# Help for a speech on Flagstad: Seeking analyses of her voice. Can't find any!



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I am surprised at the dearth of material on what Flagstad sounded like in an actual opera house. I just read Flagstad: Singer of the Century on interlibrary loan and was very disappointed as there was zero writing about the magnificence of her sound. Do any of you know of any sources. The old Listserve likely had stuff but it no longer exists as far as I can tell and virtually nothing on our forum.The sound and placement of her voice was very individual but I am at a loss on how to communicate it. The only lead was someone who said she always had an nnnnnnng focus in her sound. There were a few critic reviews in the book I read but they yielded nothing I could use. Some of you are much more knowledgeable than me.


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## Revitalized Classics (Oct 31, 2018)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I am surprised at the dearth of material on what Flagstad sounded like in an actual opera house. I just read Flagstad: Singer of the Century on interlibrary loan and was very disappointed as there was zero writing about the magnificence of her sound. Do any of you know of any sources. The old Listserve likely had stuff but it no longer exists as far as I can tell and virtually nothing on our forum.The sound and placement of her voice was very individual but I am at a loss on how to communicate it. The only lead was someone who said she always had an nnnnnnng focus in her sound. There were a few critic reviews in the book I read but they yielded nothing I could use. Some of you are much more knowledgeable than me.


Hello, good luck and hopefully these will give you a head start

"That voice! How can one describe it?" wrote Schonberg in his New York Times obituary of Flagstad. "It was enormous, but did not sound enormous because it was never pushed or out of placement. It had a rather cool silvery quality, and was handled instrumentally, almost as though a huge violin was emitting legato phrases."
Source: https://www.encyclopedia.com/people...s-and-performers-biographies/kirsten-flagstad

Richard Bonynge wrote about seeing her
Source: https://eloquenceclassics.com/blog/richard-bonynge-remembers-kirsten-flagstad/

Search Flagstad as a keyword on the met opera archives and some of the entries include contemporary reviews including her debut
Source: http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/frame.htm

There's a podcast here which might be useful for background info
Source: https://warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/knowledgecentre/arts/theatre-performance/kirsten-flagstad/

There's a documentary here as well
Source:


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I can't recall ever reading a technical analysis of her voice. One thing I do notice is that her releases are typically very relaxed. She doesn't drive the voice to end notes forcefully; there's no pushing or grunting or exaggerated phonation of consonants. Instead, she seems to let up on the pressure of breath as she finishes. Sometimes the resulting sense of relaxation dilutes the intensity; I think it's part of what makes her seem too placid at times, but it seems to have been healthy for the voice.

There are a few references to Flagstad in this article: http://www.voiceteacher.com/dramatic_soprano.html

Here's a comment on her breathing: https://petersenvoicestudio.com/2015/06/03/kirsten-flagstads-invisible-breathing/

Apparently her voice grew in size as a result of better training. She'd been fairly successful singing light opera, but only after Dr. Gillis Bratt took over as her teacher did she become the singer we know. One article says:

_When Flagstad auditioned for him in 1916, he asked, "Have you ever sung in public?" After she had answered in the positive, he stated that "no one could have heard her, because she had the voice of a child". He also said that her "vocal cords leaked too much breath" and this defect he could remedy. Flagstad was very angry at first, however, she studied with Dr. Bratt twice a week. Indeed, her voice grew to twice its previous size in three months. Dr. Bratt taught Flagstad what he called "ahning" which combined the "a" vowel with the "ring" that most of the Scandanavian singers had in their sound. It was Dr. Gillis Bratt who prepared her for a world-class career as a dramatic soprano._

I recall Flagstad saying that her voice seemed to come from her whole body and that when singing correctly she felt as if she had no throat.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Revitalized Classics said:


> Hello, good luck and hopefully these will give you a head start
> 
> "That voice! How can one describe it?" wrote Schonberg in his New York Times obituary of Flagstad. "It was enormous, but did not sound enormous because it was never pushed or out of placement. It had a rather cool silvery quality, and was handled instrumentally, almost as though a huge violin was emitting legato phrases."
> Source: https://www.encyclopedia.com/people...s-and-performers-biographies/kirsten-flagstad
> ...


Bless you!!!!!
I love the Schonberg quote.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> I can't recall ever reading a technical analysis of her voice. One thing I do notice is that her releases are typically very relaxed. She doesn't drive the voice to end notes forcefully; there's no pushing or grunting or exaggerated phonation of consonants. Instead, she seems to let up on the pressure of breath as she finishes. Sometimes the resulting sense of relaxation dilutes the intensity; I think it's part of what makes her seem too placid at times, but it seems to have been healthy for the voice.
> 
> There are a few references to Flagstad in this article: http://www.voiceteacher.com/dramatic_soprano.html
> 
> ...


I knew you would have some morsels for me. Thanks.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Revitalized Classics said:


> Hello, good luck and hopefully these will give you a head start
> 
> "That voice! How can one describe it?" wrote Schonberg in his New York Times obituary of Flagstad. "It was enormous, but did not sound enormous because it was never pushed or out of placement. It had a rather cool silvery quality, and was handled instrumentally, almost as though a huge violin was emitting legato phrases."
> Source: https://www.encyclopedia.com/people...s-and-performers-biographies/kirsten-flagstad
> ...


The Met archives is PERFECT for what I was seeking!!!!


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

Quite a bit of information available at this link:

https://warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/knowledgecentre/arts/theatre-performance/kirsten-flagstad/

Ah. I see that RevitalizedClassics beat me to it. Ah well!

Good luck! :tiphat:

Kind regards,

George


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