Kirsten Flagstad sings Wagner - "Der Engel"

"Der Engel", from Richard Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder
Kirsten Flagstad, soloist
Hans Knappertsbusch conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

[@Heyjohn843]

I'd have to say one of the best recordings! Her tone is to die for and her expressions on some notes are bone chilling! Thanks for the post!

[@achantus1]

Flagstad is unique! There will never be a singer like her ever again!

[@esarfmij]

I just listened to the magnificent Jessye Norman singing this . . . yet Flagstad's voice entered my soul, and chills carressed my body. Magnificent. Marielegoth, may your wish come true; your goal is noble.

[@svetul]

this woman is the most glorious singer i ever heart!

[@bernat9914]

Sublime. It's pure heaven.

[@MrSkylark1]

No singer today can match FLAGSTAD

[@morgellonbetancor1453]

MARAVILLOSA,SALUDOS

[@ssballs]

Thank you,i had never heard this version.

[@Marielegoth]

I love her voice!!! I'm dramatic soprano, I wish to be like her!!!

[@opusnigrum1229]

The best singer

[@philipvanlidth]

@Prometheus2013 But if you listen carefully to the sound of the voice, I think one has to agree that even at this time, Flagstad was a dramatic soprano and not a dramatic mezzo. Part of it is where the transitions happen in the voice. While Flagstad was a master singer whose transitions were not obtrusive, I feel them higher than where they would be for a mezzo of any sort...

[@suremate]

beautiful

[@cardiacmyxoma4073]

this and Der gang zum Liebchen are my favourite!

[@trudykretschmer9694]

The Angels take lessons from Flagstad. I can't say anything more.

[@achantus1]

@Heyjohn843 I agree! have you listen to her Liebestod (Tristan and Isolde)? Or her interpretation of songs by Grieg? Absolutely wondeful! even her version of Händel's" Ombra Mai Fu" (from the opera Xerxes) is better than the rest. The greatest singer of all times.

[@philipvanlidth]

@Prometheus2013 The difference between a dramatic mezzo and a truly dramatic soprano is actually less than one might think and is more a question of timbre than of range or, perhaps, even tessitura. I have known several dramatic mezzos who, perhaps for a limited time, have moved into the dramatic Wagnerian soprano repertoire and eventually returned to the dramatic mezzo repertoire. Martha Modl and Gwyneth Jones are two prime examples, as was Christa Ludwig.

[@Whistlejocket]

@philipvanlidth I agree with you.

[@Prometheus2013]

at this time Flagstad's voice was a dramatic mezzo

[@chronicpaincoalition]

LA Flagstad, only Jessye can compete!