[woodsyi]

Die Walküre acte 1 Bruno Walter Lotte Lehmann Lauritz Melchior 1935

What a shame (F*ck Hitler) this ensemble could not record the whole opera.  God, what a cycle it would that have been!

When you listen to this with a dedicated mono cart on a good analog system,  you forget that this was a recording from 1935. 

On the video, you get a glimpse of the voice that "is" the definition of heldentenor.  You get more with a mono analog set up.  The warmth and lyrical beauty he brings on this first act of Die Walküre is just amazing.  It's such a far cry from often bombasted blaring that you get from singers with less control and power.  Lehmann's Sieglende is so lyrical and dramatic at the same time.  I love it.

[Kenneth Patchen]

Great video, thanks, I didn't know that existed.

I have the two EMI recordings of the 1935/38 .

The first disc is Act 1 and Scenes 3 and 5 from Act2 , recorded in Vienna in 1935
The 2nd disc is the Prelude and Scenes 1, 2 and 4 from Act 2, I believe, was recorded in Berlin in 1938.

Later EMI remastered disc 1 and I understand the sq reportedly is excellent.

Naxos has also released all of Act 1 and Act 2 as above and I have often wondered if the Naxos was a just rerelease of the earlier EMI discs. The sound quality of the Naxos is poor.

Cheerio,
KP

http://www.amazon.com/Die-Walkure-Richard-Classical-Wagner/dp/B000005GMW/ref=pd_sim_sbs_15_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0ZEFRJMB14ZVEH3S9ANW&dpID=51RxS7GT8XL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_

http://www.amazon.com/Wagner-Die-Walküre-Act-2/dp/B00000DOAT/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1442945151&sr=1-2-fkmr0&keywords=Naxos+lotte+lehmann+lauritz+melchior+walter+wagner

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