Wagner Cheat Sheet
A Guide to Wagner Performance of the Golden and Silver Ages
The Golden Age (1920-1950)
Tenors
Lauritz Melchior: Preeminent, and most potent, Wagner tenor of all time. Danish, worked 1920s to 1950. Definitive as Siegmund, Tristan, Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, above all Siegfried (perhaps the only tenor to have utterly mastered that role). Also recorded Parsifal. Very active at the Met and some at Covent Garden. No recordings exist of him at Bayreuth, but his voice had a brightness, a purity, and an unbreakable bronze-like edge that lasted essentially for all three decades of the age, from his early ‘20s acoustic recordings to his final Lohengrin in 1950. Competent actor.
Max Lorenz: The other great Golden-age Wagner tenor, active 1920s to 1954. German, exceptional acting gifts. Darker, more baritonal voice than Melchior, but nearly as powerful. Sang Siegfried (Götterdämmerung) for Furtwangler’s 1950 Milan Ring and Walther von Stolzing for his ’43 Bayreuth Meistersinger. A recording of Act 1 and parts of Act II of his Siegfried (Siegfried) exists, as do studio records of his Tannhäuser and Tristan. He sang Siegmund in 1943, 1944 (only Act 1 survives), 1946, 1949 (at the Met), and 1954 (at Bayreuth). Exceprts of Erik and Rienzi survive, though no Lohengrin or Parsifal. Active principally at Bayreuth, including during Third Reich, though his homosexuality and bearded marriage to a Jew was not popular.
Günther Treptow: German, active ‘40s and early ‘50s. Siegmund in Furtwangler’s 1950 Walküre. Siegmund and Siegfried for Rudolf Moralt’s ’48-’49 Ring with the Wiener Symphoniker. Siegmund in Keilberth’s 1952 Ring.
Set Svanholm: Swedish tenor, most active 1940-55. Sang Siegfried (Siegfried) 1941-54; Siegfried (Gotterdammerung) 1942-56; Tristan 1946-55; Walther von Stolzing 1939-54; Erik (1950); Siegmund; Tannhäuser; Parsifal; Rienzi; Loge. No Lohengrin survives. Famous for singing Siegfried (Siegfried) with Furtwangler (1950) and again in Helen Traubel’s only complete Ring (live at the Met, 1951).
Josef Kalenberg: Austro-German tenor, active at the Vienna Staatsoper 1927-50. Only fragments of his Siegfried (Siegfried and Götterdämmerung) exist.
Sopranos
Frida Leider: German soprano specializing in Brünnhilde and Isolde, active from the early ‘20s to the mid ‘40s. No complete performances survive, though many excerpts testify to her exemplary Brünnhilde (from several performances of Götterdämmerung with Furtwängler) and Die Walküre (from various Met performances) and Isolde (again mainly from the Met, though a Liebestod with Furtwangler survives from 1928), as well as part of her Kundry. She was trained in the Italian tradition, which gave her voice a beauty that, rather than having the force of Flagstad or Nilsson, communicated incomparable lyricism, even as it cut through a huge Wagnerian orchestra like a knife.
Kirsten Flagstad: Active 1930s-early 1950s, recording her final Brünnhilde in 1958 at 63. Leading Brünnhilde, Isolde of her generation. Also sang Elisabeth, Sieglinde, Kundry, Elsa, and at the end of her career Fricka (Rheingold). Prominently recorded with Furtwängler in his 1950 La Scala Ring and 1952 studio Tristan, for which Elisabeth Schwarzkopf was engaged to sing the high C. Act 3 of Walküre and just over an hour of Götterdämmerung fragments with Furtwängler survive from 1937.
Helen Traubel: Reigning Brünnhilde at the Met for 1940s, often appeared opposite Melchior and the young Varnay.
Marjorie Lawrence: Australian soprano at Met from 1935-41, when polio interrupted her career. Isolde, Brunnhilde, Elisabeth, Sieglinde. Lighter, higher voice than Flagstad. Most famous for leaving the only complete Golden Age Götterdämmerung Brünnhilde in 1936 opposite Melchior.
