# Round Three: Du Bist Der Lenz (Norman, Crespin, Flagstad)



## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)




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## ALT (Mar 1, 2021)

I think Flagstad's "Du bist der Lenz" is heard here to better effect, if in worse sound. It was her Metropolitan Opera debut, as Sieglinde. If link doesn't advance to where it should, it starts @ 45:15.


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## ALT (Mar 1, 2021)

I am not a fan of Norman’s and Flagstad is, without needing to say, hors concours. My vote goes to Crespin who projects Sieglinde’s passion with her more “fragile” voice.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Contrary as it is to not vote for either Norman or Flagstad, Crespin fits the role better than either of those goddesses.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

ALT said:


> I think Flagstad's "Du bist der Lenz" is heard here to better effect, if in worse sound. It was her Metropolitan Opera debut, as Sieglinde. If link doesn't advance to where it should, it starts @ 45:15.


This was the famous occasion on which Geraldine Farrar, who was hosting the radio intermission feature, threw away her script in order to talk about the sensational new soprano from Norway. If I remember correctly, the Brunnhilde that afternoon was Frida Leider. It's enough to make a grown operaphile cry.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Norman makes the most of the text and the drama, apparent even when you don't watch her. Flagstad is giving a "concert performance," vocally impeccable but not engaged with the character in any special way. Crespin's warmly feminine timbre is suitable and appealing, more naturally suggesting Sieglinde's vulnerability than Norman's or Flagstad's more formidable sounds. I'm tempted to vote for her, despite a mild personal dislike for what always strikes me as an urbane or worldly kind of sensuality in her singing that suits French music beautifully - whether it's Ravel or Offenbach - but can sound slightly alien in German and Italian opera. I recall Callas hearing one of her recordings and exclaiming "That is not Verdi!" Her Wagner is better, maybe because the total effect of the music is less dependent on the singer.

I think Norman's dramatic specificity will win for me, even if her voice is less natural for the role than Crespin's. Flagstad onstage, where she tended to be more alive dramatically, might have been my pick, and that is suggested by the radio excerpt posted by ALT. Certainly her vocalism as such is tough to beat.


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

Jessye, to me, shows where intensity can take you down the wrong path. Her intensity makes her sound desperate to me. Now of course Sieglinde could be desperate but at this moment, I dont imagine that is the intention. Crespin's silvery voice cuts through beautifully and has, I think the most womanly approach of all the.......Not real old singers. But Flagstad, without good sound, still gave me the impression I got when Lehman sang...above all the others here she sang it. She really follows her own advice, forget about Wagner...she sings! And like few others. Crespin could get my vote but Flagstad does.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

ScottK said:


> Jessye, to me, shows where intensity can take you down the wrong path. Her intensity makes her sound desperate to me. Now of course Sieglinde could be desperate but at this moment, I dont imagine that is the intention.


Sieglinde's whole life has been pretty desperate up to this moment - her early life was harrowing - and it will continue to be. In Act 2 she is unremittingly terrified when she isn't unconscious, and in Act 3 she alternates suicidal despair with ecstasy. Anyone singing this role had better be good at intensity.


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## marlow (11 mo ago)

Tremendous vocal riches here. Creeping by a short head I think as she sounds the youngest


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## ALT (Mar 1, 2021)

Woodduck said:


> This was the famous occasion on which Geraldine Farrar, who was hosting the radio intermission feature, threw away her script in order to talk about the sensational new soprano from Norway. If I remember correctly, the Brunnhilde that afternoon was Frida Leider. It's enough to make a grown operaphile cry.


The Brünnhilde that evening was Gertrude Kappel, not Frida Leider.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Three great singers here and I'm finding it hard to make a choice. 

If the video chosen for Flagstad had been the Met version, I think I'd have gone for that. As it is she doesn't sound so fully engaged in the concert version chosen for the competition, so I'm left with Norman and Crespin.

Like Woodduck, I'm not always a fan of Crespin, though I prefer her in Wagner to Italian opera. There is something just a bit too urbane in her singing that suits her for so much French music, but not so much for Italian passion. I also find her timbre a bit metallic and I actually prefer Norman's voice. That said, wonderful though she is, Norman doesn't really sound like a Sieglinde to me - the voice just too rich and heroic - so I'm going to vote for Crespin, by a whisker.

Lotte Lehmann would still be my favourite though.


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## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

Woodduck said:


> Sieglinde's whole life has been pretty desperate up to this moment - her early life was harrowing - and it will continue to be. In Act 2 she is unremittingly terrified when she isn't unconscious, and in Act 3 she alternates suicidal despair with ecstasy. Anyone singing this role had better be good at intensity.


I want intensity and I could possibly imagine desperation in Du Bist der Lenz. It has seemed to me to be more of the rare moment of relief. On one hearing, I had the feeling that the desperation I was hearing was an unintended by-product of an attempt to sound passionate. I'll give another listen.


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