Lauritz Melchior "In fernem Land" Lohengrin

[alberez1957]

The greatest Wagnerian tenor of all time. Melchior, Jussi Björling and Elizabeth Schwarzkopf are my all time vocal heroes. There's a lot of other tenors that have performed wonderfully in several vocal arenas, like King, Windgassen, Domingo, Pavarotti, etc., but Melchior was, in Wagner's dramas, the very best. Great video! Thanks for sharing.

[tenorschofield]

He is a "singing master class"!!!!...who cares from where he came from,he is simply great!!! A brilliant and warmth sound at the same time. Probably his voice was better for other wagnerian roles, but he surely does a great interpretation of Lohengrin aria!!!!..BRAVOOO!!!

[atomkraftteddy]

Lauritz Melchior's real name was Lebrecht Hommel, and was jewesh indeed.

[sophiah88]

@atomkraftteddy  Time magazine for June 27, 1938 features an article about the Nazi Music Index of Jewish Composers and Performers, 3rd edition, that had just reached U.S. shores. Melchior was listed there as Jewish. The Time magazine reporter writes: “Famed tenor Melchior, informed of his nomination: ‘I am a Dane, without a drop of Jewish blood in me, and I am determined to seek redress.’

The Melchior family had been Lutheran ministers, doctors, teachers since the seventeenth century.

.

[1055otto]

Lauritz Melchior was a freemason and former member of the Royal Guard in Denmark

[paulostroff99]

Superb! TY for posting.

[9873459872134234]

"Melchior is the most over-rated Heldentenor of the past century." HHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! And you are chopped sue... so does that even out? LOL. Your jealousy tickles my funny bone.

[VivaRenata]

Melchior is the most over-rated Heldentenor of the past century. He was musically handicapped, could hardly read a score to save his life, was fired from Bayreuth already in 1931 because Furtwängler gave them a choice - and then he built his career as the great opponent of the Third Reich. I'm sorry, I become enraged every time I hear this stupid Great Dane, and for me personally, the way he treated Flagstad remains an open wound.

[Operaandchant90]

@VivaRenata i dont believe he is over-rated. but please message me about 'the way he treated Flagstad'...

[1Victorinus]

Although he was a very undisciplined artist, Melchior possessed the prototypical helden tenor voice - baritonal, trumpet-like, and with easy access to the unfettered high register. Only Leo Slezak and the great Max Lorenz are his vocal equals in this repertoire. What a pleasure it is to listen to this video. Thanks for posting it.

Joe Carbia, Miami, Florida

[SFsuperforte]

@1Victorinus what about Rene Kollo?

[irmgardfuerst]

Eine unfassbare Leistung in diesem sichtlich fortgeschrittenen Alter! Was für eine Technik muss Melchior gehabt haben, um das zuwege zu bringen! Man vergisst das Alter und ist einfach fasziniert. Wo findet man heute JUNGE Sänger, die so singen? Vor allem eine so lange Karriere mit derartiger Bravour bestehen? Vielen, vielen Dank für dieses Posting!

[GentleSavage1]

@unethicaldenier

Have you heard *ANY* opera before browsing youtube 2 months ago?

You clearly have no clue of opera singing. What you describe as "exploitation to sound strong" is a simple necessity in opera singing, or, for that matter, any singing above passagio if you want to be audible and not ruin your voice.

In terms of opera singing, Melchiors German here is just fine.

You should get a clue before bitching around & making a fool of yourself.

[GentleSavage1]

@unethicaldenier

Haven't you heard, there are not only lirico leggiero tenors.

And it's not just about vocal range that determines a fach.

A lyrical baritone sounds MUCH warmer than Melchior, and a baritone does certainly not have his steel cutting high notes.

Probably you think Giacomini is a baritone, too ... haha. How about just anyone not sounding like Villazon or other wannabes.

I think you don't know what you are talking about.

