Wagner

Die Walküre

Nilsson, Stewart, Bjoner, King, Dunn, Talvela; Stein
Hamburg, 1973

Regular price $17.95
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Die Walküre

It's hard to believe that in the 1970s a cast of this caliber could be considered commonplace. Yet here we have Birgit Nilsson, in her mid-50s, still making Brünnhilde sound easy, her voice cutting through the orchestra with fearless power. Thomas Stewart brings both beauty and authority to Wotan, while James King and Ingrid Bjoner are ideally cast as Siegmund and Sieglinde, blending vocal strength with expressive phrasing. Mignon Dunn and Martti Talvela round out the cast with distinction as Fricka and Hunding.

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4.0 Based on 2 reviews
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David R.✓ Top Reviewer

United States

Overall rating

Great Performance, Mediocre Sound!

David M. below refers to this performance as being a headless torso because at the time he bought it, it was. Since then Andy managed to find the entire performance and that's the copy I just finished listening to this evening. What a cast! Everyone is excellent. Even the Walküren are staffed by well-known singers like Edith Lang, Hanna Schwarz, and Cvetka Ahlin. Stein shows once again why he was so highly esteemed in this repertoire.The problem though is the sound. Recorded by some brave soul either backstage or out in the auditorium, the voices are recessed for most of the opera. The ear adjusts and it isn't so bad once one gets used to it. Things take a turn for the worse right before the Todesverkündigung in Act Two. It's either spliced in from another source or the tapist had to move to an inferior seat because suddenly Nilsson and King sound even farther away. It continues that way until the end of the act. Evidently a better seat was found during intermission because Act Three is much better - until the last ten minutes or so when the pitch begins to wobble.Not a recording by which to get to know the opera then. All the same, fans of the singers will enjoy this souvenir. The Pirate Gods don't always give us what we want...
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David M.✓ Top Reviewer

United States

Overall rating

Vintage Wagner

Granted, this is a headless torso of a performance, lacking Act I and the first half of the Fricka-Wotan scene. And, yes, the in-house recording is somewhat muddy. That being said, the Hamburg Opera fielded an all-star team this night. Birgit Nilsson is captured in peak form, as acute a Valkyrie as ever wore wings. Mignon Dunn's Fricka would make her teacher, Karin Branzell, proud -- it's authoritative yet also feminine and sensual. Wotan doesn't stand a chance against her, even when songs as sturdily as by the wise Thomas Stewart, James King was almost unrivaled (save by Jon Vickers) among Siegmunds in 1973 and Martti Talvela drops by to elevate Hunding's brief utterances. In such company, Ingrid Bjoner's Sieglinde is just ordinary but the performance doesn't suffer. Horst Stein guides the proceedings expertly.
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