On 22 May 1950 legendary
Norwegian soprano Kirsten Flagstad gave
the world premiere of Richard Strauss's
Four Last Songs in London's Royal
Albert Hall. Strauss entrusted the premiere
to Flagstad and a "first class conductor
and ensemble", possibly a snub to Flagstad's
fine piano accompanist Edwin McArthur
whose forays into orchestral conducting
for Flagstad are best overlooked. Instead
Flagstad insisted upon her friend Wilhelm
Furtwängler and together they presented
a memorable concert of the songs and
extracts from Wagner operas.
This Four Last Songs
has long been available on various
labels but sidelined due to the poor
quality of the shellac recording. Testament's
booklet says the rest of the concert
presented here was unearthed recently.
However all the items on this CD have
been available for some time in an archive
to which there is public access (see
www.musicpreserved.org.uk).
Neither the CD nor the archive contain
the Meistersinger Prelude and
Siegfried Forest Murmurs from
the same concert; these must be presumed
lost.
We are fortunate that
this fascinating world premiere of the
Four Last Songs is preserved
but it could never be a first choice.
Testament claim the sound is greatly
improved on previous incarnations but
it is still hampered by 'frying fish
and chips' crackle, swish and buzz.
The glorious orchestral sunrays opening
Im Abendrot are disappointingly
opaque, most of Beim Schlafengehenn
is especially subfusc, and the final
pages are marred by insistent swish.
Another minus is that
Flagstad transposes down key notes in
Frühling, which proved too
much for her. Indeed she never risked
Frühling again.
Putting these caveats
aside Flagstad's generous tone, sovereign
command of line and unfussy diction
are moving. Furtwängler too does
not confuse overt sentiment with profundity.
His conducting is swift and lyrical,
unfolding toward a clear-eyed dénouement
in Im Abendrot, the final notes
not unduly elongated but nobly radiant.
This is a natural and majestic reading
in which conductor and soloist are in
perfect accord.
And whilst the sound
is poor a bonus is that the orchestral
image is not too backward, unlike the
first studio recording by Della Casa.
Here we have Strauss's great cycle for
voice and orchestra with all
voices interacting and balanced. In
this respect I prefer such simplistic
'historic' recordings to noticeably
multi-miked and twiddled BBC broadcasts
today!
Testament does not
list sources for these recordings. It
would interesting to know as the Wagner
excerpts are generally fuller and with
far less noise, albeit prone to some
tonal shifts - due to shellac side changes?
- particularly in the Rhine Journey.
Furtwängler is
one of the greatest Wagner conductors
on record. His ability to generate extraordinary
crescendos, singing line and dramatic
intuition are rarely matched. Here we
have a splendid example of this in Siegfried's
Rhine Journey, opening with the
blackest colours towards a shining crescendo,
reached through rubato bringing palpable
tension. The rhythmic energy as Siegfried
journeys down the Rhine, always kept
within singing phrasing, will have you
dancing about the room. This is an orchestral
performance that almost reaches the
heights of Furtwängler's Good
Friday Music (live, Egypt 1951),
Funeral March and Meistersinger
Prelude (both live, Berlin 1949).
Furtwängler and
Flagstad's live 1937 Covent Garden (Music
& Arts) Immolation Scene is
compromised by constricted dynamic range
and Flagstad's detached singing. In
1948 (EMI) Walter Legge placed Flagstad
too close to the microphone and their
1952 remake correcting this suffers
from hazy orchestral sound, especially
at the bass end. The live 1950 RAI Act
III Götterdämmerung is
in awful sound with compression. Worse,
Italian radio engineers recording the
complete 1950 La Scala Ring produced
an anti-Furtwängler soundscape
with tinny bass and forward violins.
This Immolation scene
is the fusion of sound and artistry
that admirers of this partnership have
long prayed for. Almost everything comes
together. Roaring timps and exciting
rubato as Flagstad soars to summon Loge
to destroy Walhalla (track 8, 11:12)
are the stuff of legend as is Furtwängler's
accelerating rhythmic attack, almost
frenzied, in the resulting orchestral
cataclysm. Furtwängler's bedrock
basses and cellos are palpable. Unlike
the Four Last Songs, the final
bars are not interrupted by harsh shellac
noise so the glowing peroration registers
clearly.
Legend has it that
during the 1958 Decca Rheingold sessions
members of the VPO turned around when
Flagstad started singing. They were
amazed at the vocal quality of the 62
year-old soprano. Similarly, if you
hear a loud 'clunk' at the start of
the Immolation scene it will be your
jaw hitting the floor. Here Flagstad
sounds in her prime, not a singer who
may have retired by 1950 if the war
had not wrecked her savings.
Flagstad's shining
tone links back to the 1937 Covent Garden
excerpts although here she is much more
engaged with an added streak of Lear-like
depth. The natural balance also adds
a certain vulnerability to this Brünnhilde.
Indeed Flagstad is almost covered by
the brass at 2:05. Yet Flagstad’s command
to the Gibichungs and summoning of Loge
ring out with splendid force and those
top Cs are resolutely nailed. Flagstad’s
"Ruhe, ruhe, du Gott!" is
movingly hushed and inward, beautifully
blended with the orchestra. Following
the release of the Testament Götterdämmerung
some critics claimed Astrid Varnay is
the greatest Brünnhilde on record.
Well they need to hear this!
This Immolation Scene
absolutely joins my favourites: Traubel/NBCSO/Toscanini
(live 1940, Guild Historical), Hunter/Sadlers
Wells/Goodall (studio 1972, Chandos),
Christa Ludwig/NDRSO/Knappertsbusch
(live 1963, Tahra) and Varnay/Bayreuth
Festival Orchetra/Knappertsbusch (live
1951, Testament).
The Tristan und
Isolde: Prelude and Liebestod are
also Furtwängler’s best on record.
The natural balance means that Isolde
is really threatened by Wagner's rising
waves. This arguably makes more dramatic
sense than countless recordings that
mike the voice forward as the Irish
sorceress should seem almost overwhelmed
as she approaches death and/or transfiguration.
As in the Götterdämmerung
excerpts Furtwängler's mastery
of dramatic immersion and tension is
combined with the impression the orchestra
is singing alongside the soloist. The
three timpani blows of fate strike with
elemental force under Furtwängler
as the music surges towards the ‘world’s
breath’ apex. Here the listener can
almost see thunder rolling across the
skies with overwhelming power. What
an amazing conductor!
The Testament booklet
contains a background essay on the artists
and performance by Mike Ashman and an
insightful commentary on the performance
by critic Dr Michael Tanner. Members
of the Philharmonia at the time of the
recording are listed so we can see who
are most probably responsible for superlative
playing. No texts are provided.
The Strauss is free
from the distant audience noise which
in no way undermines the Wagner. Still
the Testament booklet is adamant that
this is the premiere of the Four
Last Songs, not the dress rehearsal.
Applause is cut out.
Felicity Lott (Chandos)
and Soile Isokoski (Ondine) remain top
recommendations for the Four Last
Songs. The unfair sound in the Strauss
means that sadly it has to be recommended
with caution. However Furtwängler
and Flagstad's inspired Wagner excerpts
are complemented by a revealing broadcast
recording. The pit feeling in my stomach
after this CD finished told me I'd heard
something very special indeed.
David Harbin
Kirsten Flagstad (sop) 