[55werther]

¡¡¡EL MAS GRANDE TENOR, CON LA MAS INCREIBLE VOZ, QUE SE HAYA PO-

DIDO CONOCER. UN VEDADERO COLOSO!!! GRAN ARTISTA, MAYOR CANTAN-

TE. ¡¡¡REALMENTE UNICO E IRREPETIBLE. QUE MAGNIFICO!!!

[abracadabranque]

Le meilleur cotoie le pire!Le timbre est ample,et les aigus bouchés jusqu'à la caricature!

[ONeirda]

@unethicaldenier: Well, you certainly have the right to dislike Lauritz Melchior (you are on a very sole basis there, however...;-) BUT: You should study his biography and learn, that it was Cosima Wagner herself (that's the widow of Richard Wagner, the guy who wrote and conducted this music) who supervised Melchiors rehearsals at his Bayreuth debut. Now: Cosima Wagner kind of regarded her as the bearer of the Wagnerian art. Do you think she'd have approved Melchior if he were not outstanding?

[1055otto]

@ONeirda I only know, that Cosima would have Melhior to a meeting with Hitler, and Melhior left Beureuth the same night. Melhior is a jewish name I think.

[ONeirda]

@1055otto That's an interesting piece of information, dear Otto. From my part, I only read in a short biography that he left Germany in '39 precipitously, leaving the estate of Chossewitz and many of his belongings behind. Whether Melchior was Jewish or not I don't know. There is a reknown dynasty of rabbis of that family name in Denmark (having fled to Sweden during the war). If he was Jewish or not, does not matter much to me. The important thing to me is that he did not support the Nazis.

[ONeirda]

@unethicaldenier Dear "unethical denier": If you study music history and focus on Wagners writings about the development of the Wagner tenor, you'd learn that Wagner himself postulated his tenors stemming from the baritone 'Fach'. Wagner is aknowledged to have had a very keen knowledge about voice education. And: a real Wagner tenor comes originally from the high baritone. It needs a lot of time to 'ripe'. That's why Heldentenors sing baritone roles when their young. Got it? Love & peace to you.

[dziady1]

he does manage to give one a head ache

yell ! yell ! hope that swan gets there on time - the sooner the better -great sound for announcing train departures .

[qklq42]

@unidecaldinier

"melchior´s pronounciation is just rubbish. it has nothing to do with proper german."

I'm not a German, but from Holland. I love the German culture and their language. And I know how you must sing in the German language. You can listen to a German from the north, the south, the west and the east of this wonderful country. You will find all different pronunciations. And here we have a legendary tenor from their north neighbours. Enjoy !

Hans, the Netherlands

[frjohn65]

@qklq42

He would sing German with a Danish accent since he was a Dane!

[qklq42]

In my opinion most people don; t understand the german language: it has a certain sound that no other language has: this great open vowels and this magnificent consonants. If you don't know anyhing about this great culture, you should keep your mouth and only listen.

By the way.I'm not a German, but from the Netherlands. But I love my neigberhood and their beautiful language !

Hans NL

[GERMANYFrankie]

@unethicaldenier Habe mir gerade Ihren Kanal angesehen. Es waere besser nichts zu sagen, da Sie von Musik wirklich keine Ahnung haben.

Melchior war der beste Wagner Tenor bis dato und wir alle lieben ihn!

Warscheinlich sind Sie jemand der Kaufmann mag, das wuerde passen!

Hoeren Sie bitte auf, schlechte Kommentare ueber Melchior abzugeben! Der Mann lebt nicht mehr und kann sich dessen nicht erwehren!

[GERMANYFrankie]

@unethicaldenier this is one very bad comment! If you sing better like him, show me here and now!!!!

