Marta Mödl & Leonard Bernstein - Isolde Liebestod (Old Metropolitan Opera House 1958) NY

No words...

[@michelescales2813]

OMG !!!! Many actual singers should listen to her before opening their mouth....... simply .... emotional.......what a wonder..... and Bernstein......!!!!!!

[@Tenortalker]

Modl was a real force of nature. I was in a production of Queen of Spades with her in Nice. She played the Old Countess and would have been about 78 at the time . She was incredible, such an artiste.

[@esuna6352]

You know what a real musician is if they still sound awesome regardless of shitty recording technology.

[@evelynkatz1301]

The end is simply sublime!!!! The best "hoechste Lust" I've ever heard. She is so dignified! Breathes a bit too often, maybe it's the acting? And swallows' some trills. But her voice is ringing like a huge bell, so clear and full, no pushing, no strain, and nothing artificial here. Thanks for posting, a magnificent singer who deserves much more fame than she already has............

[@ransomcoates546]

Where is a trill written in the ‘Liebestod’? Nowhere.

[@jasonhurd4379]

Wagner wrote no trills in the Liebestod

[@peterrandsman4881]

There are no trills anywhere written in the score by Wagner here for this particular aria. Not a single one.

[@fabriziogarzi9892]

Non mi pare una esecuzione meravigliosa. Canto molto faticoso perche' Modl affaticata e forse fuori ruolo non ostante né abbia cantate diverse. Si nota lo sforzo. La recitazione non esiste in questo brano perche' non necessaria. Trilli? Wagner non ne ha scritti molti in vita sua. Bernstein meraviglioso come sempre.

[@FrancescoCarzedda]

@@fabriziogarzi9892 Martha Mödl aveva una corda naturale di mezzosoprano, come Maria Callas.
Nel 1958 i registri di soprano avevano già ceduto.

[@duwir5959]

She has a really dramatic voice, as a person she was modest, she lives near the home of Carlos Kleiber and met him at the butcher, but was shy and speak not much with him. One of her great recordings is Tristan with Karajan in Bayreuth and Fideliowith Furtwängler.

[@thomasmiles340]

She was a genuine superstar in her time. Audiences went wild over her. She had a somewhat laboured delivery, but was so incisive and telling with the text. A thrilling artist. Cheers.

[@davidsimmons654]

This is just toooooo good. Wish we had the entire evening but this clip is amazing!

[@petercates6706]

Martha was positively incredible here !

[@christopherbubbadad7911]

A veritable force of nature unto herself.Hard to be dull with this aria,
But this version almost took me along. What fantastic Wagner !

[@orion8835]

Incredible. It’s peerless really. And brings really everything to the listener on the darker scope of this aria. One can not listen to this and feel nothing.

[@feelgoog22]

Mödl was the most emotional dramatic Isolde !

[@AulicExclusiva]

MM sang Isolde only 3 times at the Metropolitan, and the conductor of all 3 was Fritz Stiedry.

[@arielruiz2255]

Extraordinario...

[@user-ic5xu4jh6z]

Look at her belly, she was breathing from the stomach and used the diaphragma! Young singers from today should look at her and learn...thanks for uploading!

[@peteralsbergs2623]

M

[@detlefschutz1260]

Her first opera role was Hänsel in Remscheid (Germany) in 1942 when she was 30 years old.

[@robertssje]

Watch her work those diaphragm muscles. The sheer muscular energy as she sings.
Not to in any way over shadow the incredible beauty of the voice. Brilliant.
Her Ring with Furtwaengler is breath taking.

[@petergiljum]

She was my Isolde ❤❤❤

[@carloscardoso179]

La más grande Isolda.....La versión con Vinay y Karajan es insuperable

[@terryhammond1253]

Wagner would have loved her. I do...especially those last 3 notes. No gimmicks...no distracting stage diversions...just divine communication with her voice.. Ahhhhhhh.....

[@MaestroWenarto]

I am speechless...

