16 Dramatic Sopranos sing Isolde's Ultra-Forte High A

A break from the focus on lower notes over recent videos, this one will definitely be a lot louder. Sixteen dramatic sopranos sing Isolde's forte high A in the Act 1 finale of Tristan und Isolde Act 1 ("Tristan! Isolde! Treuloser Holder!"). This note is one where lighter voices may struggle, forte dynamics in the mid-high range can often reveal issues with vibrato and tonal quality, though I think most do well here.
Featured artists (Isolde/Tristan/Brangane):
1. Kirsten Flagstad / Set Svanholm / Viorica Ursuleac (Kleiber, 1948)
2. Helen Traubel / Lauritz Melchior / Margaret Harshaw (Busch, 1943)
3. Anny Konetzni / Max Lorenz / Margarete Klose (Furtwängler, 1942)
4. Margeret Harshaw / Ramon Vinay / Blanche Thebom (Stiedry, 1958)
5. Gertrude Grob Prandl / Max Lorenx / Elsa Cavelti (de Sabata, 1951)
6. Astrid Varnay / Set Svanholm / Blanche Thebom (Kempe, 1955)
7. Birgit Nilsson / Ramon Vinay / Irene Dalis (Bohm, 1960)
8. Ludmila Dvořáková / Ticho Parly / Hertha Topper (Previtali, 1966)
9. Rita Hunter / Alberto Remedios / Margreta Elkins (MacKerras, 1982)
10. Berit Lindholm / René Kollo / Ruza Baldani (?, 1983)
11. Catarina Ligendza / Hans Hopf / Ruza Baldani (Kleiber, 1973)
12. Gwyneth Jones / René Kollo / Marjana Lipovsek (Schneider, 1989)
13. Hildegard Behrens / Heikki Siukola / Uta Priew (Hollreiser, 1992)
14. Waltraud Meier / Udo Mehpohl / Marjana Lipovsek (Mehta , 1998)
15. Nina Stemme / Robert Gambill / Katarina Karnéus (Belohlávek, 2007)
The 16th soprano was Anne Evans but as usually her excerpt got muted... You can find her attempt here: • Wagner: Tristan und Is...
This video will conclude our Wagner series for now.

[@krodham2004]

I have heard both Nilsson and Jones as Isolde, and despite Nilsson sounding better here, I must say Jones was more thrilling in the theater in this moment. Perhaps because we never knew what we would get, and when it did come out it felt all-the-sweeter..

[@ПоэзияРоманаЛафоре]

Flagstad, Grob-Prandle, may be Nilsson and my favourite Astrid Varnay, who could raise her huge volcanic voice to seemingly unattainable heights.

[@nigelbatie7058]

Somebody better invent a freaking time machine, I NEED TO GO BACK IN TIME TO SEE AND HEAR KIRSTEN FLAGSTAD!!!!! 💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@cmarley4259]

All very good, but Flagstad is the greatest. Thank you for the video!

[@ПоэзияРоманаЛафоре]

And Varnay of cause

[@cmarley4259]

@@ПоэзияРоманаЛафоре Yes, of course. I think her high notes are a bit more thin, but it is probably because her voice is so thick and heavy that she has to do this to reach the high notes :)

[@BrianJosephMorgan]

Brava, Dame Gwyneth (with Kollo), and an honorable mention for the Brangäne of Ursuleac!

[@robt2778]

Its good to see ( hear?) Rita Hunter in this line up, she's a sometimes overlooked soprano, but had a phenomenal voice which was steady and accurate above the stave and seemingly tireless.. Her unprepossessing apearance ( by her own admission she was short and dumpy) probably prevented her having a more stella career. Interestingly she's heard here with Alberto Remedios. Before attending music college they shared a singing teacher in Liverpool, England, though at the time they didnt know each other. Unknowingly future Isolde/Brunhilde occasionally passed future Tristan/Siegfried in and out of lessons

[@scottgrunow5201]

Anny Konetzni has a huge voice but whoops and scoops too much

[@dramaticsoprano5168]

I think she did pretty well on the sustained A!

