Tributes & Comments - YouTube: Farewell to a LEGEND, Adieu LUMIÈRE...
In Memoriam: Hildegard Behrens

 



SOME GENERAL COMMENTS:

We have lost yet another of the great ones.

Behrens simply EXTRAORDINARY, COLOSSAL.

She is a talent that world will never replace. Another moment in 2009 when the world for a second stood still....

She was member of the Duesseldorf Opera Studio before she started her big career; so me being a member of the orchestra I was lucky to have heard her with almost everything starting from Mozart operas over Rusalka (heartrending) to Isolde and Salome. She was the greatest of all in my opinion. I still can't help crying to listen to Liebestod or the recognition in Elektra...

Merci à vous chère Hildegarde pour tout ce que vous nous avez donné. Vous avez bien mérité votre place parmi les anges. Vous y êtes en bonne compagnie. Vous manquiez à Dieu c'est pour cela qu'il vous à rappeler bien trop tôt.

It's a great shame that I'm only now beginning to appreciate the talents of the magnificent Hildegard Behrens. The opera world is so much emptier without her.

She was unique!

Eterna Hildegard.....
Divine...RIP...

What an artist! She absolutely became her characters. Thank God we have so many video documents of her contributions to great art.

¿Hildegard era la mejor soprano que ha existido para el repertorio de Strauss y Wagner?
mi opinion sincera es que si... Ninguna electra, ninguna brunilda, ninguna isolda y ninguna salomé seran lo mismo sin ella...

Hildegard Behrens was the greatest German soprano ever. I love her tone, texture, and interpretations. She was also quite beautiful in her day. Let's be grateful that she lived to a reasonable old age. I will miss her. Thank God we will have her voice on recordings forever.

Elle avait une voix extraordinaire. Très beau. Merci.

I hadn't heard of her passing until just now. I'm in tears as well. I was extremely fortunate to attend her performances of Fidelio and Elektra when I was a teen. I've seen the Met Ring cycle a few times. Her Brünnhilde is untouchable. RIP RIP Hildegard. An outstanding singer.

RIP Hildegard, one of the best Wagner sopranos of all times, marvelous artiste.

RIP Mme. Behrens. You were magnificent.

Glorious artist- what a loss

I'm so sad. I did not know she died...

I'm crying right now. Thank you for posting this.

Who is this soprano? She's amazing! I love her! Someone tell me who this singer is please...thanks!

Yes she is great. The soprano is Hildegard Behrens

Hildegard Behrens. Ganz kürzlich in Japan verstorben.
Ich traure um Sie. Sie war eine der grössten unserer Zeit.

Hildegard was one of the greats - an elegant poetess with the libretto, a great actress with the costume and wardrobe, and a personal warmth which brought together her many talents.
Bravissima

Rest in Peace, Hildegard. You were one of the great dramatic sopranos of our day, and someone not easily replaced.

Yes, Hildegard Behrens deserves to rest in peace. Great singer!

There will never be another like her. May she rest in peace. I miss her.

What a great artist she was.wonderful voice, great actress..sad.

Since I saw her unbelievably human and sincere interpretations in Wagner and Strauss roles, I love her as an artist. She also had a most pure and velvety voice when she was younger, and this aspect made her singing in dramatic roles very enticing and charming

Love her passion!

I think I've said it on every video of her, but there are very few sopranos with an upper register as beautiful as hers.

I love H.Behrens!

She is amazing, I'm gonna miss her so much!

Whenever I watch and listen to Behrens, I completely believe in her. Maybe it wasn't technically the greatest voice in the world - but perfection is not human, or particularly moving. She takes me to a place where I cannot judge her. A true artist.

I'd love to see more on Behrens. I saw her live many times at the MET and met her as well. Such an engaging and warm personality.

So berührend...We will miss her deeply. Thank you for all your performances, Hildegard Behrens!

