KIRSTEN FLAGSTAD – Prima Voce

Nimbus gathers Kirsten Flagstad’s classic recordings from the late 1930s, when she burst upon the scene to become an overnight sensation in the U.S. Her huge but supple voice, laser-like in clarity and power, was too big for the microphones of her day, but it still comes across as an extraordinary instrument. Everything is beautifully sung, though quibbles can be made. She never had the inwardness to fully convey the characters of Elsa in Lohengrin or Elizabeth in Tannhuser, though her recordings of their arias are gorgeous. She’s handicapped by partners like the dozing conductor of the Gtterdmmerung immolation scene, but most of the tracks here are thrilling. All qualifications pale beside the glory of a magnificent voice captured, however dimly, in its prime