[@wotan10950]

I’m always flummoxed by these comparisons, although they’re fun, but you have to have heard them in the theater where voices sound entirely different than tapes. The only Isoldes I’ve ever seen live were Nilsson (in the late years), Jones, Behrens, Voigt, and Stemme. Nilsson was simply past the point where she should’ve sung Isolde. Jones was fantastic, albeit with her trademark pitch and vibrato issues. Behrens, don’t be fooled - she was perfectly audible at the Met, despite the lack of weight in her voice, and totally in-character. Voigt, despite her later vocal problems, was VERY good, and with a more feminine sound than any of them. Stemme - I recall saying at the time, ‘she has the perfect technique to support the ugliest voice.’

[@krodham2004]

I think we saw the almost the same Isoldes. My favorite was also Jones - in terms of sheer excitement (yes, over Nilsson!). I saw Behrens at Covent Garden (I think Elektra and Isolde), but I don't remember her leaving a big impression on me. I also saw Catarina Ligendza, but again don't recall much of it.

[@Thearchivebeyondimagination]

Nilsson. Bar none. La Traubel, however, was a big surprise, considering how short her top was.

[@pixelchords3201]

@@Thearchivebeyondimagination Flagstad is better than Nilsson at high A and B-flat. Nilsson only wins above this. Especially if you consider age.

[@Thearchivebeyondimagination]

@pixelchords3201 in what better? In size? Okay, Flagstad was bigger than Nilsson. What's next? You just compare them both neck to neck and you can see that Nilsson is simply superb here. Perfectly pronounced oscillations, great projection without hint of heavy - ness, her trademark attack from nothing.

[@pixelchords3201]

@@Thearchivebeyondimagination Flagstad simply had far more color in these high notes than Nilsson. They were both fine in all categories. I don't know what you mean by heaviness. Flagstad is already 54 in this recording, yet still free, easy and accessible. Nilsson is also sharp as usual but it is not a problem for me.

[@dramaticsoprano5168]

@@Thearchivebeyondimagination La Traubel lied to us when she said she had no notes above A. She sang all As, B-flats and Bs to some degree of quality in her 1943 Isolde.

[@Thearchivebeyondimagination]

@dramaticsoprano5168 she wasn't that old, and it was rather a great event for her. Her top C at any stage of her career is just like anything in Bermuda Triangle - simply dissappear. But it's not like she became famous just because she doesn't have a C.

[@modl_fr575]

Excellent ! Par contre c’est Set Svanholm avec Flagstad et pas Max Lorenz 😊

[@dramaticsoprano5168]

Thanks, corrected!

[@pixelchords3201]

Flagstad and Nilsson. When it comes to forte dynamics, it is always them. Grob-Prandl is nice technically but an acquired taste and she is betrayed by her pitch and poor musicality. Behrens and Dvorokova are on the other end of the spectrum, instruments pushed beyond their natural limit.

[@gerhardrohne2261]

and your poor but so very important judgment...

[@pixelchords3201]

@@gerhardrohne2261 Have a listen to her Venus and you'll know exactly what I mean by poor musicality. Her poor pitch is not up for opinion though. In fact she is even sharp here in this short clip at least three times.

[@Echoes-t1u]

Nilsson is also often sharp and she pushed in the 1970s. And Flagstad often doesn't have great forte top notes and sometimes she pushes, she also struggled a lot with the high C : kzbin.info/www/bejne/i4arkIaimNikgJI&start=18 very high larynxed and not vibrato : kzbin.info/www/bejne/b3msmYt3fdyBm7M&start=219 kzbin.info/www/bejne/iouWqquHmt-Vjbs&start=6428 eh : kzbin.info/www/bejne/mZ-cemmbl7d5a5o&start=195 And Flagstad often doesn't have color in the top notes as she lightens very much. Nilsson had better high notes than Flagstad

[@pixelchords3201]

@@Echoes-t1u You are sending clips from when she is in her 50s and 60s and she is still doing fine... Nilsson had even bigger problems at this age. I never said top notes anyway I said forte dynamics in general. Nilsson indeed had the easier high B and C, yet that doesn't disagree with anything in my comment.

[@sciagurrato1831]

Opera will die as an art appreciated by the public if one had to rely on these cacophonous “captures”.