# Single Round: Brangane's Warning:Constance Shacklock, Christa Ludwig, Kerstin Thorborg



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

The first one ends after about 4 minutes and goes back to the love duet.This is one of the few arias ( or whatever you call it) that have made me cry.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Gosh! Believe it or not, I saw Constance Shacklock as the Mother Superior in *The Sound of Music *at the Palace Theatre in London when I was about 10. She played the role for six years apparently!

Brangäne's Warning isn't really an aria, but it is a very beautiful moment in the opera. All three ladies are effective, but Ludwig gave me the most pleasure, though this might have had something to do with the more atmospheric recording (from Karajan's studio recording with Dernesch and Vickers).


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

I think I like Ludwig the most here, but other ladies were gorgeous too. 
When I watched Tristan und Isolde recently, the mezzo thought that Wagner should be sung loud or was afraid of the conductor to muffle her. 
I also notice that mezzos in this part sound like sopranos, without showing much low notes.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

ColdGenius said:


> I think I like Ludwig the most here, but other ladies were gorgeous too.
> When I watched Tristan und Isolde recently, the mezzo thought that Wagner should be sung loud or was afraid of the conductor to muffle her.
> I also notice that mezzos in this part sound like sopranos, without showing much low notes.


There is a recording of Maureen Forrester singing it and she would not sound like a soprano. Not on Youtube, though. 
There are those who think it is the most beautiful music in the opera.


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## ColdGenius (9 mo ago)

I think so too.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

ColdGenius said:


> I think I like Ludwig the most here, but other ladies were gorgeous too.
> When I watched Tristan und Isolde recently, the mezzo thought that Wagner should be sung loud or was afraid of the conductor to muffle her.
> I also notice that mezzos in this part sound like sopranos, without showing much low notes.


Wagner designated Brangaene a soprano role. It doesn't go high, so it usually goes to mezzos. To my knowledge, Wagner never used the term "mezzo-soprano," instead distinguishing "hoher Sopran" (higher soprano) from "tiefer Sopran" (lower soprano) when he wanted a contrast. Elsa and Ortrud are examples of this. He uses the same distinction for roles in the bass-baritone spectrum. He seems not to have cared to make the tessitura of certain roles conform very strictly to norms; Sieglinde, Siegmund and Tristan are all a bit low for their nominal category, and Kundry is unclassifiable, focusing on the lower voice though called "soprano" in the score.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

An impossible choice for me. Three fine singers, but we hear Ludwig way off in her watchtower, while Thorborg is close to the microphone. I rather enjoyed the way Thorborg is embedded within some of the music that precedes and follows her in the opera, making this a substantial concert number. In any event, I loved hearing this three times and feel as if I could listen to it three more times. It's a unique moment in music, absolutely encapsulating the enchanted illusion of a love oblivious to the world but shadowed by tragedy. Unspeakably beautiful.

The last photo in the Thorborg clip apparently shows her as Brangaene trying to talk to Isolde who has fainted over the body of Tristan (Flagstad and Melchior, I believe). It's a very human and touching scene, staged simply, according to the wishes of the composer. Imagine that.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Wagner designated Brangaene a soprano role. It doesn't go high, so it usually goes to mezzos. To my knowledge, Wagner never used the term "mezzo-soprano," instead distinguishing "hoher Sopran" (higher soprano) from "tiefer Sopran") lower soprano when he wanted a contrast. Elsa and Ortrud are examples of this. He uses the same distinction for roles in the bass-baritone spectrum. He seems not to have cared to make the tessitura of certain roles conform very strictly to norms; Sieglinde, Siegmund and Tristan are all a bit low for their nominal category, and Kundry is unclassifiable, focusing on the lower voice though called "soprano" in the score.





Tsaraslondon said:


> Gosh! Believe it or not, I saw Constance Shacklock as the Mother Superior in *The Sound of Music *at the Palace Theatre in London when I was about 10. She played the role for six years apparently!
> 
> Brangäne's Warning isn't really an aria, but it is a very beautiful moment in the opera. All three ladies are effective, but Ludwig gave me the most pleasure, though this might have had something to do with the more atmospheric recording (from Karajan's studio recording with Dernesch and Vickers).


What would you call it? A fragment? Der Manner Sippe is called an aria frequently. I am ignorant of the right terms.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Seattleoperafan said:


> What would you call it? A fragment? Der Manner Sippe is called an aria frequently. I am ignorant of the right terms.


How about a bleeding chunk?


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## Parsifal98 (Apr 29, 2020)

I believe we can better hear Ludwig in this extract from the 1966 recording under Böhm. A great performance as Brangaene!






As for the contest, the three performances are great, but my preference goes to Thorborg. Her voice is steady, clear and full, with a beautiful tone which can only touch our hearts. A truly great singer who, unfortunately, left us too few recordings. I consider Ludwig to be her equal but, as Woodduck mentioned, her voice is too distant, which lessens the impact of this beautiful passage.


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