[ONeirda]

@GERMANYFrankie: Vielen Dank, Frankie, für dieses Statement. Man darf ja Lauritz Melchior nicht mögen. Aber dann wie dieser "unethical denier" dessen (massgebende!) Kunst so in den Dreck zu ziehen... (Leider kann auf dem Internet jeder I.... seine Spuren hinterlassen ;-) Da ist Ihre Aufforderung einfach der richtige Konter: "Singen Sie besser, und dann mögen Sie ihn kritisieren (wenn sie bis dann die zu gutem Gesang nötige Noblesse noch immer nicht haben...)". Dank und Liebe von A. aus Zürich.

[herminestover]

as i said elsewhere, this is the one defining piece for a heldentenor, of which I have more favourites than any other tenor role. from the first syllable, he OWNS this. at his age, when other favourites are either dead, or leathery, he is still THE MAN.

[qklq42]

@unethicaldenier

I think that Lohengrin is a proud, but disappointed heroe, who in this scene want to explain his great meanigs and his fealure. It MUST be sung forte and fortissimo and with great bows. In mezza-voce, you cannot perform a great heroe.

Moreover: this recording was taken when he was over 75 y.o. You must also hear his 1928 version. The one and only Heldentenor of his era.

Hans NL

[GERMANYFrankie]

@qklq42 Great comment! Are you a singer?

[qklq42]

@GERMANYFrankie

Not as a solist. I sing in different choires. A male choir, a mixed choir and a roman catholic churchchoir. As a tenor. I am certainly not a tenore forte. More a tenore di grazie, who mostly sings in falsetto. We sing mostly englisch, french and german songs, and of course latin masses. I love to do this.

[athenabooks]

Great!

[GERMANYFrankie]

forte..forte..forte.. from the beginning to the end is the right way to sing it here! I'm a Knight and only the word "Taube" is a little exception! The rest must be forte or fortissimo.

Melchior is the only one who sings it right! All other singers are little babies compare to him.

[GERMANYFrankie]

unuebertroffen!

[minnie888444]

Excellent singing technically, but the interpretation is too loud all the time. Ideally, he should have begun in pianissimo -- Wagner requires both fortissimo AND pianissimo -- and here the orchestration is not thick and the tessitura is low. Wagner knew exactly how to write to make nuances possible. It has to suggest the mystery of Montsalvat. Again ideally, he should have gone forte only by the end, when Lohengrin asserts his identity.

[Gargantupimp]

@minnie888444 shutthefuckup

[beroorda]

i always watch this video for fun....XD

[grimmrad]

@luck1au

I do not need to argue about Wunderlich, he is not surpassed. However, I haven't heard him sing Wagner and as far as I know he never did - of ourse his wan't the voice for it (who knows what would have happened were it not for that fatal evening). Melchior however can be understood better than a lot of tenors singing at the MET (my "home opera house") and also better than a lot of German tenors.Kesting rated him as one of the best Wagner tenors - and also one of the best Otellos...

[Baccalaureus79]

His "den rüstet er mit überird'scher Macht" sounds like spoken by a Volksempfänger... His German is just perfect.

[grimmrad]

@Luck1au - Are you kidding? Best German pronunciation ever. Do you speak German? I and can understand every single word. And don't forget - his style of singing is from the first half of the 20th century.

[Rienzi1347]

cf. Jonas Kaufmann and hear the difference ..

[gunnargerhardt]

@Rienzi1347

Difference in which way? Do you mean better or worse. I myself love the Kaufmann interpretation better to be true. He sings the whole part so very sensitive and with a beautiful sense for all emotions like he's Lohengrin himself :).

[tomfroekjaer]

As Heldentenor he is/was unbeatable/unschlagbar. What a voice - what empathy !

[melbapatti]

To set the record straight, he was just 60 here. He was born in 1890, and this is a Voice of Firestone performance from 1950.  I think he is singing this into Rudolf Bing's face, since Bing had just fired him from the Met. It is certainly a great performance of the piece, and his voice is STEADY. He sang his final Wagnerian performance, Walkure Act 1, 10 years later.

[CarmenMirandasHat]

He displays incredible technique, remains completely still throughout and yet he can communicate a beautiful, passionate performance.

