The third of eight programmes celebrating musical personalities from the past. Astrid Varnay - from Manhattan to Valhalla
On 6 December 1941, opera-goers queueing outside New York's Met were puzzled to see an unfamiliar name on the posters for Wagner's Die Walkure. If it had not been for
Pearl Harbor, the next day's papers would have headlined one of this century's most sensational debuts. As a last-minute stand-in, the 23-year-old Astrid Varnay had made light work of one of Wagner's most taxing soprano roles. She has never looked back - until now, when she reflects on a career five decades long in which she helped to bring singing and acting up to date for postwar music lovers. With excerpts from: Wagner Die Walkure
Astrid Varnay (soprano),
Lauritz Melchior (baritone),
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, conductor Erich Leinsdorf
Wagner Liebestod (Tristan und Isolde) Kirsten Flagstad (soprano) Verdi Aida
Astrid Varnay (soprano),
George London (bass-baritone),
Bavarian Radio SO/Hermann Weigert Wagner Lohengrin
Astrid Varnay (soprano),
Hermann Uhde (baritone),
Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, conductor Joseph Keilberth Strauss Elektra
Vienna Philharmonic/von Karajan Wagner Brdnnhilde's Immolation (Gotterdammerung)
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, conductor Hermann Weigert Discs