Yes, 1966! I was there, I saw and heard her... Otmar Suitner conducting. I will never forget her devastatingly scornful "- Siegfried, du??" addressed to Greindl as Hagen in the second act...

Naja, Knappertsbusch war ein unumstrittener Wagner-Experte. Und wenn man so eine Brünnhilde hat, dann MUSS es einfach zu einem umwerfenden Ergebnis werden. Heute haben wir dann Stimmchen (Stemme, Herlitzius...), die mit den letzten Kraftreserven hohe ungestützte Töne brüllen und vom Publikum umjubelt werden.

Die Kunst des Kna war, extrem langsam zu dirigieren und trotzdem die Spannungsbögen zu halten. Natürlich müssen die Sänger auch genug Puste haben.🤣 Varnay mit ihrem chronisch schiefen Ansingen der Töne ist unvergleichlich. In den 50ern in absoluter Hochform, ein Traum. Und heute kann jeder drittklassige Chorsänger in Bayreuth auftreten. Bin in die 60er war das nur den allerbesten Sängern gestattet. Es galt als Ehre, für relativ wenig Gage dort aufzutreten, ein Ritterschlag und Höhepunkt der Karriere. Die Bühnenbilder waren damals noch normal. Kein Tannhäuser In der Gaskammer und so. An alle Wagner-Hasser: verpißt Euch von diesem heiligen Ort, inszeniert Opern, die eurem niedrigen geistigen Niveau angemessen sind!

With the exclusion of Jones. There are only four singers at the top, Flagstad, Nilsson, Varnay and Moedl.

@@evelynkatz1301 FLAGSTAD, NILSSON, VARNAY, MODL JONES, RYSANEK, TRAUBEL BEHRENS, NORMAN, MARTON

Mödl is quite good, but not as good as Nilsson or Varnay. But an opera legend, too.

Hildegard Behrens over Jones and Marton...

@@johnwarner8569 Pity no one mentions Frida Leider (leader !)

C'est vrai

Its the technique of the old ones. Not the voices by itself

@@vitabella6481 I agree that the open throat technique seems to have been lost or hidden somehow..However there does need to be a basic voice to be developed through the technique that fits it. Sutherland could have sung the Wagnerian repertoire but developing the pure belcanto technique made her one of the greatest singers in recording history. Today, we seem to think that a pretty person with an adequate voice can sing any thing. Thus we have Netrebko singing Lady Macbeth and Garanca singing Amneris and Eboli rather than the repertoire they should be singing. Voice teachers seem to have given up on anything more than pushing their best students into repertoire sooner than they should sing it [e.g., it is Gergiev who ruined Netrebko by repeatedly pushing her to see herself as the next Callas; thank god that she finally had the sense to refuse to sing Norma]. What we need is vocal training that encourages proper repertoire choice for the individual voice [e.g., Joyce DiDonato or Sumi Jo] and then develops the full technique for that voice before taking on the hardest roles for the voice. Do not attempt Norma or Roberto Devereux for example until you have master the lighter bel canto roles; do noy attempt Brunnhilde or Elektra until you have sung the lighter German repertoire and some Italian or French as well.

@@wilsonwatt9283 And now Netrebko is singing Turandot. She shouldn't come within a million mile of Turandot. She really can't sing it. She pushes and croaks he way through it. She is ruining her lyric soprano voice.

The best. EVER.

Incluso en la excelencia hay variedad. Yo soy de la gran fama Flagstadt

1. Nilsson 2. Traubel 3. Flagstad 4. Varnay

@@SymphonyBrahms Nilsson wished.

I'm curious: Have you encountered any earlier Varnay documents where you find the top notes relatively fuller?

You haven't a fucking clue what you're talking about. Feck off, loser.

So why on earth are you watching this clip? Just so you can hate a little more?

Are you Opera singer?

Am curious: who are your own favorites and why? (Personally, I love Frida Leider most of all.)