His crystal clear diction, superb legato phrasing, and a powerful emotionally moving clarion-like voice projects through even older recordings.

This man created real vocal art.

[tenorschofield]

Amazing!!!..you can understand each word, engaged in a chained articulation of a continous leggato!!!!.His trumpsound voice really defines what a "heldentenor" is!!!.Bravisimoooo!!!!!

[kuddelfranz20001]

Fabelhaft,wie ist das möglich, danke

[MrGratefulheart]

What a voice! What a singer! ... 60's... I think he was in his 70's when this one recorded...?

[paulostroff99]

Awesome! One of the truly beloved singers of our day.

[XP11XP]

This performance shows why Melchior was fired from the Met in 1950.

[hugoforth]

@XP11XP  If thats true......that shows what idiots the Met were..

[docmalthus]

@XP11XP Melchior was NOT fired from the Met. He quarrelled with outgoing director Edward Johnson (Melchior wanted to succeed Johnson as director but was passed over in favor of Rudolph Bing). So Melchior quit in protest. His performance on Danish radio in Act 1 of Die Walkurie in 1960 proves that he could have sung on well past 1950.

[seektheforce]

@XP11XP how does this performance show that he was fired?

[gaemp]

a real "tenor in his own role", super!... nowadays everyone sings everything...

[saltburner2]

Still at 61 the greatest Wagner tenor of the 20th century. Bravo!

[cheerybombom]

What is PBC? Where is this from? I would like to locate this archive for a programme I am working on. Can anyone help?!

[docmalthus]

@cheerybombom I'm not sure what PBC is either, but I can tell you that this was originally a Voice of Firestone broadcast from Feb. 12, 1951. Hope this helps.

[jmuslvr]

He was one of the greatest heldentenors who ever lived.

[Lovelytenor1]

Bjoerlings rendition is more lovely but his voice was not for this part. J. Kaufmann's rendition is also beautiful. However, he remain's the definitive heldentenor.

[chichilu15]

simply...the tenor

[Biogiant22]

Can someone tell me the best version of Melchior's Lohengrin? 1935? 1940? 1943? 1947? 1950? Actually i have only the 1943 version (but for others Lohengrin i have the Solti edition, the Kempe edition and the Kubelik edition..).

[federic017]

straordinaria interpretazione degna di uno strumento . Grande, in quest'opera è quasi irraggiungibile. un saluto

[F93HD2]

Cantante immenso, in questo video molto "ieratico" e "statuario" nella postura"!

Gli acuti sono così argentei da assomigliare a veri e propri suoni emessi dalle trombe!

[gzorose]

Have just locked on and read some comments. For sure each of you have your own opinion about Laurtiz's singing, however you can take all Wagner's singers after him, put them on line and yes, even Kaufmann and believe the "old" guy was/still is the best when comparing their scene performances - acting, singing, respectively. Now high techs are taking over both when singers are recording and even when on the actual stage to perform live.

[dziady1]

If your judgement of good singing is based on wobble

or not so be it . I am old enogh to have heard him live

yelling all evening until he gave us all a headache. But people thought that is how Wagnerian tenors must sound.

In this beautiful aria he is as subtle as a 18 wheel truck.

Sounds like he is singing train schedule for the hard

of hearing .Anna Russell said most singers have

resonance where their brains ought to be .. how true

especially in this rendition of farewell --try Vogt

[dziady1]

vickers has them all beat .Melchior

has all the musicality of an alley

cat in heat - evrything that comes across

as bad opera is here . A beautiful aria is just shouted to death , he

had stamina - to bad not a beautiful

singer .A bellowing so called heldentenor

loud and relentless .

[Bjoerrelli]

Its so strange that he sang up until he was over 60 years old whithout even a small tendence to get a wobble. Anyone who have sanged anything on a stage knows that if he would have shouted his way through Tristan and other extremly hard parts he would have been finished in a year instead he sang more Tristans then anyone and still had a frech wibrant voice at over 60. If there was one wagnerian tenor in the world today that sang like Lauritz a would try my best to get to see him.

