Composer: Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner
Performer: Kirsten Flagstad
Orchestra: Orchestra of the Städtische Oper Berlin
Conductor: Georges Sébastian
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Audite
Catalogue: AUDITE23416
Release: 2010
Size: 274 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
CD 01
Wagner: Wesendonck-Lieder
01. No. 1. Der Engel (The Angel)
02. No. 2. Stehe still (Stand Still)
03. No. 3. Im Treibhaus (In the Hothouse)
04. No. 4. Schmerzen (Pain)
05. No. 5. Traume (Dreams)
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde
06. Act I: Prelude
07. Act I: Wie lachend sie mir Lieder singen
08. Act III: Isoldes Klage und Liebestod
CD 02
Strauss: Vier letzte Lieder
01. No. 3. Beim Schlafengehen (At Bedtime)
02. No. 2. September
03. No. 4. Im Abendrot (In the Evening Glow)
Strauss: Elektra
04. Orest! Orest! – O lass deine Augen mich sehn
Wagner: Götterdämmerung
05. Act III: Starke Scheite schichtet mir dort
These recordings were made on 9 and 11 May 1952 and document the latter part of Kirsten Flagstad’s career. They were made a few weeks before her 57th birthday, thus at a time when most sopranos will have been forced to move into ‘character fach’, the Norwegian soprano however, was still in almost full command of her incomparably rich voice, even after a demanding career spanning over three decades. These recordings of two concerts given at the Berlin Titania-Palast, with the Orchestra of the Municipal Opera, are particularly noteworthy: on the one hand, the Wagner songs sound fresher and more present than in the recording made four years later under Knappertsbusch; on the other, the Berlin live-recording of the Strauss songs is technically far superior to the recording made in London. In May 1950 Kirsten Flagstad had given the first performance of the Four Last Songs by Richard Strauss, at the request of the composer. A tribute to her unique status was also the multitude of her concert engagements: During the course of her career, she sang more than 80 roles in around 2100 performances and also gave approximately 250 concerts with orchestra and 600 recitals.