Kirsten Flagstad

Norwegian classical and opera singer

• Born: July 12, 1895
• Birthplace: Hamar, Norway
• Died: December 7, 1962
• Place of death: Oslo, Norway

Possessing a rare combination of heroic vocal strength, faultless intonation, and superlative musicianship, Flagstad was among the finest Wagnerian sopranos of the twentieth century.

The Life

Kirsten M†lfrid Flagstad (KER-stehn MAHL-freed FLAG-stahd) made her operatic debut at the age of eighteen, singing the role of Nuri in Eugen d’Albert’s Tiefland (1913) at the National Theater in Oslo. In the nearly two decades that followed, she performed exclusively in Scandinavia, with contracts at the Opera Comique in Oslo (1919) and the Storm-Theater in Göteborg (1928). International fame would soon follow. In 1932 a triumphant run as Isolde in Oslo led to engagements at the Bayreuth Festspiele in Germany. After two successful summers at Bayreuth, Flagstad signed with the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1935. Her American debuts as Sieglinde and Isolde, and shortly thereafter as Brünnhilde, earned her a worldwide reputation as a leading Wagnerian soprano.

World War II temporarily interrupted Flagstad’s career, and she faced criticism, especially in the United States, for her decision to return to Nazi-controlled Norway. Following the war, she performed for several seasons at Covent Garden in London to great acclaim, and American audiences gradually re-embraced her. A high point in her career came in May, 1950, when she gave the premiere of Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs (1950). Flagstad retired from the operatic stage in 1953, and she later served as general manager of the Norwegian Opera in Oslo for two seasons (1958-1960) before succumbing to bone marrow disease on December 7, 1962.

The Music

Flagstad was virtually unknown outside of Scandinavia until her late thirties, and for the first two decades of her career, she performed mostly light roles. The late 1920’s marked a turning point: She began singing heavy roles in the operas of Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, and Richard Wagner. Flagstad gained fame as a dramatic soprano, and her performance background in oratorios, operettas, Baroque opera, and even musical comedy is often overlooked. One of her most performed roles was that of Dido in the seventeenth century opera Dido and Aeneas (1689) by Henry Purcell, which she performed first in 1951. Her ability to draw upon both lighter and heavier vocal techniques, to sing with both delicate control and striking power, are hallmarks of a style that exerted wide influence on succeeding generations of sopranos.

Isolde. With her premiere of the role on June 29, 1932, in Oslo, Flagstad quickly established herself as a foremost interpreter of Wagner’s Isolde in Tristan and Isolde (1865).

The most important recordings include a live performance conducted by Fritz Reiner in 1936 with Lauritz Melchior as Tristan and a 1952 studio recording conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler with Ludwig Suthaus as Tristan. The pairing of Flagstad and Melchior was definitive. Already in her early forties, Flagstad ascended to Wagner’s more demanding roles at a relatively late age, but her patience resulted in powerful performances. The Reiner recording offers a voluptuous and highly passionate sound that seizes upon the dichotomy of Isolde’s isolation in act 1 and her tenderness and eroticism in act 2. The 1952 performance is the first complete recording of the opera. Flagstad’s nuanced phrasing and perceptive characterization are perhaps at their finest in the act 3 finale, “Isolde’s Transfiguration.” Her profound understanding of the role is supported by the sensitive pacing of Furtwängler, one of the great interpreters of Wagner’s music.

Brünnhilde. Having triumphed in the smaller role of Sieglinde, Flagstad tackled Wagner’s great heroine, Brünnhilde. Her premiere at the Metropolitan Opera on February 15, 1935, was one in a string of critically acclaimed performances that cemented her status as a leading Wagnerian soprano. As she had with Tristan and Isolde, Flagstad enjoyed a long history of performing Brünnhilde with Furtwängler and Melchior, the latter often singing opposite her as Siegfried.

The only extant, complete recording with Flagstad as Brünnhilde is of a now-legendary live performance at Milan’s La Scala in 1950. Notwithstanding the poor audio quality, Flagstad’s singing is both powerful and dramatically convincing. Her performance in Götterdämmerung (1874), and in particular its concluding “Immolation Scene,” is especially memorable and emblematic of her authoritative reading of Brünnhilde.

