Die Walkure: Melchior List B

This review is of MYTO's edition of the 30 March 1946 Metropolitan Opera broadcast of Wagner's DIE WALKÜRE, with Astrid Varnay, Helen Traubel, Kerstin Thorborg, Lauritz Melchior and Joel Berglund, conducted by Paul Breisach.Most of the same cast can be heard in the better-known 6 December 1941 broadcast, conducted by Erich Leinsdorf, in which Astrid Varnay made her Met debut as Sieglinde, a last-minute replacement for Lotte Lehmann. The main distinction of this one from 1946 is the Wotan, baritone Joel Berglund, who had sung the part in Europe before the War, but was only at the Met a couple seasons before leaving to manage the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm. The other cast difference is that Emanuel List sings Hunding instead of Alexander Kipnis, though List had sung the role in previous broadcasts. This performance showed up on a CD from Archipel several years ago, advertised as the "first time in any format," and since the MYTO edition is noted as "Produced by Archipel" my guess is that the same transfer was used. I'll deal with that a little later.The singers all in good form. Varnay's Sieglinde probably gains a bit with her experience in the role, Traubel's Brünnhilde likewise, and Melchior, after singing Siegmund for 20-some years is still spendid. Berglund proves to be a very fine Wotan, a voice generally resembling Friedrich Shorr's, but without the wear and tear heard in Schorr's later broadcasts. The Valkyries include Hertha Glaz, Margaret Harshaw, Irene Jessner and Jeanne Palmer, the latter having sung Brünnhilde in one of the season's earlier performances. Paul Breisach replaced Georg Szell for the five performances of the work given that season. Not a great conductor, but while the emphasis tends to be on making noise rather than drama, Wotan's second-act monologue, recapping the action of the earlier chapters for Brünnhilde, is paced very well, neither rushed nor boringly slow as often happens.The main problem with the release is the sound processing. No, it isn't all that bad, but the "noise reduction" tends to throw out the baby with the bathwater. A note says "The surface noise on the original acetates was not completely eliminated in order to preserve the sound as much as possible." However, it would have been possible, with only a slight increase in noise, to preserve more of the low level sounds, which often get lost in the processing. The amount varies, but even some of the Valkyries in the opening of the last act are hard to hear. There, the Cone of Silence can be heard lowering onto the sound 33 1/3 times per minute, likely to cover up some minor groove grit. I had thought the broadcast source was NBC's line transcriptions, until just under 12 minutes into the last act an hour-mark "beep" is heard, not likely in a recording made for delayed broadcasts. Still, other than the noise clipping the sound is mostly good. Some distortion in a few places, but fully resonant much of the time, so this was likely professionally recorded off-the-air at transcription speed, perhaps as an aircheck.This seems to be the only available transfer of this performance, so I'll give it a 4-star "I Like It" rating. MYTO's documentation is, as usual, skimpy, with the cast and a list of the tracks on the CDs, but no information about the performers, nor anything on the opera. This shouldn't bother those interested in these old broadcasts, but it suggests this is not a "de-luxe" edition. Its sonic defects are worth tolerating, when found at a non de-luxe price. I've included a picture of the cover for comparison with other listings, since asking prices vary quite a bit.

Très bon enregistrement Varnay et Lauritz Melchior avec Traubel . Un véritable trio électrisant ! Les connaisseurs de ces chanteurs qui ont marqués de tels rôles apprécieront vraiment ce CD qui est d'une très bonne qualité ...