# Second Round: O König, das kann ich dir nicht sagen. Melchoir and Vinay



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)




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## Shaughnessy (Dec 31, 2020)

For Melchior enthusiasts - and completists - an extra large helping of research as I shall be scarce for the next month...










Link to label authorized complete set of recordings -



https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mMb_NiTCcMCen7XKcSx98DPPDGk_25-A0












Link to label authorized complete set of recordings -



https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lr4J0HmS5sZp1tzBI1WkLL9xVUe3MzM1o












Link to label authorized complete set of recordings -



https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_ltNY86U680rEw2dzN1r7ijlgroJUTjT9g












Link to label authorized complete set of recordings -



https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m4IWUxQXJuU4G50tIFg3tsRy0kSt1RK2s












Link to label authorized complete set of recordings -



https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kQLanc0OmoFf8LziLqGH7Rtt32OzWfWK0












Link to label authorized complete set of recordings -



https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m3NdmRObGgAxCYdsp_I_rhLTa_OI2nYao



*He Knew His Wagner: Recent Reissues Show Why Lauritz Melchior Is the Most Durable of the Great Wagnerian Singers*





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He Knew His Wagner: Recent Reissues Show Why Lauritz Melchior Is the Most Durable of the Great Wagnerian Singers


The Atlantic covers news, politics, culture, technology, health, and more, through its articles, podcasts, videos, and flagship magazine.




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Volume 1 of the Danacord series (DACOCD 311-312) contains Melchior’s earliest recordings, made in 1913-1915 and 1920-1921. All selections are sung in Danish (Melchior was born and raised in Copenhagen) or Swedish, and most are inconsequential Scandinavian songs, with only a handful of arias. This set will therefore be of interest mainly to specialist collectors.

But Volume 2 (DACOCD 313-314) contains all the recordings Melchior made for Polydor and Parlophone in 1923—1926, and Volume 3 (DACOCD 315-316) contains those made in 19281931 for His Master’s Voice and its German affiliate, Electrola; also included in these two volumes are four sides made in Chicago for Brunswick in 1926, when Melchior first visited this country.

Volume 4 (DACOCD 317-318) contains one of the greatest Wagnerian recordings ever made, the complete Act I of _Die Walkiire_ recorded in Vienna in 1935, with Melchior as Siegmund, Lehmann as Sieglinde, Emanuel List as Hunding, and Walter conducting the Vienna Philharmonic. The set also includes the fine, almost complete Act II of the same work, part of which was recorded at the 1935 Vienna sessions and part in 1938 in Berlin, under Bruno Seidler-Winkler. In addition to the singers present in Act I, Margarete Klose is heard as Fricka, Marta Fuchs as Brünnhilde, and the young Hotter as Wotan.

All of this material, except for some sides with Rudolf Laubenthal and Leider that were later duplicated by Melchior and the English soprano Florence Easton, is contained in Danacord’s Volume 5 (DACOCD 319-321). Included as a bonus is a performance of Act I of _Die Walkiire_ broadcast in Copenhagen to celebrate Melchior’s seventieth birthday. Though it is mainly a touching curiosity, it shows that even in 1960 the great tenor could still project Siegmund with fire and vividness.


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Melchior but Vinay is also excellent. That 1938 Tristan with Melchior and Flagstad, and maybe most importantly, Bodanzky, is my absolute favourite, I don't care about the cuts or sound, it is ecstatic. And Flagstad delivers her most enraptured Liebestod of all.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

The melancholy Tristan (_triste_ = "sad") was a good fit for Vinay's dark baritenor and apparent dramatic gifts. I do find this rendition dragging a bit, not something I'd expect from 1950s Karajan; the music is inherently gloomy enough, and can use a bit more force and energy as it proceeds. It gets this and more from Melchior and Bodanzky. What a pleasure, and what a singing lesson, to listen to Melchior's focused tone production and his ability to ally declamatory force with a rock solid legato line. It's a lesson in the expressive value of simple vocal excellence - in what a person can do musically because he can sing superbly.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

I expect I will be voting for Melchior (but who knows and that's the fun of these contests). I don't only end up picking my favourite singers each time (see Ponselle's Dalila) and it amuses me when others do because it means I can always predict who they are going to pick!

Melchior is wonderfully plangent and moving here and provides everything I could want from a tenor singing this music. This must be one of the best performances of this stretch of music. He doesn't suffer any technical issues to my ear, phrases sensitively, has that already mentioned air of melancholy in his general tone and his dynamics and interpretation are perfection itself.

I have and like both these recordings, but have tended to focus more on Isolde in the past. Viny has the stiffest of competition, but he may surprise me. I find Viny's version emotionally flat (the inert conducting doesn't help). There's nothing wrong with his version and it could be a winner in a different contest.

I expect everyone to vote for Melchior.

N.


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