Four Last Songs. Less than four months before his death, Strauss asked Flagstad to give the premiere of what would be his final orchestral songs. The first performance was given on May 22, 1950—about eight months after the composer’s death—at the Albert Hall in London, with Furtwängler conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra. The surviving recording is badly deteriorated, and it is uncertain whether it documents the May premiere or an earlier rehearsal. Flagstad’s performance in “Frühling” suffers from the wide vocal range demanded by Strauss’s score, displaying an uncharacteristic weakness in the lower register. The placid contours of “September” better suit her mature voice, for example, in her serene delivery of the line “Summer smiles, astonish and languid in the dying garden dream.” However, the second and third verses of “Beim Schlafengehen” are particularly moving as Flagstad captures the sentiment of an impending, yet peaceful end of life as described in Hermann Hesse’s poem. “Im Abendrot” stands out among the four songs, in part from Furtwängler’s slow pacing, and despite the poor recording, the long melodic lines are sung expressively and with a remarkable naturalness that set the standard for later interpreters of Four Last Songs.

Musical Legacy

During the politically tense circumstances of the 1930’s and 1940’s, when Adolf Hitler was coming to power in Germany, Flagstad’s popularity at the Metropolitan Opera was central to the sustained interest in the Wagnerian repertoire in the United States. The arc of her career, dominated by lighter roles until middle life, allowed her to sing professionally well into her fifties, an approach that is now widely endorsed by vocal coaches. Flagstad’s influence on the brilliant careers of fellow Scandinavians Birgit Nilsson and Astrid Varnay, who followed in her footsteps, was significant.

Principal Works

operatic roles: Nuri in Eugen d’Albert’s Tiefland, 1913; Aida in Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida, 1929; Floria Tosca in Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca, 1929; Elsa in Richard Wagner’s Lohengrin, 1932; Kundry in Wagner’s Parsifal, 1932; Rodelinda in George Frideric Handel’s Rodelinda, 1932; Elisabeth in Wagner’s Tannhäuser, 1932; Isolde in Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde, 1932; Gutrune in Wagner’s Götterdämmerung, 1934; Brünnhilde in Wagner’s Die Walküre, 1935; Sieglinde in Wagner’s Die Walküre, 1935; Brünnhilde in Wagner’s Götterdämmerung, 1935; Leonore in Ludwig van Beethoven’s Fidelio, 1948; Alceste in Christopher Willibald Gluck’s Alceste, 1951; Dido in Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, 1951.

Principal Recordings

albums:Snow, 1929; Lieder (8), Op. 10: No. 8, Allerseelen, 1935; Songs (6), Op. 48: No. 6, Ein traum, 1936; Tristan und Isolde: Einsam Wachend…Habet Acht!, 1936; Die Walküre: Ho-jo-to-ho!, 1936; When I Have Sung My Songs, 1936; Songs (9), Op. 63: No. 5, Junge Lieder I: Mein Liebe Ist Grün, 1937; Die Walküre: Du Bist der Lenz, 1937; Haugtussa, Op. 67: No. 7, Evil Day, 1940; Tristan und Isolde: Wie Lachen Sie Mir: “Narrative and Curse,” 1947; Tristan und Isolde: Mild und Leise “Liebestod,” 1948; Four Last Songs, AV 150: No. 1, Frühling, 1950; Lieder (4), Op. 27: No. 2, Cäcilie, 1950; Dido and Aeneas, Z 626: Thy Hand, Belinda…When I Am Laid in Earth, 1951; Elektra, Op. 58: Orest! Est Rührt Sich Niemand, 1952; Die Schöne Magelone, Op. 33: No. 12, Muss Es Eine Trennung Geben, 1954; Paskemorgen Slukker Sorgen, 1956; Melodies (12), Op. 33: No. 2, Spring, 1957.

Bibliography

Biancolli, Louis. The Flagstad Manuscript. New York: Putnam, 1952. These autobiographical documents were dictated by Flagstad in 1941 and 1950-1952, and included are commentaries on her political controversies. Includes a list of roles and a selection of newspaper reviews.

Hunt, John. Six Wagnerian Sopranos. London: John Hunt, 1994. Expansive discography of Flagstad and five of her contemporaries. A short biography is included.

McArthur, Edwin. Flagstad: A Personal Memoir. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1965. Reflections from Flagstad’s accompanist, vocal coach, and longtime friend. Includes photographs, the author’s testimony at a 1946 court case in Norway, and an appendix with premiere dates and numbers of performances for each role.

Rasponi, Lanfranco. The Last Prima Donnas. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1982. Contains a chapter dedicated to Flagstad based on a 1940 interview in New York. Includes insights into her favorite roles.

Vogt, Howard. Flagstad: Singer of the Century. London: Secker and Warburg, 1987. Offers especially strong coverage of Flagstad’s formative years and a balanced account of her return to Nazi-controlled Norway during World War II.