It’s hard to imagine Flagstad singing Sieglinde to anyone’s Brunnhilde, but Nilsson did it late in her career too. Because of schedules issues, the Met needed a Sieglinde to Lindholm’s and Hunter’s Brunnhilde!
Loudest for me in 65 years of opera and concert going was Eileen Farrell. Only singer I ever had to move back ten rows for in fear of deafness. (Corelli agreed.)
@@dramaticsoprano5168 Heard Nilsson and Rysanek right along the way, but Varnay only towards the end as Herodias. I would say that the reason I would still call Farrell the loudest is because of a fault in her technique, somewhat similar to Tebaldi. Nil. and R. always kept enough head resonance to propel lightning bolts into the theater - the sense of forward propulsion made the tone light as well as loud. But Farrell took the full weight of her middle voice right up with no mix that I could perceive. So that the sound was more like a massive impenetrable wall than the famous laser beam analogy. The price a singer pays for this is of course a short top, and eventually no top. Listen to some of Farrell’s scary pop belting and imagine that sound on a high B natural. As Corelli said, it was truly deafening when she could do it.
@@dramaticsoprano5168 Rysanek had a lighter voice (and higher tessitura) than the other two. That, we _can_ hear through just records! The fact that she was a famous Sieglinde is actually a little strange because Sieglinde has a low tessitura, and Rysanek's lower register was never really functional.
I heard Farrell in a concert recital at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago, one of the largest theaters in the world. It was late in her career but everything she sang was magnificent, including arias and art songs that needed pianissimos which she easily produced and which floated out into the theater and filled it. After she sang Menotti"s "To This We've Come" scena from The Consul she received a standing ovation, including the three persons in the Director's Box: Birgit Nilsson, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Only the greatest singers receive such recognition from their peers.
@@ransomcoates546 Stumbling upon your analysis again, this is a great analysis. How well did Rysanek's problematic lower and middle voice project? Sometimes, listening to her sing low stuff and high stuff is like listening to two completely different singers.
So dramatic singing, full bodied voices. A dream today!
A stunning performance. Lovely to hear them together. Thank you for the video!
It’s hard to imagine Flagstad singing Sieglinde to anyone’s Brunnhilde, but Nilsson did it late in her career too. Because of schedules issues, the Met needed a Sieglinde to Lindholm’s and Hunter’s Brunnhilde!
Loudest for me in 65 years of opera and concert going was Eileen Farrell. Only singer I ever had to move back ten rows for in fear of deafness. (Corelli agreed.)
How would you compare Farrell to Nilsson, Varnay or Rysanek if you saw them?
@@dramaticsoprano5168 Heard Nilsson and Rysanek right along the way, but Varnay only towards the end as Herodias. I would say that the reason I would still call Farrell the loudest is because of a fault in her technique, somewhat similar to Tebaldi. Nil. and R. always kept enough head resonance to propel lightning bolts into the theater - the sense of forward propulsion made the tone light as well as loud. But Farrell took the full weight of her middle voice right up with no mix that I could perceive. So that the sound was more like a massive impenetrable wall than the famous laser beam analogy. The price a singer pays for this is of course a short top, and eventually no top. Listen to some of Farrell’s scary pop belting and imagine that sound on a high B natural. As Corelli said, it was truly deafening when she could do it.
@@dramaticsoprano5168 Rysanek had a lighter voice (and higher tessitura) than the other two. That, we _can_ hear through just records! The fact that she was a famous Sieglinde is actually a little strange because Sieglinde has a low tessitura, and Rysanek's lower register was never really functional.
I heard Farrell in a concert recital at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago, one of the largest theaters in the world. It was late in her career but everything she sang was magnificent, including arias and art songs that needed pianissimos which she easily produced and which floated out into the theater and filled it. After she sang Menotti"s "To This We've Come" scena from The Consul she received a standing ovation, including the three persons in the Director's Box: Birgit Nilsson, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Only the greatest singers receive such recognition from their peers.
@@ransomcoates546 Stumbling upon your analysis again, this is a great analysis. How well did Rysanek's problematic lower and middle voice project? Sometimes, listening to her sing low stuff and high stuff is like listening to two completely different singers.
❤❤❤❤
What year was this?
1937
I don't think I've ever heard such awful recorded sound quality.