Kirsten Flagstad's sensational Met debut as Sieglinde (1935)

Maybe not as refined an interpretation as in later versions but the sheer voice is already outstanding. Also more chest voice than later Flagstad!
This is about as good quality as possible for this tape, and hopefully slightly better than what's currently out commercially.
Conductor - Artur Bodanzky
Sieglinde - Kirsten Flagstad
Siegmund - Paul Althouse
February 2nd, 1935.
Music from Die Walküre ("Der Männer Sippe") by Richard Wagner.

[@draganvidic2039]

Such unique voice…😍 Monumental with almost motherly warmth and she just poured it out generously…❤

[@susmateja]

Beautiful ❤

[@gerhardrohne2261]

we hear an 40 years old experienced opera singer...

[@ER1CwC]

I listened to Rysanek’s final Met Sieglinde recently; listening to Flagstad here is like listening to a completely different piece. She is pretty animated here too. If memory serves me right, the Met folks were apparently skeptical after her audition because it took place in a heavily carpeted room. So she had their jaws on the floor she sang in the auditorium for the first time.

[@dramaticsoprano5168]

Animated yes, but she sings pretty much everything forte which is a little different to her 1957 take for example where she takes some of the lower parts more softly. For example, the C at 3:40. Maybe she was nervous about being heard in such a big venue. Although that said, this might be more so due to Bodanzky's conducting, he was quite notorious for his very loud orchestras.

[@ER1CwC]

​@@dramaticsoprano5168 I think we must also take into account the recording quality. But I would say too that one probably must exaggerate the soft dynamics a bit more in the studio, or else one will sound monochromatic. Callas, for example, is pretty effective in the studio because she was wiling to play to the microphone. It cost her vocally of course though, especially since those effects seeped into her live performances.

[@Wotan123456789]

I was lucky enough to hear Rysanek singing Sieglinde a couple of times and it was always such a feast. I am not comparing Rysanek to Flagstad; I am just saying that Rysanek was a stage animal, a magnetic figure that was as theatrical as a great actress. Rysanek's voice was also a huge instrument and it had something rather special among dramatic sopranos, her top never sounded like there was a limit, it was a very particular characteristic of hers. Rysanek sang Sieglinde for 40 years (1949-1989), after her first Sieglinde sang Brunnhilde for a few performances, went back to Sieglinde and never left that role. Both Karajan and Bohm considered her the greatest Sieglinde of the 20th Century.

[@ER1CwC]

​@@Wotan123456789 You are very lucky! I didn't mean my comment as a knock on Rysanek. I like her very much, pitchiness and all. It's just the approach is so so different than Flagstad. Flagstad here is like a monument, whereas Rysanek is wild. I do find it a bit curious that she became a reference Sieglinde though, as the role is pretty low. Every time she gets to sing through the passage and above the staff, it's like seeing a child get to finally eat chocolate.

[@wotan10950]

Unfortunately, I’m not a Rysanek fan. I remember looking forward to the first times I was going to see her as Sieglinde and Elisabeth. My jaw dropped, and not in a good way. It seemed like she was on a constant quest to find the right pitch, and tried to compensate by screaming and throwing herself around. It was exciting, but it wasn’t great singing. I under that many people adore her.