Birgit Nilsson, Vol.1

Giacomo Puccini (Composer), Richard [Classical] Wagner (Composer), Eugen Jochum (Conductor), Karl Böhm (Conductor), Bayreuth Festival Orchestra (Orchestra), La Scala Theater Orchestra (Orchestra), Birgit Nilsson (Performer), Astrid Varnay (Performer), Franco Corelli (Performer), Hermann Uhde (Performer), Wolfgang Windgassen (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Birgit Nilsson, Astrid Varnay, Franco Corelli, Hermann Uhde, Wolfgang Windgassen
• Orchestra: Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, La Scala Theater Orchestra
• Conductor: Eugen Jochum, Karl Böhm
• Composer: Giacomo Puccini, Richard [Classical] Wagner
• Audio CD (September 12, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Opera D'oro
• ASIN: B00004UDDX
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #625,166 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great value for the price, May 15, 2004

By 

V. Chau (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Birgit Nilsson, Vol.1 (Audio CD)

This CD contains live excerpts of Birgit Nilsson singing in a performance of "Lohengrin" and a performance of "Turandot". The "Lohengrin" performance took place in 1954 at Bayreuth and the "Turandot" performance in 1964 at La Scala. I am very unfamiliar with the music of "Lohengrin". Already at this early stage of her career, Nilsson possessed a very large voice. She sings Elsa's music wonderfully. She is ably partnered by Wolfgang Windgassen, Hermann Uhde, and Astrid Varnay. Varnay is an intense Ortrud, singing with ferocity, subtlety, and great top notes. She matches Nilsson in volume and vocal power.

The "Turandot" excerpts are marred by incorrect pitching. They are pitched a half tone sharp. They are taken from Opera d'Oro's recording of the complete performance. Nilsson is in tremendous voice, singing Turandot's high-lying, very taxing music effortlessly and accurately. Her voice is truly huge in these excerpts. Corelli matches her note for note. His high notes are great, as are hers. The incorrect pitching makes Nilsson and Corelli sound like they are plowing away through the music quickly, which in fact, was not the case during the actual performance. The incorrect pitching makes the performance sound much faster than it actually was. Gavanezzi's tempos are also affected, sounding much faster than they actually were.

The sound on this CD is superb, very clear and blissfully free of tape hiss and static. This CD is a great value and I recommend it highly.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nilsson at her best, May 1, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Birgit Nilsson, Vol.1 (Audio CD)

As an introoduction to Wagner and Brigret Nilsson this is the CD to have. The voice is magnificent, with an unending legato and superb breath control. She is joined at the end singing two arias from Turandot and is ably assisted by an inform Franco Correlli. I hghly recommend this to any Wagner buff.