Kirsten Flagstad

弗拉斯達(dá)德（Kirsten Flagstad，1895－1962），挪威著名“瓦格納女高音”歌唱家。
 
20世紀(jì)初的聲樂歷史也不僅僅是花腔女高音們的天下，弗拉斯達(dá)德就是世紀(jì)初出現(xiàn)的最偉大的“瓦格納女高音”，與后來(lái)的尼爾森（Birgit Nilsson）不同，弗拉斯達(dá)德?lián)碛袧庵氐囊羯?，她的音量也很大，但高音的穿透力更?qiáng)，她的胸聲很重，呼吸深入，而且，弗拉斯達(dá)德的中音區(qū)很好，這就是她何以能既唱瓦格納歌劇又唱德奧藝術(shù)歌曲的原因。
 
1895年7月12日，弗拉斯達(dá)德生于挪威哈瑪爾，她的父親是奧斯陸挪威國(guó)家歌劇院指揮，母親是鋼琴家，因此，弗拉斯達(dá)德從小就受到過良好的音樂啟蒙教育。弗拉斯達(dá)德的記憶力驚人，據(jù)說(shuō)10歲就能默誦《羅恩格林》中埃爾莎的全部唱段，成年后，更是以背誦瓦格納歌劇為樂事。入學(xué)奧斯陸音樂學(xué)院，師從雅各布森等，在學(xué)院期間，弗拉斯達(dá)德的表現(xiàn)并不十分突出，她天生音量很大，但是，當(dāng)時(shí)不知道如何使用，空給人大號(hào)女高音的感覺.
 
1913年，弗拉斯達(dá)德在奧斯陸挪威國(guó)家歌劇院首次登臺(tái)，出演阿爾伯特的歌劇《低地》中的奴利一角，表現(xiàn)平平，沒有引起人們的注意。與后輩歌唱家如卡巴耶等的經(jīng)歷相似，弗拉斯達(dá)德也屬于那種大器晚成的藝術(shù)家，直到1932年之前她一直在斯堪的納維亞半島各地演唱，雖然逐漸有了一些名氣然而在其他地方卻仍然默默無(wú)聞。一個(gè)人要經(jīng)歷漫長(zhǎng)達(dá)20年的失意而不放棄自己的事業(yè)是一件了不起的事情，當(dāng)時(shí)，為了迎合觀眾的口味弗拉斯達(dá)德主要演唱輕歌劇，這類歌劇根本就不符合她的氣質(zhì)和音色，但是，她依然不肯息影舞臺(tái)，不過，在那段日子里弗拉斯達(dá)德并沒有刻意學(xué)過瓦格納歌劇，她本人對(duì)瓦格納的興趣也很不穩(wěn)定，日后能成為杰出的瓦格納女高音連弗拉斯達(dá)德自己也有些吃驚。
 
1932年6月弗拉斯達(dá)德在奧斯陸首次扮演伊索爾德贏得熱烈歡迎，這是一次意外的成功，人們感到這位女高音具有穿透力的高音和扎實(shí)的氣息，是難得的瓦格納女高音人才。成功給予了弗拉斯達(dá)德信心和勇氣，也促使她用心于瓦格納歌劇并以此為自己終生的事業(yè)1933年弗拉斯達(dá)德應(yīng)邀出席拜魯依特音樂節(jié)，雖然沒有演到女主角，但是，在拜魯依特的舞臺(tái)鍛煉更加堅(jiān)定了弗拉斯達(dá)德專攻瓦格納歌劇的信念。功夫不負(fù)有心人，1934年弗拉斯達(dá)德終于在拜魯依特演唱古特麗和齊格琳德，受到德國(guó)音樂評(píng)論界的一致贊譽(yù)，她的胸聲厚重，聲音就像是從一塊厚實(shí)的木板上彈射出來(lái)的，堅(jiān)定無(wú)比，同時(shí)，又能超越進(jìn)而穿透樂隊(duì)的音障，輕松達(dá)到高音，這些奇跡般的舉動(dòng)令觀眾神往不已。
 
1935年，弗拉斯達(dá)德等到了千載難逢的機(jī)會(huì)，她被邀請(qǐng)參加紐約大度會(huì)歌劇院的演出季，首演當(dāng)日她演唱了齊格佛里德，4天后演唱伊索爾德，1個(gè)月后唱布倫希爾德，熱情的美國(guó)評(píng)論界馬上把她與瓦格納歌劇劃上了等號(hào)，她就是瓦格納的化身，是真正“英雄”般的女高音，要知道，當(dāng)時(shí)弗拉斯達(dá)德已經(jīng)40歲，這個(gè)年齡是有些戲劇女高音開告別演唱會(huì)的時(shí)候，而她才剛剛開始活躍于國(guó)際聲樂舞臺(tái).
 
