Birgit Nilsson Sings Richard Wagner & Richard Strauss

Richard [1] Strauss (Composer), Richard [Classical] Wagner (Composer), Herbert Sandberg (Conductor), Georges Sebastian (Conductor), Wolfgang Sawallisch (Conductor), Nils Grevillius (Conductor), Artur Rodzinski (Conductor), Karl Böhm (Conductor), Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt (Conductor), Rudolf Kempe (Conductor), Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), Bayerischen Rundfunkorchester (Orchestra), Swedish Radio Orchestra (Orchestra), Bayreuth Festival Orchestra (Orchestra), Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra (Orchestra), ORTF National Orchestra (Orchestra), Birgit Nilsson (Performer), Carl-Axel Hallgren (Performer), Hjordis Schymberg (Performer), Elisabeth Söderström (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Birgit Nilsson, Carl-Axel Hallgren, Hjordis Schymberg, Elisabeth Söderström
• Orchestra: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bayerischen Rundfunkorchester, Swedish Radio Orchestra, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra, et al.
• Conductor: Herbert Sandberg, Georges Sebastian, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Nils Grevillius, Artur Rodzinski, et al.
• Composer: Richard [1] Strauss, Richard [Classical] Wagner
• Audio CD (June 6, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Gala
• ASIN: B000001XNS
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #396,826 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Ariadne auf Naxos, opera, Op. 60-II (TrV 228a) (revised version): Es ist alles vergebens... Es gibt ein Reich

2. Salome, opera, Op. 54 (TrV 215): Es ist kein Laut zu vernehmen

3. Salome, opera, Op. 54 (TrV 215): Ah! du wolltest mich nicht deinen Mund küssen lassen, Jochanaan

4. Salome, opera, Op. 54 (TrV 215): Sie ist ein Ungeheuer, deine Tochter

5. Salome, opera, Op. 54 (TrV 215): Ah! Ich habe deinen Mund geküßt, Jochanaan

6. Elektra, opera, Op. 58 (TrV 223): Was willst du, fremder Mensch?

7. Die Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman without a Shadow), opera, Op. 65 (TrV 234): Es dunkelt, daßt ich nicht sehe zur Arbeit

8. Die Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman without a Shadow), opera, Op. 65 (TrV 234): Es gibt derer, die bleiben immer gelassen... Abtu ich v

9. Die Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman without a Shadow), opera, Op. 65 (TrV 234): Das Weib ist irre... Barrak, ich hab is nicht getan

10. Tannhäuser, opera, WWV 70: Dich, teure Halle

See all 13 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90: Hörst du sie noch?

2. Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90: Mild und leise wie er lächelt

3. Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Schläfst du, Gast?

4. Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond

5. Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Du bist der Lenz

6. Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: O süßeste Wonne! Seligstes Weib!

7. Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Siegmund heiß ich und Siegmund bin ich!

8. Siegfried, opera, WWV 86c: Ewig war ich, ewig bin ich

9. Die Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods), opera, WWV 86d: Schweigt eures Jammers jauchzenden Schwall

10. Die Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods), opera, WWV 86d: Starke Scheite, schichtet mir dort

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, August 19, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Birgit Nilsson Sings Richard Wagner & Richard Strauss (Audio CD)

This is a very good CD for people who follow Birgit Nilsson's development. It contains live performances from 1949 (Ariadne auf Naxos - Nilsson sang Ariadne!!) to 1977 (Dyer's Wife in Die Frau Ohne Schatten). You can see her development from young to old over close to 30 years. For someone like me who have many of Birgit Nilsson's commercial recordings, this is a great CD too because it allows me to compare her 'live' performances with the studio recordings. It also enables me to see how her voice developed over the years. For instance, her voice grew in warm as she progressed in her career. By 1977, her voice had lost some ease - you can tell that she has to sing with more effort but her top register is still amazing, the gleam is still there even if it is more effortful to produce (when I say effortful I mean by young Birgit Nilsson standards - if you compare with other singers, she still sings effortlessly). Imagine - by 1977, she was 59 and she still puts singers singers half her age at 30 to shame. A very interesting CD in very mono sound. 5 stars for Nilsson's superb performances (her vocalism never fails to amaze me), for a fantastic variety of excerpts, for very mono sound, for the historical importance of this CD and for the incredible bargain price ... for 2 CDs.

If you are a 'historical' freak, buy this. If you are a Birgit Nilsson freak, buy this. If you are an opera freak, buy this. Even if you are not a freak, buy this!!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The complete career of one of the greatest singers of all time, January 14, 2007

By 

Dag Kyndel "Kottebo" (Stockholm, Sweden) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Birgit Nilsson Sings Richard Wagner & Richard Strauss (Audio CD)

I could nor beleive my eyes when I saw the price of this recording. It covers the complete career of the greatest Wagner and Strauss singer in the last half of the 20th Century. I think a complete performance of Ariadne on Naxos allurs in the archives of the Swedish Broadcasting Company - a release, please! [After having written these comments I have learned that the whole performance has been released, [...]
When the news arrived that La Nilsson hade died in her home, surrounded by family members and near friends, on Christmas Day 2005 (kidneys not functioning, and no more dialysis possible) - we at once understand her uniqueness - there was nobody there to take over the helm and shield....It is quite wonderful that this extensive compilation was published just recently. It is a very worthy portrait of a blessed singer!

5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Document In The Grand Career Of Birgit Nilsson (1918-2005), March 22, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Birgit Nilsson Sings Richard Wagner & Richard Strauss (Audio CD)

The great soprano from Sweden, Birgit Nilsson, once contemplated suicide when she met with dismal reviews in her first perfomrance as Agathe from Weber's Die Freitschutz, for she was inexperienced and fresh out of the farm she grew up in. She went on to become the greatest dramatic soprano of all time, and for me, she is an even more thrilling and masterful soprano than the overrated Maria Callas. Birgit Nilsson died of unknown causes in her hometown of Sweden on Christmas of '05 only months ago. Her huge, steely, bright, metallic voice was reportedly capable of breaking glass and stone. This album covers many years in her career. Her Ariadne is not well known and it's captured in a young voice (50's) and she is in phenomenal shape. The dramatic heft of the role is suited to her voice. Wagner was her specialty of course and here we have slices of her Elisabeth from Tannhauser. She also sang Venus. Isolde was another great role of hers (the one she debuted at the Met) and Brunhilde is of course her best role. Singing Strauss is no piece of cake but when we listen to her Salome and Elektra and Dryer's Wife from Die Frau we are hearing a woman who, despite age, is singing with strength and vigor. She gets into character each time and she sings beautifully. All fans of La Nilsson must get this one.