Wagner: Die Walküre

Brünnhilde: Martha Mödl (soprano) Sieglinde: Leonie Rysanek (soprano) Wotan: Ferdinand Frantz (baritone) Siegmund: Ludwig Suthaus (tenor) Fricka: Margarete Klose (mezzo-soprano) Hunding: Gottlob Frick (bass) The Valkyries Gerhilde: Gerda Scheyrer (soprano) Ortlinde: Judith Hellwig (soprano) Waltraute: Dagmar Schmedes (soprano) Schwertleite: Ruth Siewert (contralto) Helmwige: Erika Köth (soprano) Siegrune: Hertha Töpper (contralto) Grimgerde: Johanna Blatter (contralto) Roßweiße: Dagmar Hermann (contralto) Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Wilhelm Furtwängler This memorable 1954 recording of Die Walküre was both the first complete studio recording of the opera, and the last studio recording made by Wilhelm Furtwängler, who would die less than two months later. The first review of the recording, in the September 1955 issue of The Gramophone described Furtwängler and the Vienna Philharmonic as “the bright particular stars of this performance … every department of the finest quality … so [the opera] shines and glows with light and warmth under Furtwängler’s inspired direction”. There are no better illustrations of Furtwängler’s lasting reputation than this Walküre and his superb 1952 and 1953 recordings of Tristan und Isolde (Naxos 8.110321-24) and Fidelio (Naxos 8.111020-21), Furtwängler’s only studio recordings of complete operas.