Conocí a Hildegard Behrens a través de su Salome con Karajan en disco, y me cautivo inmediatamente. Tuve la suerte de ver su Brunilda en el "Ocaso de los Dioses" y un concierto dedicado exclusivamente a Wagner y R. Strauss. Ha muerto Behrens...y con ella Brunilda, Elektra, Salome, Tosca y tantas otras...Descansa en paz MARAVILLOSA HILDEGARD!!!!!

She's really GREAT!!!!!!

Behrens had superclass.

She was unique!

I love Hildegard Behrens. She was a fine Salome and Tosca...  Her Elisabeth in Tanhauser is gorgeous. Beautiful, young-sounding and really fabulous; this is one of her really excellent Wagner roles that didn't require too much of her. Her Senta from Flying Dutchman is also quite good.

Behrens really made me F E E L !!! Moved my senses, made me cry with her expression. That is the most difficult thing in opera. And nowadays really rare! NO MORE ROBOTS AND TECHNICAL MONSTERS IN MUSIC!!!

A great singer whose radiant voice shot waves of silver throughout. I was fortunate to be at her Met debut in '76, and again to hear her fabulous Isolde in '83. And she brought a penetrating intelligence to everything she sang. Rest in peace, Great Lady.

She was just amazing! I have also posted the tribute video today.

Hildegard Behrens. 1937-2009
I will always love and miss her...

Thank you, Hildegard!

Oh, no! Hildegard Behrens, you will be greatly missed. :( Oh, no...

10,000 Kisses!!!!! sweet tears and Kisses for Hildegard!!

Rest in peace, lovely, talented Hildegard.

Yes, she was a fantastic soprano,and to have sung and performed with her many times was an honor. We were in Dusseldorf together for about six years and we last met at the Met in 1989.

i love Hildegard, she was one of my first singers in my Wagner collection, i miss her, and i hope she is in Walhalla, god bless her, RIP.

I love you Hildegard: you are the BEST and now you sing in the HEAVEN with Birgit , Bernstein , Luciano and all other great Artists like you . And thanks to God for giving you You to us !!! Good-bye my beloved !!!

Yes. She will be missed.

Sorely missed.



BRÜNNHILDE:



Forever Behrens !!!

Glorious!

You gave more than any other artist on the stage. Like Wotan and with tears in my eyes I only can say to you: Leb wohl, du kühnes, herrliches Kind! Du meines Herzens heiligster Stolz! Leb wohl! Leb wohl! Leb wohl!

I too am in tears over our loss. Leb wohl! The fire between her and Morris in Walkure will never die in my memory.

Indimenticabile!

What a sublime Brünnhilde is Hildegard Behrens, one of the very greatest, that thrilling soaring top has no equal, and the beauty of tone, magnificent!

Indeed das letzte Leb wohl we will miss her.

This music just shakes me to the root of my soul. I don't think Wagner ever achieved such a degree of humanity as he did in DIE WALKÜRE; I know I'm in a minority in thinking it's his greatest opera, but surely it is his most human. Behrens was such a marvelous artist, even when she's not singing.

I surely agree with you!!! Nothing is more touching than Brünnhilde's teary eyes staring at Wotan's, with a misterious and marvelous shine on her face... Walkure is Wagner's best.

What a touching video! This is absolutely great, and Behrens is such a touching artist....RIP!

As glorious as it is on YouTube, it is hard to explain the high level of audience excitement which Behrens always generated in this role in live performance by viewing this this clip, BRAVISSIMA!

She was so great, especially in this Ring from the Metropolitan Opera... Never forget her

Who could write music this sublime but the greatest German composer that ever lived and to have the greatest German soprano that ever lived, Hildegard Behrens. We have been blessed to have had the chance to experience this in our lifetime.

OMG....is she GONE..........I loved her Dearly...............Tears and Kisses for my Eternal Valkyrie! My respects for her family and all her fans......which were legion!!........Kiss!