Lotte Lehmann: Sieglinde, and other light roles.
Basses
Friedrich Schorr: perhaps greatest Wagner bass of all time, specializing in Wotan and Hans Sachs. Only complete recorded Wotan sung under Bodanzky at the Met in 1937. Also sang Kurwenal, Amfortas, Friedrich von Telramund (from Lohengrin), the Dutchman, and Gunther (from Götterdämmerung). His peak was in the 20s and 30s, though he sang into the 40s.
Julius Huehn: Another leading Bass in the ‘30s and ‘40s. Lyrical voice.
Ferdinand Frantz: Famous principally for singing Wotan under Furtwängler in both of his complete Ring cycles.
Conductors
Artur Bodanzky: head of German repertory at the Met 1915 till death in 1939
Erich Leinsdorf: head of German repertory at the Met 1939-47
Wilhelm Furtwangler: preeminent Wagnerian perhaps of all time, particularly associated with Bayreuth Festival, Berlin Phil, Vienna Phil, London Philharmonic, and Philharmonia Orchestra. Recorded two complete rings, first at La Scala (1950), then with the RAI Roma orchestra (1953, Mödl, Suthaus, Ferdinand Franz, Windgassen as Siegmund, Hilde Konetzni as Sieglinde), both of which top anyone’s list of Ring recommendations. Fragments remain from legendary 1937 London Ring with Flagstad and Melchior. 1943 Meistersinger with Lorenz as Stolzing, 1952 studio Tristan with Suthaus and Flagstad (and Schwarzkopf’s high C), and 1954 studio Walküre (with Suthaus and Mödl) remain landmarks.
Bruno Walter: Woefully under-recorded, though leading conductor of Wagner and many other things.
The Silver Age (1951-1976)
Tenors
Wolfgang Windgassen: Recognized as (the) major postwar Wagner tenor, often paired with Birgit Nilsson, had lighter voice than Melchior but without Lorenz’s extraordinary characterizations. Active 1951 to 1973. First recordings from opening season of the New Bayreuth (Parsifal, Froh). Sang Tristan 1952-73; Siegfried (Siegfried) 1953-66, including under Krauss, Keilberth, Knappertsbusch, Solti, and Böhm; Siegfried (Gotterdammerung) 1953-67; Siegmund under Furtwängler (1953); Tannhäuser 1954-68; Parsifal 1951-69; Walther von Stolzing 1951-61; Lohengrin 1953-60; Erik (1952, ’55); Rienzi (1957). Also noted Florestan (Fidelio). The standard Bayreuth Siegfried from 1953-67.
Ludwig Suthaus: Sang both Siegfrieds in Furtwangler’s 1953 Ring and Siegmund in his ’54 studio Walküre. Sang Siegmund 1951-58. Sang Tannhäuser (1949), Tristan with Furtwangler in 1947 and the ’52 studio recording, Stolzing (1943). Somewhat dark, baritonal voice. Furtwängler’s interest in him is difficult to justify, since the voice isn’t all that attractive.
Hans Hopf: Only tenor to have sung both Siegfrieds but never Siegmund. Active 1950s to early ‘60s.
Set Svanholm: Swedish tenor, most active 1940-55. Sang Siegfried (Siegfried) 1941-54; Siegfried (Gotterdammerung) 1942-56; Tristan 1946-55; Walther von Stolzing 1939-54; Erik (1950); Siegmund; Tannhäuser; Parsifal; Rienzi; Loge. No Lohengrin survives.
Jon Vickers: Most powerful tenor of the postwar period, active mid 1950s to mid 1980s. Sang all major roles except Siegfried and Tannhäuser (allegedly on account of religious objections). Preeminent postwar Siegmund, leading Tristan. Apparently intended to sing Siegfried (and certainly had the voice for it) but for whatever reason, didn’t.
Jess Thomas: Active 1960s-70s. Siegfried in Karajan’s studio Ring. Lighter, more lyrical tenor than Vickers, sang Lohengrin, Walther, Tannhäuser, Tristan, Siegmund, Parsifal.