[24yotenor]

I've gone through just about all of the recordings on youtube and haven't found one that I feel come close to this. The thin high notes are completely forgiveable in light of the power, tone, and expression of Melchior's singing. I've only heard a recording of Kollo which I thought was better but it is not the one listed on youtube.

[thecoolboys888]

my name is lauritz

[jbjorling]

javierqatar, I do not disagree with your assessment that Melchior's musical interpretation here is not so good. But, Lohengrin was not exactly his flagship role. Please do not forget that Melchior was a "schwerer Held", a further subsection of the Heldentenor Fach whose specialty is Tristan. After getting the specs for his first season at the Met, Melchior sent a telegram fom Europe, explaining that his voice was too heavy to sing von Stolzing. This is just not appropriate for his voice.

[svjatazarov]

шикарно!

[vstasov]

No matter how many times I see this, it never fails to thrill me. A uniquely gifted artist. One of a kind. The Archetypal Wagnerian Heldentenor.

[Bivolari]

A true hero!! He makes it sound so easy.

[FacePaster]

and this is after 3 decades of singing countless performances of the most demanding repertoire in all of opera (Tristan, Siegfried, etc), and very rarely ever cancelling. Remarkable!

[preruminator]

The 'old' lion roared stating that he is still the pride's alpha leader.

[GermanOperaSinger]

He was the best in the Ring operas but his voice is a bit too heavy to sing Lohengrin. Volker was better in this role.

[paulostroff99]

AS good as it ever got!  Bravo!

[meltzerboy]

Even past his prime, Melchior is incomparable! No question he was the greatest Wagnerian tenor of all time, not excepting Urlus, Slezak, or Volker, and one of the greatest tenors period.

[paulostroff99]

meltzerboy-Melchior lost practically nothing of this superb voice even when quite old.

[vstasov]

This is heart attack footage. It's a miracle we even have a remnant of him singing Wagner in front of the camera. And that's Kleinchen in the background.... (Mrs. Melchior)

[paulostroff99]

@meltzerboy -In several Wagner operas he was not quite up there wth Max Lorenz or Franz Volker. His voice was more suited to different operas and not Lohengrin nor Tannhauser.No doubt that the above mentioned owned those.Max Lorenz -Hitler's favourite tenor did not have any love for hitler whose S.S. attempted to deal with his Jewish wife and mother in law.He saved them with a phone  call to Goering's sistere and got a promise from the S.S. that they would never again be put through this ordeal.

[trishengrin]

Absolument Furchtlos! Der Heldentenor des Eons!

[diadm2]

Très impressionnant, autant d' énergie et de phrasé dans cet air que Georges Thill chante aussi. La voix est d' une catégorie plus sombre, à la limite du baryton, une voix de bronze!

[Boratti]

bei den heutigen Fisteltenören,wahrlich eine labsal

[wotan3000]

Bravo

[gepopo1]

Es singt der Generalfeldmarschall. Die Stimme sitzt perfekt. die A-Vokale sind freilich stark abgedunkelt. Es fehlt freilich alles Menschliche. Lohengrin erstarrt im Heldischen. Eine völlig verfehlte Interpretation.

[funsascha]

Freilich darf man anderer Ansicht sein. Freilich entscheidet jeder selbst, ob er diese Interpretation für "verfehlt" hält.

[otello31]

Bravo Maestro!!!!!!

[stmaurmusic]

Thrilling! He deserves every one of those medals on his chest.

[rabengeraun]

It angers me to think that Georg Solti delivered one of his typical insults at this singer, which was that he wasn't always very "musical". What he meant was that he didn't always follow the printed score a la Toscanini. With all due respect to Solti, I can't imagine anyone with the slightest sensitivity to highbrow classical music describing this as "unmusical".

