Birgit Nilsson "Isolde's Liebestod"

Vienna State Opera, 1979

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Onegin65
• Opera
• Wagner
• Tristan
• und
• Isolde
• Birgit
• Nilsson

[JessyeNormanFan]

Frankly, I don't see what you people are complaining about. By any standard, this is an amazing rendition of the Liebestod. Tell me, who is singing Wagner like this today?

[SPTN58]

One of the great voices of the 20th Century! I regret not seeing her in the zenith of her career. I heard her often in Vienna in the 70s, in performances that were both superb and less so. But isn't that to be expected of a human? We're talking about a person, not a machine/robot. In addition to being a superlative artist, she was also a fine human being. I cherish all those performances, and often gaze at some of my framed Staatsoper posters hanging in my home. Brava, Nilsson!

[mariusfelix]

@filmevoncosima Na, na...mach mal halblang...

[SirenSongWoman]

@guirlandes3: I checked Joanna Porackova and she's better than all the other modern Wagnerian sopranos I've heard (and she has FLARE in recital, which is fun and lacking these days). Still, her sound is not quite as strong as the great Wagnerians. Honestly, though, I've never been a fan of the coldness and lack of malleability in Nilsson's Wagnerian interpretations. The most beautiful Liebstod I've ever heard is Christa Ludwig's mezzo interpretation right here on Youtube. Breathtaking!

[guirlandes3]

@JessyeNormanFan Your question: " Tell me, who is singing Wagner like this today?" Answer: Joanna Porackova

[filmevoncosima]

eine deprimierende Aufnahme... man kann gerade noch erahnen, dass sie einmal eine große Isolde war, daran, wie sie ihre Interpretation anlegt; aber sie war inzwischen stimmlich völlig überfordert, die Intonation schlicht entsetzlich, das Vibrato langsam und ausgeleiert, die Stimme unflexibel. Warum musste sie sich das antun?

[stevtomato]

@VivaRenata I've heard Flagstadt's version, nice but I didn't really like it. It's all based on opinions and is subjective. "Better interpreters"? On this level of interpretation, there's no such thing of better, it just depends on tastes. This said, I don't really like her performance here...

[elgar34]

Sorry, people. I LOVE THIS! Brava Nilsson indeed.

[houghtonga]

We cannot comparing singers of different eras. Apart from the Solti Ring Rheingold (at the end of her career) there are few stereo recordings of Flagstad singing. The dramatic saprano voice is are difficult for a sound engineers. When Nilsson did the Solti Ring she had to stand three paces away from the mic on the high notes, thus her famous overtones were not captured due to the loss of volume. It was sad that recording was in infancy with Flagstad and not yet fully developed for Nilsson.

[VivaRenata]

@witness124 It's actually a G-sharp, but continue listenining to Wagner but find some better interpreters, such as Flagstad, Furtwängler, Svanholm, Lorenz and many others. Nilsson and Solti were just some modern interpreters who had great management but did not really understand this repertoire.

[VivaRenata]

Sorry, all Nilsson fans. My only comment is that someone had to take over the great Wagnerian roles after Flagstad. And Nilsson's diction is more than awful - GAG - a comment from one of her compatriots. Let us not give her more credit than she deserves -

[gwangjuboy1]

No one comparable alive today, irrespecive of what the 'experts' say; name one who is producing this standard.