Flagstad and Melchior - Tristan and Isolde "Love Duet", 1/2

[violinthief]

This is one of many videos I have uploaded that has been subjected to a phony copyright claim by "Rebeat Digital GmbH". This is a public domain recording. Please do not click on any links below the video. This criminal conduct by Rebeat Digital should not be rewarded.

[grayson1934]

The likes of this will never be heard again. It's been 70 years and still unequaled. Sublime!

[petrof4056]

The best performance of this duet! It seems impossible to do better than this

[Operaddict]

Sublime is the only word for such music and singing. Heroic, honest, astounding in its simplicity and grandeur. Their like will never be heard again I fear.

[richard63545]

Anyone know what year and where this was recorded, it sounds like Bodansky is conducting but it couldn't be because the recording quality is too good?

[TexasClarinet]

@richard63545 This is the 1939 version with Edwin MacArthur conducting the San Francisco Opera. It's the only time that I know of that Flagstad and Melchior recorded duets in a recording studio. They also did duets from Parsifal, Lohengrin, and Gotterdammerung during that session.

[BritinIsrael]

There are just no Wagnerian singers like these any more. SAD!

[waustad]

This is the performance I wore out on vinyl. I've tried to find it on CD but got some others that weren't quite as good. Magnificent!!!

[gundhari]

I can hear this duett with L.M and K.F. again and again. It is the top of the culture of singing never heard again since yet. It seems unrepeatable. How this two voices tie in together (with excellent orchester at that time) with beautyful and technical perfect and intelligent voices. Wagner would have been mostly content with this performance!!

[Silverhalide60]

BEST!!!!!

[richard63545]

This recording is on the Simax label they sell it on Amazon as a 3 CD version or MP3 version of all her early recordings going as far back as 1913. The very early ones from 1913-1915 are treasures made when she was just a teenager, before her voice darkened (not a bad thing, just different) after taking on Verdi and Wagner around 1920 and onward. There was never a voice like hers, and i doubt ever will be in the future. Thank god for these recordings.

[Silverhalide60]

I am so moved as closer to union without love I know my heart will be one with nature as I listen to this music.

[Herfinnur]

I can't find a cd with this recording, can you tell me where/if it's available?

[claudiooss]

hermoso, que voz tan magica.

[antoniosergiocunha]

These two are true wagnerian singers. That is why they sing without any effort. It is very difficult to find truly wagnerian singers nowadays. Waltraud Meier is one of the few. A pity.

[stickershomeplus]

I ask, why don't singers sound like this today? Can someone answer me. Their voices are big but unforced. Beautiful.

[2ndviolinist]

The culture that supported serious music is long gone so expectations and knowledge are lacking. There are no teachers who can impart the technique necessary. The concert stage is a museum since great composition is as dead as great music-making. Unfortunately musical masterpieces must be continually recreated. When something becomes stagnant the beauty dies. Just be glad we have some record of the end of Western art music. Sorry to be a downer.

[dziady1]

just blessing your channel with forbidden views

[CanadaPisces]

A beautifully sung duet by two superb singers! TY!

[vocalpianist]

Beautiful!! I am only just now discovering Wagner, thank you for this post!

[radubradu]

this is so difficult to understand i cant get any harmony

i have to keep listening i guess

[heimdallhinfrode]

Yes, you must! Every note and combination of notes is revolutionary in the evolution of music. The harmony is really what this opera is about. The reason you don't hear it yet is that it takes time and repeated listenings for the process to register. It's there and it's worth the effort. When it clicks, you will feel that you are listening in to the heartbeat of all music.

[VivaRenata]

@heimdallhinfrode Thank you for this wise comment!

[TheTristan1954]

Baritone vs. heldentenor I am also (started as baritone and now heldentenor, where is the barriere? I'm very comfy with my voice, Tristan and Parsifal goes very good but also Marouf or Pelleas

[VivaMariaCallas]

This is amazing singing, & Flagstad as Brangaene is a real treat too. However, I hate it when they cut the middle section (Doch unsre Liebe), the duet loses a whole dimension that is in my opinion indispensable.

[123mortimer456]

Apart from all the other wonders of this recording, it's - small wonder - the greatest Brangaene I've ever heard!

[LauritzMelchior]

Una de las grabaciones que yo me llevaría a una isla desierta.

