne Michele Charbonnet particularly bad as Brünnhilde, I rather thought she was great (greater than her Isolde in my opinion). Nobody comes close to Nilsson anyway.

[LeRinkRat]

@MastersoftheOpera REALLY? your "stuck" with performers like James Morris, Ben Heppner, Sir Thomas Allen, Karita Mattila, Jill Grove, Reiner Goldberg, Hildegard Behrens, Paul Groves, Deborah Voigt, Brigitta Svenden, Jan-Hendrick Rootering and Kurt Moll?

listen to the Met Opera late 1980's Ring Series, 1997 Flying Dutchman and 1991 Meistersinger (1995 DVD) and I think you will change your opinion about "awful singers of today"

[OperaMystery80]

@LeRinkRat But 80's and 90's singers aren't current and recent. In fact the young people of today consider the 80's and 90's to be classic older decades because it predates common internet use/Facebook, Tweeter, email and because it was in the 20th century not our current 21st century. The singers of TODAY as in the last 5 years aren't that good. I don't like Netrebko or Fleming. I don't enjoy singers of today so I listen to recordings of singers of the past 60 years

[LeRinkRat]

@OperaMystery80 you will get NO argument from ME about most "current" Wagner singers. in fact, I listed Deborah Voigt for her role of Senta in the Met's 1997 Flying Dutchman with James Levine, James Morris, Jan-Hendrik Rootering, Ben Heppner and Paul Groves (who is the BEST Steuermann I have heard) as EXCELLENT BUT Voight totally FAILED as Brunnhilde in this Met seasons Die Walkure esp compared to Birgit Nilsson 1975 Live Met and Hildegard Behrens late 1980's Ring series.

[OperaMystery80]

@LeRinkRat Not a Behrens fan; personally I feel she was totally unsuited to Wagner opera. Her voice was small and she was past her prime when she sang Wagner. Behrens is no Nilsson either. There will never another Nilsson who is at the same level of opera legend as Callas.

[saxamaphoneguy1]

@LeRinkRat Voigt was excellent in that "genre" of opera...early Wagner was a good place for her. I don't think she could have handled Brunnhilde back then, and especially not now after she lost all the weight and unfortunately, must of her volume/projection.

[OperaMystery80]

@LeRinkRat And I said 80's and 90's singers because you mentioned 80's Ring cycle at the Met, 97 Flying Dutchman. '91 Meistersinger. 80's and 90's are not recent and singers of that period are not stars (except for a few like Fleming and Bartoli who are also much older than they were then)

[DivaDeb1234]

Amazing !

[kevinrainey]

Amazing to hear Sir Charles conducting this!

[birgitnilsson]

Brilliant, ooutstanding...as Nilsson always was.

[AKSTERSKY]

Birgit Nilsson is the immortal Godess of the Ring

[kztakasaka]

Thanks , this is real treasure and the explanation of recoading background.

Very much clear sound recording.

[MusicaParola]

Another treasure! Thank you!!!!! This is the September 1973 opening of the concert hall in the Sydney Opera House. Sir Charles Mackerras conducts the Sydney Symphony Orchestra with the one and only Birgit Nilsson as soloist. Bravi tutti!!