Thank you for posting this, one of the most transcendent moments in the history of opera. Sheer poetry from start to finish!

I would also like to express my sorrow and sympathies for this great loss for opera. She taught me to love Brunhilde, through her voice and sight you could feel all the greatness of Wagner´s music.... Long live Ms Behrens!!!!

The tiny lady with the big voice. A great artist whose Tosca was as magnetic as her Brünnhilde. May she rest in peace. Brava Behrens! (1937-2009)

Damn. I just looked up her name after seeing the Walküre DVD, to find out she just died yesterday :/ Amazing voice. Brava!

I love her! One of my favourite Brünnhildes.

Behrens' Brünnhilde is one of the most exciting. Fantastic!!!

Hildegard, shown here past her prime, did such a great job with the role. Way too underestimated in the constant, asinine Nilsson comparisons. And that stage production is truly amazing. What a show!

Excelente final, nadie como Hildegard excelente Brunilda en este ciclo del anillo, y de hecho todo el ciclo del metropolitan de ese año fue espectacular...

magnifiiiiiique

AMG (ach! mein Gott). The most electrifying moment ever from opera. Vielen dank' for posting.

It is Behrens who is ASTONISHING in this act (3). Fabulous as the video is, in the house, the immensity of the voice and the interpretation was simply breathtaking. The greatest Brünnhilde hands down!!!!!

Well, Behrens sublime here as in everything she did, most especially as the greatest Brünnhilde of the second half of the 20th century, the complete musico-dramatic total coupled with that unearthly gorgeous soaring voice of hers. Incomparable!

What a Brünnhilde!! Bravissimo.

Un relámpago en la oscuridad de los años 80. (A flash in the darkness of the 80s).

I love Hildegard, she was one of my first singers in my Wagner collection, I miss her, and I hope she is in Walhalla, god bless her, RIP.

Non penso di aver mai ascoltato nulla di più grand. (I don't think I have ever heard anyone greater.)

She is a goddess!

 

ELEKTRA:

Sublime!

***

There are simply no human words that can describe how sublime this singing is. There never was nor will there ever be another Elektra like this.

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Behrens was the greatest Elektra and Brünnhilde at the huge Met Opera House. Believe me, I saw Behrens in almost everything she did at the Met, and she was UNFORGETTABLE in every Wagner and Strauss she ever did. What a magnificent German Supersoprano!!!!!!



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To have seen this in the theater, my GOD!!!! what Behrens was on that stage will never be equalled, the POWER of that voice filling every corner of the Met with that glorious sound, I will never forget! it overwhelmed everything around her, and so gloriously radiant till that last "strange" note. Behrens was IMMENSE as Elektra at the huge Met, and those were probably the greatest performances of her career, certainly the greatest ovation ever at the Met for the Opening Night. I was there!

***

The glory of Behrens' voice has always been the powerful high register that pierces the air like a brazen blast from a trumpet. She's the best Elektra ever!

***

I was there that night...breathtaking...20 minute ovation...all were superb, but Behrens was unbelievable.

***

I was at the Elektra in 1994 and it was the night that changed my life! Glad you were there too, Behrens is the greatest soprano that ever lived in my book.

***

It was hands down one of the best performances I have ever seen...I remember how the audience roared when the curtain went down, we just kept shouting and applauding...I was in tears.

***

Just that expression on her face before he dies reveals how great and honest artist she is. I love her.

***

I used to find Strauss too wild for my taste. However, when Elektra was produced in my town (ca'90) I only went because Behrens was singing the title-role and I wanted to have heard her live, as she was a big star at the time. This performance proved to be life changing for my musical tastes. I fell in love with Strauss before she even had finished her entrance aria. I heard her many times since then and once we talked for a few minutes that I will cherish for ever. What a kind, generous person!

