DampfSirene (Gertrude Grob-Prandl) Blasts Isolde's Curses like no other

[@sangirolamo306]

We, the standing gallery audience in the 50s and 60s in Viennna called her "Dampfsirene "

[@LohengrinO]

did I write it correctly in the title?

[@paulwien65]

Absolut correct 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@petergiljum]

Also ich war in der Zeit auch am Stehplatz und höre diesen Ausdruck zum erstenmal ! Dampfsirene ist auch ein schreckliches Wort , beleidigend und auch sehr unhöflich ….. die Ablehnung der Fr.Grob-Prandl von Teilen des Stehplatzes war sehr schade und hat sie sehr von Wien vertrieben ….erst in der zweiten Hälfte der 60er Jahre wurden ihre Leistungen anerkannt , vom Publikum aber nicht von der Direktion …… so hat sie leider ihre phänomenale Elektra nie in Wien singen können ! Eine Schande !!! Stehplatztes hat

[@30290Hagen]

J’ai entendu Grob-Prandl à l’Opéra Garnier dans Götterdämmerung : cette voix était un gigantesque fleuve qui emplissait tout l’espace ! Une de mes plus fortes impressions à l’opéra !

[@jmiller05]

Wasn't it her voice that made people think an alarm had gone off outside the opera house? Ha.

[@viktorlundberg3857]

No, it was Birgit.

[@classicaldame4372]

Thank you Lohengrin O. Someone in one of my opera groups on FB mentioned her, so of course I went wandering around YT...and found all these wonderful recordings! Thanks again! Her voice is most extraordinary: firm when needs must, supple, and a vibrato that doesn't go all over the place! Clear...Ok, I'm in love.🥰🥰😍😍

[@Ruffiello]

I love the consistent, instrumental, quality of her sound. She also had perfect pitch.

[@jasonhurd4379]

YES YES YES! OMG Lohengrin I love you! My favorite hochdramatisch of all time! Unparalleled as Turandot, and incredible as Brünnhilde, Elektra and Donna Anna. Listen to that big, firm, secure voice with nary a hint of a wobble. The voice just keeps pouring out of her like water when the dam gates are opened. Unbelievably beautiful. There's been no one like her since she retired (in 1972, I believe). Thank you so much! ❤

[@LohengrinO]

...she truly and fearlessly BLASTS the universe here... amazing voice

[@LohengrinO]

the Dampfsirene as San Girolamo says...

[@kajetanskraban640]

@@LohengrinO i was waiting for your first Gertrude :) i knew you would finally post something

[@LohengrinO]

@@kajetanskraban640 yes I will post excerpts from her Elektra as well but havent heard it yet... extremely powerful Voice, very talented ... has she done Salome?

[@kajetanskraban640]

@@LohengrinO i don't think so, sadly, or at least i haven't found any evidence: Celletti's Le grandi voci mentions her debut in Cavalleria, then Lohengrin, Turandot, Brunnhilde in Walküre, Leonora in Fidelio, Pamina in The Magic Flute. She has also sung in Trovatore, Ballo in maschera, Don Carlos, Aida and Tosca, in the German repertoire besides Wagner also in Don Giovanni, Nozze di Figaro, Freischutz, Rosenkavalier and Ariadne from Strauss. It doesn't mention her Elektra though, which she obviously sang with great success, so perhaps there's hope, since she apparently liked Strauss even in his less wagnerian operas.

[@pauls.9228]

Is this the La Scala production from early 50s with DeSabata conducting? If so, an old friend of mine sang the role of the sailor who begins Act I: Luciano Della Pergola.

[@esuna6352]

Grob-Prandl's voice could be shrill and brittle at times, but her top notes defines what a laser-like top register is. Listen to that high B! It was so consistent and didn't falter at all! GGP had that distinct, fiery sting that only she could inject to her roles that distinguished her from others. Her Turandot is also formidable, her unbelievably consistent top notes leaves me at a loss for words.

[@LohengrinO]

I was suggested to include her in this channel by 2-3 people, she never convinced me to follow her career at all

[@hadikheradmandpour7394]

''thanks'' is a trivial word here and I can't find a valuable word to express my greatest gratitude.

[@loralayons1120]

Fantastic Isolde, just goosebumps. And recently I heard her performance 'Robert, toi que j'aime', which is usually sung by coloratura or lyric sopranos and it was also amazing. Great singer!

[@hangchau3216]

imagine that Nilsson and Gertrude duet in Metropolitan with Turandot

[@oligui]

yeeees, LOVE her! one of my top 3 elektras, up there with varnay and borkh

[@oligui]

@Pellea S i think she liked acting elektra as much as she liked singing the role

[@luanllluan]

It can be completely untrue, but I once read that her high notes were mistaken for sirens once, so loud and powerful they were!! amazing artist

[@LohengrinO]

yes I placed it in the title DampfSirene after San Girolamo's comment

[@patrickmoi5652]

Tristan und Isolde acte 1 scene 3 réplique 49 éme et suivante Sans doute l'enregistrement de Victor de Sabata à la scala de Milan le 13 Décembre 1951 ? Merci pour ce chef d'oeuvre.

