In many respects this is a rare, if not unique recording. It is rare because Flagstad usually sang Brunnhilde in Die Walkure, not Sieglinde. Sieglinde was her debut role at the Met in 1935, and Flagstad recorded Act 1 in stereo with Solti in 1956, but she only sang the role ten times in New York, and only two live broadcasts of her in the role exist, this one and her debut. Neither are complete. This particular performance is unique in that it is the only recorded example of Flagstad and Melchior as the twins in Die Walkure. Melchior, perhaps the most famous of all Siegmunds, was frequently paired with Lotte Lehmann with whom he recorded Act 1 under Bruno Walter in 1935, but rarely with Flagstad perhaps because opera house managers usually rated her voice as more suited to the goddess rather than the wife.
It is sad that only 7 minutes of act 1 exist, and a substantial part of that is the prelude. Act 2 is complete, apart from acetate breaks every five minutes or so. Neither act 1 nor Act 2 have good sound. Act 3 is in far better sound and without the acetate breaks. Heard to excellent effect is Marjorie Lawrence, the Australian heldensoprano as Brunnhilde, and Schorr as Wotan. Indeed the cast would be hard to beat in any list of the greatest casts of this opera.
Metropolitan Opera House
December 18, 1937 Matinee Broadcast
DIE WALKÜRE {290}
Wagner-Wagner
Brünnhilde..............Marjorie Lawrence
Siegmund................Lauritz Melchior
Sieglinde...............Kirsten Flagstad
Wotan...................Friedrich Schorr
Fricka..................Kerstin Thorborg
Hunding.................Ludwig Hofmann
Gerhilde................Thelma Votipka
Grimgerde...............Irra Petina
Helmwige................Dorothee Manski
Ortlinde................Irene Jessner
Rossweisse..............Lucielle Browning
Schwertleite............Anna Kaskas
Siegrune................Helen Olheim
Waltraute...............Doris Doe
Conductor...............Artur Bodanzky
https://rapidshare.com/files/458220043/1937Walkure.zip