[j72050]

Solti was never musical..he was a drum banger that never graduated past an apprentice conductor, but by luck got positions thru contacts...and that great conductors were not available....Solti was a substitute mediocre conductor

[rabengeraun]

He never inspired me through his conducting as others have done. He couldn't seem to realise that a written score is a compromise on the composer's imagination.

[javierqatar]

I know I'll get a bunch of negatives here...

It seems there's a legend around Melchior, the best and only heldentenor, bla, bla... The voice is impressive, BUT I do hear a lot of metal there, phrasing and diction could be better (Windgasen), the german pronunciation is far, far from perfect (any german tenor) and the overall expression is, sorry, poor. Birgit Nilsson had the same problem: excellent raw material mostly misused. The best heldentenor? Windgassen. Not perfect, but still the best.

[Labienus]

first he is in his 60s here retired from opera nobody ever said he was the only one just the most unique voice ever in that category top has strain here which it never had in his prime

pronunciation is still great

some things I never liked about Nilsson but I don't know what you're talking about?

Windgassen through artistry and intelligence made up for deficiences in his voice-even on records it lacks heft

Suggest you try earlier Melchior

remember the live impact of these voices

[javierqatar]

Yes, I'll try when he was younger...

About Nilsson? She had an excellent instrument, it seemed almighty, invincible, but the expression is cold, the top high is brilliant but lacks colour, her phrasing was poor. Just compare one of his tag roles, Turandot, with another sopranos who sang the same part: Eva Turner or Inge Borkh, for example. Try to find, if you will, 'In questa reggia' and you will see what I mean. Melchior had, imo, similar problems.

[Labienus]

As live performers they were both overwhelming forces of nature (I know first hand with Nilsson) but now we all judge from the same source

She was a fine musician great phrasing her handling of text not so great sometimes hard to hear words because of the cool laser sound later she seemed too high note obsessed thought her better as a Valykyrie than an Irish princess she was dominating in voice and manner

I prefer Flagstad warmer, or Leider less voice but more interesting

[javierqatar]

As live performers they had to be great... I couldn't see none of them, unfortunately, and I have to judge from recordings, as you say.

[Labienus]

Turandot such an odd role and not much of one you can sing it or you can't Nilsson famous for it but really not central to her accomplishments compared to all that Wagner and Strauss to my ears it was amazing how her sound rode on the top of the orchestra-recordings are different

Melchior different beast not only size of voice but vocal production made his words IMO so clear he was the only tenor who sounded comfortable singing those roles only one whose energy seemed inexhaustable

[vstasov]

Someone get the heart paddles..... it's almost too much for me. And that was Kleinchen (Mrs. Melchior) to his right! Priceless. Thank you.

[SieglindeMoos]

:) It is indeed!

[inter215]

This was filmed during the early 1950s when Melchior was in his early 60s (he was born in 1890). After having sung hundreds of Tristans, Lohengrins, Siegrieds, and other heavy Wagner roles for 25 years he still sounds very good here. And its nice to SEE him singing to observe his physical mannerisms. That's his wife I believe standing in the wings to his RIGHT.

[auknu]

Well, its' no show girl!

But you're right; it's a great thrill to be able so see him. He, who managed 500 or so Met appearances while only canceling 3 times! For many of us he's one of the great wonders of the 20th century.

[qklq42]

Please , note his fantastic use of the german consonants: his brilliant R's, N,s and M,s. So many singers don,t know how important that is: they concentrate their voice to much on the vowels. They have beautiful A, O, I and so on. But in german the consonants are as important as the vowels. So it is in my own language: dutch. He sings it almost better dan anyone german singer ever could do (exception: the great Fritz Wunderlich)

Hans NL

[shpua2010]

Your comment is wont to have the less knowledgable believe they should irritatingly pop every single consonant because "it's German." His consonants were sometimes exaggerated, such as the distracting and slightly silly trills in "überird'scher Macht." There is no reason to ham it up that way, and no one should get the impression this is how German should be sung.