***

Conocí a Hildegard Behrens a través de su Salome con Karajan en disco, y me cautivo inmediatamente. Tuve la suerte de ver su Brunilda en el "Ocaso de los Dioses" y un concierto dedicado exclusivamente a Wagner y R. Strauss. Ha muerto Behrens...y con ella Brunilda, Elektra, Salome, Tosca y tantas otras...Descansa en paz MARAVILLOSA HILDEGARD!!!!!

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INCREDIBLE!!!! VIVA BEHRENS!

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Behrens voice has the illusion of sounding smaller than the average dramatic soprano. This is in fact because she sings with a light, almost lyric tone. But if you listen, you can hear her quite clearly even at points of really heavy orchestration.

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You are exactly right, because the voice is so lyrical and beautiful, is not "typical" compared to Varnay, and others, but I was inthe house and the sound was IMMENSE, and we are talking at the huge Met, always effortlessly riding over the huge Strauss orchestra, she was sensational in the house, and good as these clips are will never represent what it was like live, that's why she OWNED Elektra and Brunnhilde while she was singing!

***

Did you see the SUBLIME Recognition Scene? Now that is glorious singing if there ever was glorious singing!

***

And of course you MUST post the Recognition Scene, by far the most GORGEOUS ever sung, bar none, talk about comparing Nilsson and Behrens, Behrens by far and away the better musician of course!

***

Very old theatre-goers who had still the chance to see the actress Eleonora Duse at the end of her career (about 1920) and who many decades later saw Hildegard Behrens at stage... have pointed out that there had been a strange, unbelievable similarity between those two artists. There exist some film material of Duse and one can get a hint of what those people meant, but I think the medium film cannot catch this fully. There certainly is a dimension which cannot be fully captured by celluloid. I myself attended many performances of Behrens during the 80s and 90s, epecially in Munich, and indeed: They really did resemble old photographs of Duse. Behrens in every way is (still living, but not singing, or does she) an extraordinary figure. I think there never was an opera singer on whom the opinions did so much differ. Indeed not everybody's cup of tea, and I mean it as compliment.

To others (as me!) she was something of a miracle. Many disliked the "break" in her voice and the excentric sound of her deep tones but to others this just made the individuality of the voice. It remains a controversy, and unfortunately, she is today a bit"forgotten", not as much honored as she should be. One always praises Nilsson, Flagstad etc. for the voices of the latterwere more homogeneous, but Behrens posessed something the other dames did not posess. It was a special quality, not easy to describe. When Behrens sang there was a tension in the auditory, totally different from any other artist I have witnessed during the decades. The high tones were like meteors - all silvery. They seemed to come not from the front but from the roof of the theatre. As for the play - unequalled! She sometimes looked like 80, then she suddendly looked like 15. I think of all opera singers, she was the most mysterious one. She indeed is something very, very special - quite different to all...

***

I love this scene...the only scene in the opera where Elektra shows any vulnerability. Behrens makes her almost childlike, as if longing for some innocent, irretrievable state. Beautiful.

***

This performance touches me so deeply inside I can't even explain it. I feel like laughing and crying at the same time just listening to it. What an experience...

***

I was there and burst into audible weeping during her repeated "Orests;" I have never been as shaken in my life at a live performance. Many, many thanks for helping me to relive this incredible moment

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How many sopranos in this role could stand the close scruitiny of a camera and still remain utterly convincing as a human being I think this clip encapsulates what made her such a remarkable artist. And what a voice! What a musician.

***

Hers may not have been a talent that appealed to all, but for those of us who "got" her, Behrens was a revelation in nearly all she sang. This performance of Elektra was earth shattering and the roar that went up at the end was one of the most amazing things I've heard in an opera house. Brava, Hildegard!

***

She's actually following pretty closely exactly what von Hofmannsthal specified in the German libretto: "She has thrown her head back in a frenzy. She tosses her knees, she stretches out her arms, it is a dance without a name, during which se strides forward." That said, Germans are notorious for not being able to dance. :-) But who cares? She's fantastic....

