Listen to a Sample:

Pros:

• Having spent the last week assembling the excerpts for this compilation, it is clear to me why Herbert von Karajan was so taken with Helga Dernesch. Dernesch's voice, particularly in her early days, had a warmth that you would expect from a mezzo-soprano with the ringing high notes of a great dramatic soprano.
• This compilation features over two hours of excerpts from Fidelio, La Forza del destino, Ariadne auf Naxos, Elektra, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Der Rosenkavalier, Tannhäuser, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Tristan und Isolde, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung.
• Also Featuring Birgit Nilsson, Jess Thomas, Brigitte Fassbaender, Lucia Popp, Ruza Baldani and Karl Ridderbusch.

Cons:

• All the excerpts are in good sound except for the Elektra excerpt. I decided to include it because it is a tantalizing example of her Chrysothemis.

In Stereo & Mono

OD 11925-2