Wagner: Götterdämmerung - Nilsson, Hopf, Frick, Bjoner, Stewart; Kempe. Bayreuth, 1960
$32.95
Description:
Pros:
- In the early 1960s Birgit Nilsson's voice had all of its signature power while retaining the flexibility and lyricism from her early days. The result is a Brünnhilde that is more athletic than stentorian but with no shortage of power.
- As Siegfried, Hans Hopf displays a voice that is burnished and baritonal. He is remarkably tireless, especially in Act III, where he recounts his adventures with the Forest Bird, a section in which many Heldentenors succumb to fatigue.
- Gottlob Frick, as Hagen, conveys charm, strength, and cunning while never letting you forget that he is only half human.
- Having the luxury of Thomas Stewart's Gunther and Ingrid Bjoner's Gutrune shows just how important these characters are to the story.
Cons:
- None to mention
In Mono
OD 11654-4
Listen to a Sample:
Excellent Conclusion to an Excellent Cycle!
There is little I need to say about these singers and Kempe's lyrical, dramatic direction of them. Nilsson is in great voice as she invariably was. Some of the top notes tend to sharpness (probably because of adrenaline) and her handling of the text, while sensitive and appropriate, would become more specifically colored in later performances. She had only been singing the three Brunnhildes for several years and this shows in any comparison with Varnay or Modl's handling of the text. But her singing is immensely satisfying; one never has to worry about whether or not she'll get the notes. Hopf is a sturdy Siegfried. He is neither the most beautifully sung nor the most interesting exponent of this role, but he'd be making a killing today. Frick is a saturnine, even sexy Hagen - a bass-voiced Bela Lugosi. Stewart and Bjoner are top-notch as the Gibichung siblings. Hoffman is a marvelous Waltraute, her voice solid as a rock from top to bottom, another fine singer often taken for granted. The Norns and Rhinedaughters are superb as is Kraus' angry, miserable Alberich The sound is very good broadcast mono. One caveat: several lines are missing from the end of Act One after Brunnhilde screams when Siegfried takes the ring away from her. They are present in another copy I checked on YouTube; somehow they got lost in Andy's transfer. Minor point: Frick accidentally sings "Her dem Ring!" rather than "Zuruck vom Ring!" at the end.
