Kirsten Flagstad unbelievable A♭3 to D6 in full "Grausamer!" scene (Parsifal, 1951)

I have previously uploaded an excerpt from this scene and through the KF museum finally found the full version in good quality.
Conductor - Karl Rankl
Parsifal - Franz Lechleitner
June 16th 1951

[@dramaticsoprano5168]

The audio has been pitch corrected downwards to A=439 which was the standard in 1950s UK. The top notes are still Cs (not Bs as written). Whether they were intentional or not is up to interpretation, but it would not be the first time she added Cs in Kundry (kzbin.info/www/bejne/movTkJ5qZZ6LaJY). Some highlights: 1:39 - C6 to C♯4 3:33 - A♭3 7:12 - B5 8:46 - C6 (little flat) 11:02 - Sharp B♭5 (closer to a B) 11:15 - C6 13:08 - D6 scream with vibrato... And countless As and B-flats throughout. Truly remarkable. One thing I don't understand is why she chooses to sing the mid-low notes (C4-E4s) in head voice instead of chest voice. It seems it would be much easier to project notes in this range in chest voice instead (which she does easily on the low A-flat).

[@roberthorn1838]

I don't understand this zooming in on separate notes, surely the thing about Flagstad is the glorious column of sound that extends through her whole range..this is what makes her unique

[@dramaticsoprano5168]

@@roberthorn1838 I do not disagree! The reason I point out ‘highlights’ sometimes is for audience retention, especially for younger viewers. On these longer videos most people have already left after the first minute, and Parsifal isn’t exactly the most easy listening musical experience either.

[@dinadossym3098]

@@dramaticsoprano5168 and I want to thank you for this) it helped me stay, otherwise I may have left because it's very difficult to listen to Parsifal and the majority of Wagner for me )

[@crisha721]

@@dramaticsoprano5168 thank you for sharing this wonderful recordings and to keep alive this almost forgotten artform. Kirsten Flagstad is supreme

[@pixelchords3201]

The pinnacle of dramatic soprano.

[@isabelribas5902]

Flagstad IS Kundry, Isolde, Brünnhilde, Senta, Elsa. She would’ve been definitely chosen by Wagner himself to portray his major heroines if they were contemporary. Listen to her Liebestod under Furtwängler and you’ll feel how exciting, moving and beautiful the Wagner music can be

[@giambattistaarameoarmell7822]

Increíble,at that age ,It is beyond words great comand of the voice , impecable

[@ransomcoates546]

Flagstad would have been 55 or 56 here. Remarkable preservation of a voice put in service to heroic soprano parts.

[@laprimmadonna2341]

Totalmente cierto, la voz se escucha intacta, increíble! Saludos cordiales

[@draganvidic2039]

One of the best voices ever. If you don’t agree you don’t know voices… (Also Rosa Ponselle & Emmy Destinn for example)

[@dramaticsoprano5168]

I think Flagstad and Ponselle had the greatest soprano voices of the recorded era. (Greatest being overall, including tone, beauty, size, technique, etc. For technique alone, maybe Callas or Tetrazzini/Ingeborg Hallstein for lighter voices)

[@draganvidic2039]

@@dramaticsoprano5168 Hallstein was a squeeky unnatural voice only sorry. Tetrazzini a goddess.

[@dramaticsoprano5168]

@@draganvidic2039 Yes, I agree she definitely overlightened her voice too much for big operatic singing so I can see why she would not be to everyone's liking here ('constricted' as the TiO crowd would say). But, I think she had the maybe the greatest agility and most clear 'flageolet' register of any female singer.

[@jasonblack4208]

You forgot Helen Traubel, but yes, agreed.

[@gr__msk]

​​@@dramaticsoprano5168melita galli-curci has better vocal technique than tetrazzini who used high larynx in many cases. Amelita has the most perfect technique out of all coloratura/leggiero sopranos. Tetrazzini had a bigger voice than amelita though

[@dinadossym3098]

She sounds great 💗

[@davidmuller9938]

I have always felt, Flagstad was naturally a mezzo with great and metallic high notes. Her middle voice is just INCREDIBLY rich and beautiful. Most sopranos cannot sing in human register just on the top...

[@ER1CwC]

She was just a (or rather, the) classic dramatic soprano. Varnay was more the natural mezzo. Traubel was perhaps somewhere in between.

[@stephenlord9]

sans pareil

[@MrStpendouslvforjo]

INCREDIBLE!!

[@laprimmadonna2341]

Era Kundry, era Kundry ...increíble la Flagstad...madre mía!!!

[@1zangelique]

I take it the full recording does not exist? I’d love to be wrong.

[@cliffgaither]

No matter, imo, how dramatic a voice may be ... it is nothing w / o warmth, voluminousity & some level of human voluptuous sound. The coldness of Wagner's music is something that can't be overlooked as he & his supporters are fond of telling us about human struggles. It's like only the baritones / basses / mezzo-sopranos & contraltos can _save_ Wagner's operas from a chillingly cold experience.

[@dramaticsoprano5168]

I cannot tell if your comments are complementary or critical of the singing here. I do not think she sounds very ‘warm’ or ‘human’ here but she IS Kundry.

[@cliffgaither]

@@dramaticsoprano5168 :: I tried to be as uncritical as possible about this great singer's voice ; without mentioning her name. People form opinions about singers' voices & composers' music. I'm not too appreciative of Wagner's music ... he takes a lot out of everyone ... musicians/conductors/singers/listeners ... But you are more educated & understand his music ... his operas ... so if you say she is KUNDRY ... then she must have done a great job portraying the character. Thank you for responding.

[@gerhardrohne2261]

well, you as a proper wagnerian should have learned "to stand up" to the truely great , demanding and objective (cold) narratives wagner playes out -opposite to sympathetic, empathetic, selfpitying or self-aggrandising offerings of mendelssohn, mahler, bernstein...( schoenberg tried to remedy this trait)

[@flohilde3677]

Wagnerian opera in general is very medieval Deutsche-like, very different from other romantic German composers' and definitely nothing like the Italian operas. Metaphysical and pensive are the words I'd use, though meierstersinger is another case.

[@cliffgaither]

@@flohilde3677 :: Those are good points you make in your comment ! Words like :: metaphysical and pensive are probably why I don't fully-grasp Wagner's genius ! I'm still stuck on Lohengrin / The Dutchman / Tannhauser / The Fairies / Reinz ( a trouser-role in that opera ! ).