Biografia
Born in Stranstuen, Hamar, Norway, Norwegian soprano Kirsten Flagstad was the daughter of a conductor and a mother who was both a singing coach and pianist, as well as her first teacher. She continued her studies in Oslo with Ellen Schyte-Jacobsen and in Stockholm with Dr. Gillis Bratt. While still a student, she made her debut at the National Theater in Oslo in 1913 as Nuri in D'Albert's Tiefland. For the following 18 years, she performed exclusively in Scandinavia, appearing in opera, operetta, and musical comedy. Flagstad's debut as Isolde in Oslo in 1932 led to engagements at Bayreuth in minor roles in 1933, and to parts as Sieglinde and Gutrune in 1934. Later that year, she set her sights on North America, auditioning at the Metropolitan Opera to succeed the leading Wagnerian soprano Frida Leider. Her unannounced Met debut as Sieglinde, broadcast nationwide on February 2, 1935, caused a sensation. Four days later, she sang Isolde, and later that month, she performed Brünnhilde in Die Walküre and Die Götterdämmerung for the first time. Virtually overnight, she was recognized as the foremost Wagnerian soprano of her generation. Later that season, Flagstad also sang Elsa, Elisabeth, and her first Kundry. Fidelio (1936) was her only non-Wagnerian role at the Met before World War II. She performed the same repertoire in San Francisco from 1935 to 1938 and in Chicago in 1937.
In 1936 and 1937, she appeared as Isolde, Brünnhilde, and Senta at Covent Garden under the batons of Sir Thomas Beecham, Fritz Reiner, and Wilhelm Furtwängler, garnering as much acclaim there as in New York. In 1941, Flagstad returned to Nazi-occupied Norway to join her second husband, whose collaboration with the Nazis led to his arrest after the war. Although her own wartime record was free of controversy, her return to Norway during the war and a certain political naïveté contributed to considerable ill feelings towards her, particularly in the United States.
During four consecutive seasons at Covent Garden from 1948 to 1951, Flagstad reprised all her regular Wagnerian roles, including Kundry and Sieglinde. She returned to San Francisco in 1948 but was not invited back to the Metropolitan Opera until Sir Rudolf Bing became manager. In the 1950-1951 season, despite being in her fifties, she demonstrated remarkable form as Isolde, Brünnhilde, and Fidelio. Her final role at the Metropolitan Opera was Alceste in Gluck's opera. Her last operatic performances were as Purcell's Dido at the Mermaid Theatre in London in 1953. Flagstad continued recording and concert performances and served as director of the Norwegian National Opera from 1958 to 1960.
The lasting purity, beauty, and power of Flagstad's voice likely stemmed not only from natural talent and solid training but also from the enforced rest during the war years and the fact that she had not undertaken heavy roles until middle age. She was regarded as an impeccable musician, especially in matters of rhythm and intonation. Although she was not the most dramatic or magnetic of Wagnerian heroines, no one in recent memory surpassed her in sheer beauty and consistency of line and tone. Among her many recordings, the complete Tristan und Isolde with Furtwängler stands as the finest testament to her mature interpretive artistry. Her pre-war recordings, however, reveal her voice at its freshest brilliance and clarity.