James King: Sang some Wagner, more Strauss. Mostly sang lighter roles: Erik, Lohengrin, Siegmund, Parsifal. No Tristan, Siegfried, or Tannhäuser.
Ramon Vinay: Standard Bayreuth Siegmund in the 50s
Sopranos
Martha Mödl: Technically a dramatic mezzo soprano with a very high upper extension, she is (with Frida Leider) the greatest Wagner actress on record, major work coming from 1951-5, after which her upper range deteriorated and forced her to sing true mezzo roles for the rest of her extremely long career (ending the late 1990s). Most famous for Kundry, a part she owned at Bayreuth from 1951-9. Furtwangler’s preferred soprano, casting her in his 1953 Ring and 1954 Walkure. Performed the greatest Isolde on record under Karajan in 1952.
Astrid Varnay: Debuted at the Met the night before Pearl Harbor.
Birgit Nilsson: Most powerful soprano of all time, an utter vocal Olympian. Studio Ring cycle with Solti, other sets with Böhm, Kempe, and Leinsdorf. Also recorded Isolde and Elisabeth. Recorded Sieglinde opposite Varnay at Bayreuth under Knappertsbusch in 1957
Conductors
Erich Leinsdorf: After a leading the Met’s German repertory through the last decade of the Golden Age (see above), conducted Wagner with various orchestras from 1959-77, including Bayreuth, the Met, the London Symphony, Boston Symphony, and Teatro Colón. Accompanied Nilsson at an early ‘60s Ring at the Met, as well as in an extraordinary studio Walküre with Vickers and the London Symphony.
Karl Böhm: Recorded Wagner 1938-73, though all but one complete recording comes from post-1951. Recorded major Ring cycle in mid-‘60s, superb casting and viscerally exciting conducting. Conducted Meistersinger and Tristan frequently, as well as Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, and Die fliegende Holländer.
Clemens Krauss: Though active from 1933, known now for exactly two recordings, both from 1953: among the best-cast Ring cycles ever recorded (Varnay, Hotter, Vinay as Siegmund, Windgassen as Siegfried), and most inspired readings of Parsifal in the literature, with the definitive Kundry, Martha Mödl, at the height of her powers.
Georg Solti: Famous for recording the first studio recording of the Ring in the 1960s with the Vienna Philharmonic (as Furtwangler had died before completing in the 1954). Also recorded a cycle live from Bayreuth in 1983, albeit with much inferior vocalists.
Herbert von Karajan: Conducted at reopening of Bayreuth, including Meistersinger and a Ring (of which only Rheingold, Act III of Walküre, and Siegfried have been released) starring Astrid Varnay, Sigurd Björling, and Bernd Aldenhoff. Returned in 1952 to conduct the finest Tristan ever recorded, featuring Martha Mödl and Ramon Vinay. Had a falling out with Bayreuth leadership after this Tristan. Accompanied Nilsson at the Wiener Staatsoper, La Scala, and the Met. Conducted Tannhäuser with the Staatsoper in 1963. Recorded everything Wagner wrote from Fliegende Holländer on (except Tannhäuser) in the studio with the Berliner Philharmonker he led for 35 years. This studio Ring is perhaps the most sumptuously beautiful ever recorded, though with few vocalists equaling the conductor (except Vickers’s Siegmund) and lacking the energy of Böhm’s or the fatalistic depths of either of Furtwangler’s.
Hans Knappertsbusch: Active 1930s-early 1960s. Together with Karajan and Furtwangler, reopened Bayreuth in 1951 with a Ring of which only the Gotterdammerung survives and a highly-regarded Parsifal which he continued to conduct with Martha Mödl for the remainder of the decade and beyond. (It was perhaps his specialty.) After Joseph Keilberth handled the Bayreuth Ring 1952-5, he resumed conducting it 1956-8. Also conducted Meistersinger, Tristan, and Flying Dutchman.
Joseph Keilberth: Ran the Bayreuth Festival 1952-55. Famed for his 1952, 1953 and 1955 Ring cycles, as well as a ridiculously well-cast Walküre from 1954. Unaffected manner, very attentive to the needs of soloists—the 1955 Ring was the first stereo ring, a landmark of recording.
