Richard WAGNER (1813 - 1883)
Götterdämmerung (1876)
Kirsten Flagstad (soprano) - Brünnhilde; Ingrid Bjoner (soprano) - Gutrune/Third
Norn; Unni Bugge-Hanssen (soprano) - Woglinde; Eva Gustavson (mezzo) - Waltraute/First
Norn; Karen Marie Flagstad (mezzo) - Second Norn/Wellgunde; Beate Asserson
(contralto) - Flosshilde; Set Svanholm (tenor) - Siegfried; Waldemar Johnsen
(baritone) - Gunther; Per Grönneberg (baritone) - Alberich; Egil Nordsjø
(bass) - Hagen
Opera Chorus, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Norwegian State Radio Orchestra/Øivin
Fjeldstad
rec. Norwegian Radio Studios, Oslo, 5, 8, 10 January 1956 and University Hall,
Oslo, 14 March 1956
NAXOS 8.112066-69 [4 CDs: 52:40 + 59:59 + 69:37 + 77:56]
The history behind this, the first commercially issued recording of Götterdämmmerung,
is by now well known, but let me briefly relate it anyway. When John Culshaw,
producer for Decca, approached Kirsten Flagstad to discuss a series of recordings
with her, one condition from her side was that Decca issued on LPs the Norwegian
Radio’s recent studio recording that had been broadcast live. After
some discussions there was a deal, but it turned out that there were some
scenes missing on the original tapes and an extra recording session was arranged
to ‘fill in the gaps’, except the brief orchestral bridge between
scenes 2 and 3 of Act I. The recording remained in the catalogue until Solti’s
stereo set was issued in the mid-1960s. Since then it has been unavailable.
I listened to this almost 67-year-old set immediately after the sonically
superb Oehms Götterdämmerung conducted by Sebastian Weigle
from January-February 2012; the difference was striking. However, having spent
uncountable hours over the last eight years listening to and reviewing re-issues
of operas from the same period it was not difficult to adjust to the compressed
dynamics, the mono sound and the limited frequency range. The result is warm
and the orchestra is well caught. Øivin Fjeldstad was the foremost
Norwegian conductor of this period but he wasn’t particularly associated
with Wagner. In spite of that his is a worthy reading, not particularly illuminating
but nor are there any idiosyncrasies. The orchestral playing has some blemishes
but taken as a whole it is much more than acceptable, considering that it
was recorded ‘live’.
Having seen some rather dismissive reviews of the singers - apart from Flagstad
and Svanholm - it was a pleasant surprise to find a lot of accomplished singing;
several of the singers had important international careers. Eva Gustavson
(First Norn and Waltraute), who died as recently as February 2009, spent 15
years on European and North American stages and was in 1949 chosen by Toscanini
to sing Amneris in his recorded broadcast of Aida. She is strong voiced,
dark and steady - and not every First Norn one hears today can compete in
this latter respect. The second Norn is Karen Marie Flagstad, Kirsten’s
younger sister, who also appeared internationally and took part in the Furtwängler
recording of Die Walküre from La Scala. Here she was past fifty
and there are signs of unsteadiness. Ingrid Bjoner, the third Norn and doubling
as Gutrune, had one of the most illustrious careers of any Norwegian soprano
after Flagstad. She sang the big dramatic roles at Bayreuth, La Scala and
other stages, was at the Met 1961-1967 and can be heard as the Empress in
Die
Frau ohne Schatten from the inauguration of the Bavarian State Opera
in Munich in 1963. On the present set she is heard very early but it is already
a classy voice.
On the male side Waldemar Johnsen is at best a serviceable Gunther while Per
Grönneberg has a good strong bass-baritone with secure low notes - important
for the role of Alberich. His delivery is rather blustery at times but when
he sings softly he can be quite touching. Egil Nordsjø’s warm,
steady tone and strong low notes tell us that he must have been a good fatherly
Sarastro. For the evil Hagen this isn’t enough, the sinister side of
the character must be more explicitly expressed.
Kirsten Flagstad at sixty is still regal, her characteristic bronze-tinted
tone as steady as ever. She may not be as free and secure at the top, occasionally
there is a certain shrillness, but hers is a magisterial reading and the Immolation
scene -which was issued separately in Australian Eloquence’s monumental
tribute to her some years ago - is only second to Nilsson’s and her
own earlier recordings. In Set Svanholm she has a worthy partner and his sturdy
tenor has the steely ring so seldom heard today. The tone is slightly drier
than in the recordings he made with Flagstad 6-7 years earlier and he misses
some of the poetry in the death scene but by and large his singing here should
be a model for any aspiring heroic Wagner tenor.
While this recording is hardly a first choice it should be in every serious
Wagner lover’s collection for the singing of Flagstad and Svanholm.
Göran Forsling
Should be in every serious Wagner lover’s collection for the singing
of Flagstad and Svanholm.
see also reviews by John Whitmore and Ralph Moore
Masterwork Index: Götterdämmmerung
Naxos
Historical reviews on Musicweb International