[qklq42]

Sir,

This is how to sing german. Even the german mostly don't know to sing their own language. You MUST sing it exaggerated! Thats the secred.

Hans NL

[2920Thomas]

Which is the egg teaching the hen!

[Boerenfox]

Precies!

[VivaRenata]

@qklq42 Dear Hans NL, I appreciate everything Dutch (beginning with Erasmus of Rotterdam) but would ask you to listen to Set Svanholm in the same aria. Melchior is, in my opinion, the most over-rated tenor of all times. There are many who were far better in the Wagnerian repertoire and you will experience his imprecision if you just sit down and look at a score. And - read the memoirs of Rudolf BIng.

[qklq42]

@VivaRenata

I have found Set Svanholm in this aria on You Tube, and I loved it. He has a brilliant voice, a chique way of singing, a very good idea of the german lanquage and a fine dixion. And than this Melchior: in this movie he is about 80 years old. At that age a singer has to use every trick that can help to make a acceptable presentation. And he had his worse evenings: f.i. Tannhäuser dec. 19, 1942. He is more crying than singing. But he had also his onforgettable evenings!

Hans NL

[XP11XP]

This was about that time he was fired from Met

[qklq42]

@XP11XP

This legend exceeded his own date of tenability.

Hans NL

[Tristan278]

@qklq42

Simple Verallgemeinerung eines Unwissenden. Melchior war ein Großer, aber besser als jemals irgendein ein deutscher Sänger mit Ausnahme von Fritz Wunderlich..BULLSHIT !

[qklq42]

@Tristan278

Mon cher Tristan,

Was meinest du mit "verallgemeinung`` und `Ungewissenden` Natùrlich war Wunderlich die schònste aller deutsche tenòre, aber ar hatte ein ganz underschiedlich repertiore als Melchior. Sie mòchten besser kein Pfede unf Kùhe vergeleichen.....Und was ist die bedeutung des Bullshit .

Sie sollen sich lernen sich besser zu behehmen..........

Hans NL

[Reichstempler]

@qklq42 Unnarrbar euren Schrieten.

[qklq42]

@Reichstempler

At this time I think he was 75 yo. Please, as you want to judge him listen to his complete Lohengrin from the Met of 22-12-1935 with Lotte Lehmann, Friedrich Schorr and Emanuel List . He was then 45 yo.

Opera greetings from...

Hans NL

[GERMANYFrankie]

@qklq42 my God, you are so right! Those people are dosen't know anything about singing!

[Reichstempler]

@qklq42 Unbelievable, I was told Wagner song destroys a voice, apparently not.

[HahnStefan]

@qklq42 okay - what you talk about german is right - but - his german sounds bad :D - i am german. a very good singer anyway. listen to kollo, windgassen etc

[pearlmuth3]

Gedda was a great lyric tenor but this is a totally different voice being a dramatic heldentenor. I never heard him live but did hear Gedda in opera and recital it's apples and oranges- this is said to have been a huge voice and I believe it.

[100Singers]

The only one who had sung the Gralserzählung with the right accentuation and intelligence was Nicolai Gedda- and this is no joke!

[Trisolde]

Nicolai Gedda sang "with the right accentuation and intelligence" everything but he wasnt and isnt the only one.

[messdiener2000]

Grauenhaft die Gralserzählung so zu zerbellen

[j72050]

..matchless perfection

[GermanOperaSinger]

What more can be said of the greatest heldentenor of recorded history? This was the real Wagnerian tenor of the century.

[rabengeraun]

Sensational!

[racer500gp]

Lauritz Melchior. The greatest Wagnerian singer of all time.

[neronnenn]

Favoloso!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[willy1514]

The greatest Wagnerian tenor--the pure heldentenor. He actually started as a high baritone. Watch for him in the Old, Old film from the late 40's, "Luxury Liner".

[emacasta]

Very good! The real heldentenor!!