[@calonlan7561]

This is the Bernstein my father knew and played for....

[@OsvaCola]

Mödl sang Isolde até the Met in 1958 with Ramon Vinay. The conductor was Fritz Stiedry. Bernstein conducted only excerpts for TV

[@EduardoHernandez-cc9qn]

Amazing!!!!!!

[@vincentlombardo9797]

beautiful... just back from Bayreuth ... Wagner goes on.. and moves us forever!!!!

[@user-mi4jd8bx6o]

Absolutely stunning!

[@FranciscoFerrerGaliana1930]

Absolutamente maravillosa,!!

[@milesmontemore5060]

Thank you. By 1958 Modl was past her absolute best, but she had such an incisive way with the text. And she could STILL give these young wannabes a lesson in how to sing Isolde. Cheers.

[@eduardobraivein8496]

Miles Montemore How long did her prime last?

[@davidsimmons654]

Eduardo Braivein a little under 12 years.

[@eduardobraivein8496]

David Simmons Thx for your information (1942-1954 then?)

[@davidsimmons654]

Eduardo Braivein you’re welcome! She switched back to the dramatic Mezzo/Contralto Fach and some character roles

[@eduardobraivein8496]

David Simmons Pity she never tackked roles like Erda and Fricka! (Waltraute she sang only once, in Bayreuth 1967 under Boehm).

[@peteradaniel]

Funny, Marta Mödl only sang 12 performances at the Metropolitan opera throughout her career. So they were very lucky to get this, especially considering it's from the old Met as well.

[@BalbirSingh-tt8rv]

Simply moving.

[@Twentythousandlps]

This was the first time LB conducted the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.

[@sanfordpress8943]

Whatever to the haters. You don't understand what goes into singing . This is a monumental aria that comes at the end, so you've already spent your energy .
This singer had an outstanding career with ups and downs like all your favorite divas. It's easy to cancel someone when you have limited knowledge and experience. If all you know is Traubel and
The others, then you're missing out.
Singing is a tricky business . Stop the judging

[@CanuckFluter]

I love Martha Mödl, one of the greatest voices of the 20th centurty!

[@hgg2577]

Play this to my last journey

[@CanuckFluter]

there were cameras at the Met in the 50s but why didn't this happen at Bayreuth. Anyone have any ideas or if there is footage from singers at Bayreuth in the 50s?

[@luisnorbertogomez7058]

Gran cantante,impresionante

[@stephengoldman553]

No one like her. Intense. Its pathos. A singular voice

[@rudyd8403]

Greatest wagnerian soprano of her time.

[@peteradaniel]

This isn't Carnegie Hall, it's the old Metropolitan Opera on Broadway and 39th. I want someone to upload the entire Omnibus this is taken from.

[@gregberg5559]

Thanks for this correction. Yes, that whole program -"What Makes Opera Grand" is absolutely amazing- and also a wonderful memento of the Old Met.

[@DHESINGER]

Isn't it amazing that she didn't start singing until she was in her 40's?

[@headshotband13]

she was 28 when she started singing.

[@Yves_Ka]

That information is unfortunately incorrect

[@wakame_shirasu1852]

メードルのイゾルデ、美しい！バーンスタインは後年のバイエルン放送交響楽団よりも、こっちのほうが好感が持てる。全曲聴いてみたい。

[@laurentdumontel5680]

Carnegie Hall 1958 !!!!!

[@petergiljum]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@gregberg5559]

Leilog: Thanks for posting this- but please correct the location. This is taken from the Omnibus documentary "What Makes Opera Grand?" - and this was filmed on the stage of the Old Metropolitan Opera House, not Carnegie Hall.

[@LeilogOpera]

Thank you very much. Location corrected :-)

[@gregberg5559]

@@LeilogOpera Much appreciated.

[@ZackGasse]

Bernstein did not conduct Tristan with Mödl at the old Met, this is a Carnegie Hall Performance.