[@lukacs37]

Huge voice!

[@kurtganzl4290]

My opinion? She is the greatest of all dramatic soprani. Imagine she and Oralia Dominguez as a team. My dream team!

[@elsaasta5164]

Tu apprezzi, caro Lohengrin0, la mia spontaneità?? Una cosa sola ti posso dire su questa magnifica Artista = voce divinamente forte!! Su Gertrude un velo scuro.. nulla so, solamente tanti nomi e tanti ostacoli per me ancora una volta per la difficoltà di scriverli....gia ci sei tu che ti chiami Theo Lohengrin0.. Un affettuoso saluto Elsa.

[@billtroop4236]

You would think, from these comments, that Frida Leider had not made the definitive recording of this passage.

[@pammyjones1151]

Quite something!!!.....thank you 😘

[@LohengrinO]

4:11 that is what Isolde needs.... full unleash of the cataract of Sound

[@pammyjones1151]

@@LohengrinO can you imagine hearing/seeing anything even approaching this these days??!!......these performers and they're art are long gone!! 😥

[@LohengrinO]

@@pammyjones1151 today all are following Susan Graham's advice: dont fuck up your voice - and they put everybody to sleep :D

[@pammyjones1151]

@@LohengrinO what is the point of having a voice if you cannot due justice to the art of opera.....or to yourself?!!....is it ALL about the money?......god help us all...and opera!! 😱

[@LohengrinO]

@@pammyjones1151 ...it is all about singing till you are left with one tooth in your mouth and live at the exact opposite side of Greta Garbo and Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf who had both said: It is not fair to see how I look right now (when they were very old)

[@eduardomedrano1972]

Much more exciting than Nilsson...Grob-Prandl warm, titanic and espheric voice, more rounded than Birgit...

[@kurtganzl4290]

I agree wholeheartedly. This is my

[@danielintheantipodes6741]

Wow!

[@fclpjg]

Gawd wat a voice.....

[@julienthera4878]

Brangäne sounds so light compared to GGP!

[@grig035]

Who is the Brangaene and the conductor? The date?

[@pianoronald]

Although it’s not very polite to say: one of the main reasons Grob-Prandl didn’t have a greater career was her looks: she looked like a combination of Jane Eaglen and Rita Hunter. She more than made up for it with her incredible voice.

[@LohengrinO]

Christa looked like Mrs Piggy as well but... I really cant tell why some singers are underrated

[@Bacchusmbt]

You are correct. It is not polite to say.

[@nevim007]

@@LohengrinO Some great singers are underrated, some mediocre singers are overrated. Apart from their performace, there are also things behind the scenes that play role sometimes. The one had a more agile agent, the other could speak better English, another one had better looks... Sometimes it may be just serendipity.

[@julienthera4878]

Dampfsirene... das ist sehr richtig 🙂

[@ryan.engstrom]

Jesus that first high B. I mean..Birgit WHO?!

[@LohengrinO]

my thought exactly... she surpasses Nilsson in Blasting quality... Nilsson very often witheld her Voice back, dont know why... she wasnt a risk-taking singer

[@jasonhurd4379]

@@LohengrinO IMO her voice is also steadier than Nilsson's. If you do a back-to-back comparison of the two ladies, Nilsson sounds positively wobbly. Even her laser beam top notes are not as firm as Grob-Prandl's. I think if GG-P had made an international career rather than restricting herself to the Wiener Staatsoper, she would have been major competition for Nilsson, Varnay, Mödl and Borkh.

[@LohengrinO]

@@jasonhurd4379 she restricted herself although she had the offers to go outside?

[@jasonhurd4379]

@@LohengrinO Oh, I have no idea whether she had outside offers or not. If she had an agent, and I can't imagine she wouldn't have had one, he would most certainly have been 'shopping her around' to the big houses and to Bayreuth. She just may not have wanted to leave Vienna. Rasponi interviewed her for the Last Prima Donnas book, but I've mislaid my copy and so cannot refer to it. It's possible she addresses the issue there. However, I am apparently incorrect. Poster Antoine Selva says he saw her in Paris.

[@jasonhurd4379]

@@LohengrinO Here is a link to information about Grob-Prandl's international career. Apparently she sang at Covent Garden, La Scala and San Francisco as well as Paris. The San Francisco performances were prior to my birth, else I'd have seen her myself. If the link doesn't work, Google 'frau minne parterre box' and the item should come up. parterre.com/2018/03/22/frau-minne/

[@beachfanatic2010]

Massive voice! Much bigger than Nilsson who never truly had a huge fat Callas size voice. Gertrude not only had height and massive vibrancy with beauty in her voice but also a lot of weight. Reminds me of a better more accomplished version of Flagstad. I most say that her tone doesn’t seem to be very distinctive, maybe I’m not use to her.