Kirsten Flagstad Discography

Abstract

Kirsten Flagstad, the leading Wagnerian soprano of her generation, left a legacy of more than 900 recordings. In a recording career that spanned 46 years, she recorded for the Scandinavian branches of Odeon, His Master's Voice (HMV), and Columbia, and made records for the international market on the HMV, RCA Victor, and Decca (London Records in the U.S.A.) labels. In addition, recordings exist of many of her frequent broadcast appearances with the Metropolitan, San Francisco, Chicago, and Covent Garden Operas, as welI as from such then-popular variety programs as the Ford Sunday Evening Hour, General Motors Hour, RCA Magic Key, and Kraft Music HalI. Company files, record catalogues, and correspondence with private collectors, some of them Flagstad's friends, were used to assemble the information. By such means it was possible in most cases to determine matrix numbers, recording dates, and issue numbers of 78s, LPs, and noncommercial records. A Iist of known interviews and other recordings of her speaking voice is included, as is a list of alI known broadcasts, whether or not a recording of them is known to exist. Although best known as a singer of Wagner's operas, Flagstad's repertoire on records reflects wide-ranging versatility. Besides Wagner, she recorded operas by Beethoven, Gluck, and PurcelI; her concert and recital repertoire Includes Bach, Bax, Delius, Elgar, Grieg, Rossini, Schubert, Schumann, Sibelius, Strauss, and Wolf. She also performed the music of many lesser-known composers, especially Norwegians, and recorded some 46 hymns with organ. Her records document the career of one of the twentieth century's leading singers and prevailing performance practice in a large segment of the standard repertoire.