Wagner: Die Walküre
Knie, McIntyre, Napier, Brenneis, Reynolds, Ridderbusch; Stein
Bayreuth, 1974
$14.95
Description:
Soprano Roberta Knie got the opportunity most singers dream of during the summer of 1974 when she was called upon to replace an ailing soprano as the Walküre Brünnhilde at Bayreuth. Despite the promise of this performance, the Wagnerian repertoire would ultimately prove too taxing for her slender yet steely soprano, leading to her early retirement. That said, she is in excellent voice here, lending Brünnhilde a youthful exuberance rarely heard in Wagner—not unlike Berit Lindholm’s performances in the 1960s.
Donald McIntyre finds himself in much fresher voice than he would be in the early ’80s, when the Philips set was released. Gerd Brenneis brings a youthful, lyric quality to Siegmund’s music, which is unfortunately not matched by Marita Napier’s glassy-voiced Sieglinde. The sound is good, although there is a very slight hiss in the upper range.
In Mono
OD 11439-3