[hiram242]

For my money, Flagstad is one of two "perfect" singers I've ever heard (Ponselle is the other), and Melchior is darned close. God knows that Flagstad was no "diva", and in many ways just didn't fit in . A lot of the guff she caught was politics. But, what a voice...

[vstasov]

What a waste. Thanks for the detailed information. I remember something about bows, and Melchior insisting on equal bowing time to Flagstad's. They were both childish. So unfortunate. Imagine if Melchior had agreed to that studio Tristan.

[mvaldene]

I have a recopilation "Great Singers sing Wagner" with this recording. I did not know MacArthur was the conductor. Is there a hole version of this opera?

Thanks and regard from Spain

[vstasov]

There are a number of live Tristans with Melchior and Flagstad, from 1936 to 1941. One of the greatest is with Beecham conducting, 1937.

MacArthur was Flagstad's accompanist. Not thought of as a great musician, he was one of the few she was comfortable w/. She promoted his career a great deal, much to his embarrassment. She was shy, difficult, sensitive, easily offended. MacArthur was unthreatening to her. She hated Melchior because he insulted her. She refused to sing w/him eventually.

[Finargon]

Melchior is a tenor? or Dramatic Tenor?

he sound like a baryton

[MusicMyInspiration]

So naive, so sincere...and thus, so convincing.

[billjhyt]

Most gratifying to the ears but more especially gratifying to one's heart.

[beccah85]

Absolutely stunning! Thank you so much for posting this!

[aptcore59]

Wow, this is GLORIOUS!

[babydrane]

Her singing of Brangane is haunting. These two always make me feel like singing Wagner is the only option. Such rich, full, unproblematic voices that perfectly complement each other. Melchior's voice is without explanation - I kinda wish all tenors sounded this good.

[ludwigna78]

Melchior sarà anche stato il più grande Tristan della sua epoca, ma per il gusto di oggi lo trovo del tutto improponibile, inaccettabile, impreciso, calante...

[Biogiant22]

@ludwigna78 Ma non bestemmiare! Melchior è il più grande Tristano di sempre. Il Tristanissimo! Inaccettabile per il gusto di oggi? Un consiglio: lascia perdere Wagner. Non fa per te.

[mmarky26]

Best opera recording ever. With the two best singers ever heard. The climax of the duet is unsurpassed.

[kelbo61]

Tristan and Isolde are the consummate lovers in my opinion....nothing else compares. Wagner captures the emotion of their love like no other. Pavarotti sang it the best...the rest are just a comparison..... God bless Luciano Pavarotti!!!

[punainenpaholainen]

Why don't people sing like this anymore? Natural, unforced voices, therefore beautiful vibrato and no doubt of pitch. No competing in who's loudest (like today), singers understand they are part of the music. Here I hear what was written in the score! Younger, I used to dislike Wagner, but listening to this I get the point. Thank you!

[kololando]

I go to the heaven when I hear Wagner...

[MildredMarita]

My grandma had a great mezzo, but because of her family situation she couldn't make a career out of it. - She cried everytime Kirsten Flagstad sang on the radio..

[Rapicienta]

Maravillosos, todo la duración de este dueto del Acto II, es una maravilla, si Wagner quería expresar el amor, lo logró.

Fuera de eso, las voces están magnificas, lastima las grabaciones son viejas, como me gustaría apreciar dos voces así en la actualidad.

[AngelusaRequiem]

Her voice is so... colorful, that's the only way I can describe it! It's so beautiful

[paulostroff99]

A pairing made in heaven!

[walkyrian]

Flagstad and Melchior complete each other in this love duett!!

[Konrad662]

Amazing stuff. They don't make voices like that anymore.

[scargo1013]

Thank you so much. These two are sublime.

[796824]

Oh for the Golden Age Singers. Nothing on the stage can match since that period. This is pure voice, totally unforced, clear and pure.

[darkwagner]

Omg,how wonderful! Wagner at his best.

[Rephrat]

the best one !!!!!!!!

[javierernestez]

I can hardly write. My eyes are in tears

[sfkcbf]

If only we always could hear Wagner is this way!

[HeldenDude]

Pure Gold! Thanks for posting the video.

[CoolJay77]

Wagner+Melchior+Flagstad = One of the seven musical wonders.