Kirsten Flagstad Kirsten Flagstad in Concert

Kirsten Flagstad was born in Hamar (Norway) on 12 July 1895. At the age of eighteen she made her debut in Eugen d’Albert’s »Tiefland« at the National Richard Strauss Theatre of Oslo. Until 1928 Flagstad sang in a mixture of opera and operetta Four Last Songs performances and attempted her first Wagnerian roles. Elsa and Eva, as well as Aida, Mimi and Tosca. In 1932 she sang Isolde at the Oslo National Theatre Wilhelm Furtwängler and her success in the role prompted a summons from Bayreuth. In 1934 World Premiere Flagstad sang Sieglinde and Gutrune at the Festspielhaus. London, 22.05.1950 Gatti-Gasazza, looking to replace Frida Leider, signed Flagstad for, what turned out to be, her spectacular debut as Sieglinde at the Met for the 1935 season. It was soon apparent that she was to become a first-rank Wagner Richard Strauss interpreter and her international career flourished until her retirement in 1957. Three Songs The inclusion of the Strauss songs are of particular interest as they lie out of her San Francisco, 08.10.1950 usual recorded repertoire. Strauss was a composer she dearly loved (therefore we have included the »Desert Island« interview). And she presented the world Richard Wagner premier performance of the »Four Last Songs« at the Albert Hall under Furtwängler 1950. Arias & Duets This important premiere recording is also on this disc, even inspite of the bad with Set Svanholm sound. We do hope that you accept this release, too. As the performance is of San Francisco, 09.10.1949 such great interest we decided to put it on this disc, too - even if it is our credo only to release historical recordings with the best possible sound and sources. + Desert Island We have got two tapes from this premiere recording and both sets are in the Discs Program same way damaged and crackled, we assume that the tapes are lost forever and only those private sets can be used. featuring K. Flagstad London, 23.04.1952 Richard Strauss (1864-1949) Richard Wagner (1813-1883)

Vier letzte Lieder Der fliegende Holländer [1]Nr. 1: Frühling (Hermann Hesse) 2:44 [8]Jo-ho-hoe - Traft ihr das Schiff im Meere an (Senta) 9:24 [2] Nr. 2: September (Hermann Hesse) 4:11 [3]Nr. 3: Beim Schlafengehen (Hermann Hesse) 4:59 Lohengrin k [4]Nr. 4: Im Abendrot (Joseph von Eichendorff) 7:29 [9]In fernem Land (Lohengrin) 5:40 Kirsten Flagstad, Soprano Tristan und Isolde Philharmonia Orchestra Wilhelm Furtwängler [10]O sink hernieder Nacht der Liebe (Tristan - Isolde) 8:05 London, 22.05.1950 (World Premiere) Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Lieder [11]Morgenlich leuchtend in rosigem Schein (Stolzing) 4:38 [5]Befreit op. 39, Nr. 4 (Richard Dehmel) 6:25 Tristan und Isolde [6]Allerseelen op. 10, Nr. 8 (Hermann von Gilm zu Rosenegg) 3:52 [12]Mild und leise (Isolde) 8:06 [7]Cäcilie op. 27, Nr. 2 (Heinrich Hart) 2:46 Kirsten Flagstad, Soprano [8], [10] & [12] Kirsten Flagstad, Soprano Set Svanholm, Tenor [9], [10] & [11] San Francisco Opera Orchestra San Francisco Opera Women’s Chorus [8] Gaetano Merola San Francisco Opera Orchestra San Francisco, 08.10.1950 Gaetano Merola San Francisco, 09.10.1949 Desert Island Discs Program featuring Kirsten Flagstad [13] Desert Island Discs Program 8:25 London, 23.04.1952