[@peteradaniel]

This performance was an excerpt presented for a 1958 special episode of Omnibus, of which Bernstein was the classical music specialist. The episode focused on Grand opera and was filmed at the old Metropolitan opera. If you look in the Met archives you will see that the week this was filmed both Bergonzi and Mödl appeared in La Boheme and Tristan at the met respectively. It aired later that year on NBC. They basically turned the old into a television studio/ lecture hall.

[@rossmerchant8435]

I read that a filmed excerpt of the Act 2 duet featuring Vinay and Mödl was also part of this program. Does anyone know if this is the case? I just ordered it on DVD

[@LeilogOpera]

Sorry, no idea...

[@Twentythousandlps]

Yes.

[@cupisnikee]

Hallo
Ich vermisse seit langer Zeit schon den Part der Beiden, wo die Wirkung des Liebestranks einsetzt. Wohin ist dieses phänomenale Duett verblieben?

[@partituravid]

Woof.

[@brunegilda2453]

Who is her Tristan? Windgassen?

[@stephengoldman553]

Vinay

[@brunegilda2453]

@@stephengoldman553 Thank you!

[@walterharper79]

CAN'T COME NEAR FLAGSTAFF OR TRAUBEL

[@kable321]

FLAGSTAFF???

[@sanfordpress8943]

Whatever. She had a brilliant career

[@Twentythousandlps]

Very sure of himself with the capital letters, not quite so much with the name!@@kable321

[@FranzEppinger]

Geht es besser?!?!

[@steveokinevo887]

Wer sang der Tristan und liegt da?

[@rafaelbanusirusta5430]

It must be on stage, not in concert,

[@cg4428]

She is blowing chunks of sound - there is no sense of legato or rhythm - she attacks phrases just under pitch with a timbre that is so variable as to sound like multiple singers.
Highly prefer her in mezzo repertoire, where some of these features of her singing feel better addressed.

[@randysills4418]

Model has some definite pitch problem...tends to sing quite sharp here on quite a few notes. This in the lean Wagnerian soprano years, between the sublime Flagstad and her near successor, Nilsson. And who do we have nowadays to sing Isolde? NOBODY! NOT even a Martha Modl! SAD......

[@Ernie1]

Don't forget about Margaret Harshaw who was the preferred Wagner soprano at the Met and Covent Garden in the 50s and early 60s.

[@robertdonkers]

And Helen Trauble

[@robertdonkers]

listen to Pauline Tinsley's version, although a singer from a gone by era too, she must be around 90 now

[@eduardobraivein8496]

Robert Donkers She's 91 (born in 1928)

[@alexanderzaphir721]

An big incomparable voice ,a warm color, a great drammatic actress.
Unfortunately victim of a very bottled & throaty technique , so used in her country. In the mid sixties, her Amme is already a horrible example .

[@jeffreymiller4814]

What on earth IS this??? It’s not a complete Tristan. Bernstein never conducted her in this at the Met. Her three Met Isoldes were conducted by Stiedry. Was this a Bernstein Young People’s Concert?? If it’s indeed 1958, she’s only 46 but way past her prime. Compare this to the definitive Nilsson version “live” from Bayreuth in 1966 at 48, when Birgit was then IN her absolute prime.

[@kyrarnsugr7844]

This is a very peculiar voice. It sounds pushed out, produced by force of will. She breathes in odd places, breaking up phrases. It really isn't good singing.

[@sanfordpress8943]

You must be very young and uneducated

[@kyrarnsugr7844]

@@sanfordpress8943 What an ignorant, not to mention rude, remark. You must know little about singing. You are certainly not a singer, which I am. Listening to this again now, I find my remarks fully confirmed. But do enjoy whatever you enjoy. Just do it without being nasty to others.

[@sanfordpress8943]

@@kyrarnsugr7844 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@ransomcoates546]

All this talk of her wonderful breathing. It’s actually quite short, and she breaks up phrases and even words in a way that is quite unmusical. An admirable Kunstdiva, but never a great vocalist.

[@Bumblebeebeebee]

Oh, please...