1936年，弗拉斯達(dá)德來(lái)到倫敦，在科文特花園皇家歌劇院登臺(tái)，依然飾演伊索爾德，這時(shí)，她的聲樂技巧已經(jīng)相當(dāng)成熟，弗拉斯達(dá)德充分發(fā)揮了自己中音區(qū)柔美的特點(diǎn)，將悲劇性的伊索爾德演繹得淋漓盡致，英國(guó)評(píng)論界贊譽(yù)她為“完美的伊索爾德”。不過，她扮演的伊索爾德與傳統(tǒng)的處理有些不同，沒有過分的喊叫，而是更多嫵媚、動(dòng)人和悲情，因此，正統(tǒng)的瓦格納信徒對(duì)弗拉斯達(dá)德扮演的伊索爾德有所保留，拜魯依特音樂節(jié)就從來(lái)沒有邀請(qǐng)弗拉斯達(dá)德演唱過伊索爾德。
 
第二次世界大戰(zhàn)期間，德軍占領(lǐng)了挪威，弗拉斯達(dá)德在美國(guó)得知丈夫在挪威處境艱難，于是毅然回國(guó)，不料，丈夫與納粹合作，弗拉斯達(dá)德的行為變成了投敵，為此，弗拉斯達(dá)德戰(zhàn)后在美國(guó)遭到審查和輿論的抨擊，但是，弗拉斯達(dá)德沒有退出舞臺(tái)，1948-1951年她在科文特花園劇院演唱，1949年首次在薩爾茨堡音樂節(jié)演唱，扮演《費(fèi)岱里奧》中的萊奧諾拉，這是弗拉斯達(dá)德的一個(gè)新角色。
 
1950年，弗拉斯達(dá)德在倫敦首次演唱理查·施特勞斯的《最后四首歌》，福特文格勒擔(dān)任指揮，她成為這套著名聲樂作品最完美的詮釋者之一，她從來(lái)不用大音量來(lái)唱藝術(shù)歌曲，相反，弗拉斯達(dá)德經(jīng)常用細(xì)膩、含蓄、甚至帶點(diǎn)悲痛的音色來(lái)演繹藝術(shù)歌曲，她演唱的《最后四首歌》格調(diào)雅致、氣質(zhì)高貴。1951年弗拉斯達(dá)德在利物浦最后一次演唱伊索爾德，這是她告別舞臺(tái)的舉動(dòng)，1953年弗拉斯達(dá)德正式宣布退出舞臺(tái)。
 
退休后，1958-1960年出任挪威國(guó)家歌劇院院長(zhǎng)，從事格里格歌曲的校注錄音工作，晚年很少登臺(tái)演出，只在1951年在倫敦演唱了普賽爾的歌劇《迪多與埃涅阿斯》，同年，她參與了《萊因黃金》的錄音工作，此后，弗拉斯達(dá)德患癌癥，終于沒能完成整部《尼伯龍根指環(huán)》的錄音。1962年12月8日，弗拉斯達(dá)德因病在奧斯陸去世，享年67歲。
 
Born into a musical family (her father was a conductor, her mother a pianist and vocal coach), Kirsten Flagstad studied music from an early age and made her debut while still a student as Nuri in d'Albert's Tiefland in 1913. For the following 18 years, she sang only in the Scandinavian countries in such works as Der Freischütz and Die Fledermaus (the role she performed most often in her career). In 1932, she sang her first Isolde in a guest performance in Berlin. This lead to an audition at Bayreuth where she sang Sieglinde and Gutrune in 1934. She attained overnight worldwide recognition after her February 2, 1935, Metropolitan Opera debut as Sieglinde and her Isolde four days later. By April 17 of that year, she had also sung Brunnhilde in both Die Walküre and Götterdämmerung, Elsa in Lohengrin, Elisabeth in Tannhäuser and Kundry in Parisfal. From that time, she was regarded by many to be the best Wagnerian soprano in the world, although her rivals included Fieda Leider, Marjorie Lawrence, and Helen Traubel. In 1936 and 1937, she sang Isolde, Brunnhilde, and Senta in London to great acclaim. During this period she also sang at San Francisco, Chicago, and Buenos Aires.
 
In 1941, Flagstad returned to Norway to be with her husband, which led to rumors that she was a Nazi sympathizer. However, the only appearances she made outside of Norway were in Switzerland. She never sang for Nazi officials at any time. Her husband, who had business dealings with the occupation forces as well as the resistance, was arrested after the war, and she was forced to overcome hard feelings held by many. Her first major appearances were in London singing Isolde and Brunhilde. She sang four seasons at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, and then appeared in a fabled production of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas at the Mermaid Theater. She returned to the Metropolitan Opera in 1950 and during her final seasons there sang Brunhilde, Isolde, Fidelio, and the title role in Gluck's Alceste, the role of her farewell. In 1949 and 1950, she appeared in Fidelio at the Salzburg Festival, her only appearances there.
 
In 1950, she sang the world premiere of the Four Last Songs by Richard Strauss in London under the direction of Wilhelm Furtwängler, who led many of her greatest performances and recordings. Throughout her career, she gave recital tours bringing to the public many fine songs by Scandinavian composers, especially Sibelius and Grieg. Her concert repertoire ranged from the Beethoven Missa Solemnis and Rossini's Stabat Mater to songs of Schubert, Brahms, and Mahler. After her retirement from the opera stage, she continued to appear in recital and concert until 1957. Her last appearance in the United States came in an benefit concert for the Symphony of the Air. After her retirement, she continued to make recordings, including a highly acclaimed performance of Fricka in the first complete recording of Wagner's Das Rheingold, and in 1958 was named general manager of the new Norwegian National Opera.
 
The voice of Kirsten Flagstad was a full dramatic soprano with great warmth. Unlike the voice of Birgit Nilsson, which was like a laser beam, Flagstad's voice enveloped the listener in a cushion of sound. She brought her characters to life primarily through vocal means; the overt theatricality of the later twentieth century was not part of her dramatic arsenal nor was it seen in any of her colleagues. Her many appearances with Lauritz Melchior at the Metropolitan Opera and at other houses in the 1930s made the music dramas of Wagner the core of the repertoire at these houses.