Nelly Music:

Wagner: Die Walkürie Track Listing:
Disc 1:
1. Die Walk�re (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Act 1. Vorspiel
2. Die Walk�re (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Act 1. Wess' Herd dies auch sei
3. Die Walk�re (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Act 1. Dies Haus und dies Weib sind Hundings Eigen
4. Die Walk�re (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Act 1. M�d' am Herd fand ich den Mann
5. Die Walk�re (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Act 1. Friedmund darf ich nicht hei�en
6. Die Walk�re (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Act 1. Die so liedig Los dir beschied
7. Die Walk�re (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Act 1. Ich wei� ein wildes Geschlecht
8. Die Walk�re (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Act 1. Ein Schwert verhie� mir der Vater
9. Die Walk�re (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Act 1. Schl�fst du, Gast?
10. Die Walk�re (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Act 1. Winterst�rme wichen dem Wonnemond
11. Die Walk�re (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Act 1. Im Lenzesmond leuchtest du hell
12. Die Walk�re (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Act 1. Siegmund hei�' ich

Disc 2:
1. Die Walk�re (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Act 2. Nun z�ume dein Ro�, reisige Maid
2. Die Walk�re (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Act 2. Der alte Sturm, die alte M�h'!
3. Die Walk�re (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Act 2. Was verlangst du?
4. Die Walk�re (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Act 2. Schlimm, f�rcht' ich, schlo� der Streit
5. Die Walk�re (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Act 2. Was keinem in Worten ich k�e
6. Die Walk�re (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Act 2. Ein and'res ist's: achte es wohl
7. Die Walk�re (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Act 2. So sah ich Siegvater nie
8. Die Walk�re (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Act 2. Hinweg! Hinweg! Flieh' die Entweihte!
9. Die Walk�re (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Act 2. Siegmund! Sieh' auf mich!
10. Die Walk�re (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Act 2. Begleitet den Bruder die br�utliche Schwester?
11. Die Walk�re (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Act 2. Zauberfest bez�hmt ein Schlaf

Wagner: Die Walkürie Reviews:
Great but BADLY cut score
2009-02-24 - WARNING: The score is badly cut. Only Act I is intact and of course there's no Brunhilde there. I can forgive the cuts in Wotan's quarrel with Fricka and in his monologue but they also cut the Brunhilde-Siegmund confrontation, from when she first announces her intention to take him to Walhall to when she tells him Sieglinde won't be there with him, when he asks, will Walse be there, will there be girls, will WarFather be there, that sequence is cut. And then when he argues with her, says he's better than Hunding and shows her the sword, etc. That's cut too. This I cannot forgive and its just one of many significant cuts in Acts II and III. My first listening rapidly turned into a fearful attempt to anticipate, and brace myself against, the next infuriating cut.

Other than the cuts, it's wonderful. Gertrud Grob-Prandl's Brunhilde is fully as great as everyone says. Think Birgit Nilsson's penetration but with a Mozart-singer's precision and a naturally narrow, rapid, and consistent vibrato. GGP also has better pitch and an even deeper, more steely sound than BN--difficult to imagine but I bet you'll agree! And more natural musicality. And, sometimes BN sounds as if she's using 100% power; GGP always audibly has unused reserve power.

I had never heard Torsten Ralf before and he's another one who lives up to his reputation. It's hard to think of anyone who combines strength, intelligence, brilliance of tone, passion, beautiful elocution, and elegance like this. Maybe if Richard Tucker had been a Wagnerian? I actually LIKED Siegmund this time, whom I normally experience as a weepy self-pitying freak.

If an oak tree could sing, it would sound like Herbert Alsen. Check out his Osmin with Eliz Schwartzkopf as Constanze! Someone PLEASE find and publish his rendition of Hagen. He's becoming my second-favorite big bass, second only to Josef Greindl.

And the biggest surprise: Helene Werth as Sieglinde is the most beautiful I've ever heard. She's slender but rich, focused but not sharp, free but subtle. Now I need to hear her as Elsa, and did she sing Mozart? What about ROSENKAVALIER?

The weakest cast member is Ludwig Hofmann. He seems to be having technical difficulties--either he was unwise to take a higher role or he might be ill; his top is badly forced. The only other thing I have heard of his is the Commendatore and he sounded bad there too.

Denzler's conducting is serious but not overly sentimental or ponderous. He's very good at long-term phrasing both for beauty (eg Wintersturme aria) and power (eg Siegmund and Hunding trying to find each other in the fog).

In spite of the cuts I have to give the overall thing all five stars because GGP's, Torsten Ralf's, Helene Werth's and Herbert Alsen's are all unique, eye-opening, five-star performances. Not just great, great-plus. Like the Furtwangler 1949 Salzburg ZAUBERFLOTE (which, incidently, also has GGP in the cast....)

A superb Walkure....
2004-05-03 - This 1952 performance of Wagner's DIE WALKURE comes from Geneva, Switzerland. Originally scheduled for the Theatre d'Opera, performances were transferred to the Victoria Hall after the Theatre caught fire and burned.

The cast is remarkable: first, and perhaps foremost, Gertrude Grob-Prandl, who is so sadly underrecorded, assumes the role of Brunnhilde [her SIEGFRIED and GOTTERDAMMERUNG Brunnhildes from 1949, Vienna, are already available on both the Gebhardt and the Myto CD labels), and she is truly magnificent. From her entry early in Act II with her Battle Cry she is in stunning voice, every note well-placed and beautifully shaped. The Todesverkundigung scene is equally wonderful. Here indeed is a Wagnerian dramatic soprano who can stand with Nilsson or Varnay.

The Siegmund is Torsten Ralf, sounding just about as good as he did in the 1930s or '40s, ringing in tone and in full command of his plangent voice. His Sieglinde is Helene Werth, who is equally fine and well-suited for her role. Again, we need to hear more of her.

Wotan is sung by Ludwig Hoffmann; I am more used to a bass-baritone as Wotan---perhaps a George London, a Hans Hotter, or a Ferdinand Frantz. Some of Wotan's music lies a bit high for Hoffmann, but as the true artist that he is he manages well. His Act II "narration" is truly dark and foreboding. The Hunding is Herbert Ahlsen, who is also in good voice.

The sound is a tiny bit cavernous [it was recorded in a large concert hall]in the first act, but improves in the second act. Still, the voices are very clear and the mono sound is comparable to any commercial release of the period. Denzler's direction of what was the Orchetre de la Suisse Romande is fine, and does not drag or dawdle. Gebhardt Records provides very good notes on the performance, an added plus.

So, this is a mighty fine DIE WALKURE, one that opera lovers, especially lovers of Wagner, should have, at the very least to hear the finely shaped interpretation of Gertrude Grob-Prandl.