# Final Round: Isolde's N. and Curse: Grob- Prandl, Flagstad, Leider



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Let's break the tie


----------



## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

I still like Kirsten Flagstad the best! But none of the others are chopped liver!


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Aside from sheer vocal amplitude, what Isolde's narrative of her unhappy history with Tristan requires is sharp, imaginative vocal acting. There's an immense range of feelings churning inside the abducted princess, often tumbling out in rapid succession, even within a single sentence, and the expressive opportunities in text and music can accommodate all the imagination a singer can bring to them. I can only imagine how interesting Callas would have been, even singing in a distinctly non-Wagnerian language.

Of these three singers, Grob-Prandl is the sharpest in projecting the text and its changing moods, but Leider, despite the fast conducting that hurries her past opportunities she would no doubt have exploited in live performance, is not far behind. Flagstad was never a very specific vocal actress, but she wasn't insensitive, and of course the voice itself was magisterial; the sheer physical impact of her curse is mind-blowing, the more so in that she was 53 years old at the time of this live performance. Leider too was in fine voice here, her great virtues all in evidence (along with a slighted high B on "preis," followed nevertheless by a powerful curse). Grob-Prandl is less distinguished vocally, though her freedom at the top stands her in good stead.

This could come down to which qualities - vocal, dramatic and musical - we find most persuasive. For me Leider offers the best balance, and I'm forever sorry that she didn't remain at the Met into the broadcast era so that we could have from her a complete Isolde. The excerpts that we do have, recorded in the house in 1933, reveal the strength, warmth and passion that made her Melchior's favorite partner in the opera, despite his triumphant pairing wih Flagstad after Leider's departure from the Met stage. Just imagine being able to go and hear Leider's Isolde one year and Flagstad's the next, and to stand in the lobby arguing about who was better!


----------



## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Grob-Prandl has been the revelation in this contest. I also find the conducting very sympathetic in her version and Von Milinkovic is a favourite of mine (I know her from a number of Rings from 50s Bayreuth). Every word can be heard clearly, the vowels aren't distorted and sit in the centre of her tone. More importantly she is committed to expressing the words' meaning as well. This may well be the best recording of this aria out there.

I prefer Flagstad here compared with her other versions of the aria, but her diction isn't anywhere as good as Grob-Prandl or Leider and I find it hard to concentrate on the voice when there is so little involvement with the text. It may be an amazing sound

It's close between Leider and Grob-Prandl and I don't want to choose Grob-Prandl just for the better sound and Brangene.

Grob-Prandl may not have quite had the vocal estate of Leider, but her more involved performance wins out of these. (Perhaps Leider live would have overtaken her.)

N.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

The Conte said:


> Grob-Prandl may not have quite had the vocal estate of Leider, but her more involved performance wins out of these. *(Perhaps Leider live would have overtaken her.)*


A comparison of Leider's live Liebestod with her studio effort makes that virtually an inescapable supposition.


----------



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> A comparison of Leider's live Liebestod with her studio effort makes that virtually an inescapable supposition.


When I am speaking, the bigger the crowd, the hotter my performance. Studio has better sound often but most artists like fans. Nilsson even recorded better live. Even Callas changed her style.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> When I am speaking, the bigger the crowd, the hotter my performance. Studio has better sound often but most artists like fans. Nilsson even recorded better live. Even Callas changed her style.


Not only the presence of the audience, but involvement in an ongoing plot, acting, and interacting with colleagues onstage are all conducive to giving a more vital performance. I have the feeling that singers who can generate as much excitement in the studio as in the opera house are uncommon. Callas even said that recording for the microphone _required_ more restraint. In Leider's day there was also the necessity of squeezing long musical selections onto short record sides, which I think accounts for the somewhat hurried quality of her studio _Tristan_ excerpts. Her studio Liebestod is well-sung but fast and not very communicative (as is Helen Traubel's, possibly for the same reason). The live version, much slower, is a vision of ecstasy, vocally, musically and interpretively transcendent, and is my favorite performance of the aria.


----------



## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Grob-Prandl was the biggest revelation and they are all superb, but I'm voting for Leider.


----------



## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

I think that Grob-Prandl sounded tender and vulnerable. Isolde is likely to sing exactly this way. Especially when there are four hours of drama ahead and she hasn't to die before she finishes Mild und Leise. 
But expectations on how Isolde should sing are different, and it's Flagstad and Leider who embody it. Leider is more human and earthly, when Flagstad is more archetypal, and I can't choose again! Let it be Flagstad. 
To the credit of last Isolde in my theater she tried to combine all these features, although she's not Flagstad, of course.


----------



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Tsaraslondon said:


> Grob-Prandl was the biggest revelation and they are all superb, but I'm voting for Leider.


That made my day. Rare I can show you something.


----------