[Samurai9]

Melchior was a natural baritone and developed a strange technique which allowed him to reach the tenor high notes. His tremendous stamina allowed him to sing long roles without any damage to his voice. Note how he "places" his high notes by starting with a small round position and then opening his mouth to build the tone. At the top there is often strain and thinness, but the tone is focussed, secure, and steady. His style is typically German, with little legato or portamento, and many breaths.

[petrof4056]

A write wagnerian !!! Magnific !!

[dichtge]

This is exactly how it has to be.

[dragig00]

strong voice I like it

[taillia]

What a voice ! He seems yet old. Only the notes very acute (on "Graal") are perhaps strained. But it's of course legendary

[neronnenn]

and he was old at this time but still the best wagnerian tenor all times

[OperaSnob]

Love this aria and sung perfectly as expected by this wonderful tenor. Thanks for posting!

[j72050]

..with his death, the concept and realization of heldentenor also died...he belongs to the ages, like Toscanini......

[egymagyar1111111]

this major aged knight is converting himself to a 20 years old knight in words of GOD HIMSELF to interpret to us and he is young and glorious what a transformation could make art as it is by humanity thanks primobaritono

[Michaelbos]

Love it. Thanks for sharing this.

[stefakamelpash]

There was only one great Heldontenor, and it was Melchior. The amazing thing is that he could sing like this for hours on end. An absolutely unique and splendid talent. We will not see his like again.

[Gille2416]

sacré Melchior !

[DAVIDBRUNNER2]

Do you know the year of this video?

[auknu]

Approximately, 1950. From the "Voice of Firestone" TV series. Buy 'em up while you can!

[martynblackburn1977]

I like it a lot.

[francotenelli]

Great!thanks for the upload

[jkircher314]

That's Kleinchen, his wife on his immediate left. He is the greatest heldentenor of all time. He had it all the way to his 70th birthday, when he sang act 1 of Die Walkure in a radio broadcast. And it sounded wonderful!

[ciroalb3]

Wonderful, but the voice is not quite what it was fifteen years earlier

[aguacun]

There are good renditions and his one! This is not Lawritz Mechior... I see Lohengrin

[Imogenn]

Brilliant!!

[emalaithdies]

what kind of douchebag gave this less than five stars?

[izar1234]

"what kind of douchebag gave this less than five stars?"

LOL! I totally agree. This is one of those clips that need more than five stars. What an unbelievable sound. He could be a leading Verdi baritone in this day and age! Thank God for these clips and thanks to Onegin65 for this one.

[johnniex]

Wonderful. It would be nice if someone uploaded a rendition of 'Land so wunderbar' / 'O Paradis'

[emalaithdies]

what incredible discipline to keep that exact posture for the whole performance

[operaboy81]

He had a beautiful voice. I don't think that everyone that sings this has to be a heldentenor, but it is a special treat when this aria is sung by one.

[nanbil]

If sung with an orchestra the tenor had better be an Heldentenor.

[lovelymess]

True!

Wagner said that he felt he over orchestrated Lohengrin with too much brass.

As delicate as the string work is here when the brass come in on the high A even Melchior has to work to be heard.

[8032gesang]

The best of the best.

[Orfeus80]

The ideal voice in the right music. I love it when that match happens!

[mrrk]

Even at this late stage he ran rings round any other Wagner tenor. There will never be anyone like this again.

[primobaritono]

This is absolutely awe-inspiring! What stentorian heroicness!! And what Squillo !!! Thank you very much for posting!

[stevevandien]

THE heldentenor!

[mariusfelix]

Yes, and Max Lorenz!

[stevevandien]

Lorenz was exceptional, but not as impressive as Melchior, in my judgment at least - I think you have to put Melchior in a class by himself, and then judge the others after him -- just my opinion, of course:) --

[mariusfelix]

Neither do I have to put someone somewhere, nor do I have to judge, too many judges on youtube! And too few singers in the world! (in my humble oppinion)