***

I was there, and as good as this clip is it doesn't give an idea of the overwhelming impact of this performance. Behrens was as a demon possessed, and everyone else was fabulous; I was so shaken by the Recognition Scene that I burst into audible weeping, disgracing myself; people telephoned the next day to see if I was OK!

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"...far too light...?" Compared to whom? The soubrettes who sing this role nowadays? Inga Borkh, Astrid Varnay, Ursula Schröder-Feinen - all superb Elektras - had no more voice than Behrens, not really. Nilsson did, but then again, Nilsson is a category unto herself. I'd be so happy to be able to go to the opera tomorrow and hear an Elektra half this good.

***

I have seen Mme Behrens many times in person including Elektra.....In my opinion her voice does not record well and needs to be experienced live........Those Laser Beam High notes will put a part in your hair!

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Maybe the most memorable Brunhilde I' ve ever listened to live.
As Elektra facing Leonie Rysanek as Klytemnestra at Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires in '95 an operatic and artistic earthquake...till every moment Hildegard!

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I was at the Colon in '95 too and I treasure that performance as a hallmark in my opera life. I'll miss her so much!

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Not a Behrens fan here but I would kill to have this on dvd. Her Elektra with Osawa/BSO is amazing as well.

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Wunderbar!

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beautiful!!!

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Wow, Hildegard was for me the best soprano ever. Did you have this opera complete? I cant find it anywhere.

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Brava, diva!

***

I invite everyone to listen her Strauss' Elektra Interpretation. That's the best among the best.
I am so sorry because she passed away so soon.

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Unforgettable...and beloved!
Mourning Becomes Elektra...and Salome and Leonora and Marie and Brünnhilde...
Requiescat in pacem!

***

I think this is the best interpretation of Elektra's "dance to the death" if you will. Some say Behrens dances awkward but in actuality, she dances the way I envision Eektra dancing. In a state of wild, demented ecstatsy, satisfied with the deaths of her father's enemies. At 5:10 she really unleashes! I love this performance. I wish I was there for this historic performance. Behrens (RIP) was absoulutely brilliant.

***

...the dance is exactly as awkward as the music, remember Elektra IS crazy. Behrens dances meticulously on the beat of the music, great actress that she is. Her acting always informed by the music underneath, she was the consumate singing actress, and in the theater of course looked far grander scaled.

Glad you loveher voice though, that's what really matters with Behrens always, that thrilling glorious sound that has never had any equals, we will never see an Elektra like hers again!

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This dance is very close to emotions living in Electra's heart.

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Behrens' performance of that scene is breathtaking.

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vocally flawless...  Amazing performance.Bravissima Behrens!

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Thanx for the upload, pls could you upload Elektra with hildegard in the Met

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Why the HELL these guys don`t put this on dvd?

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I do wish they'd release this telecast on DVD. It's one of many I'd like to own.

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Hopefully they'll put it on the 'Met Player' sometime soon.

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PLEASE,SOMEONE PUT THIS ON DVD! What a night! I was waiting for this performance for the last 15 years.

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Thank you for this. I understand this was a TV broadcast & the Met hasn't released it. I wish they would. I'm sure they could if they wanted too.

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Rest in peace. You had an amazing voice. I am glad there are recordings like this that will help keep your memory alive.

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Extraordinary ovation for an extraordinary soprano. The greatest Elektra of all time without a doubt.

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At long last this most sensational performance will be released to the public on DVD on September 21, 2010. Behrens the greatest!

ELETTRA:
R.I.P.We love you & miss you.

Simplemente la mejor electra que se haya visto en mozart y en strauss tambien claro Brava Hildegard!!!!

Wanna marry her.

Wow, she's' amazing! What drama! Love it! I love Hildegard Behrens singing this.

I get so sick of hearing the argument about Behrens and her non-Mozartean voice versus other singers. Of course she is not a Mozart singer in the traditional sense or perhaps even the sense most are accustomed to, but this is grand opera and theatrics at its finest! Every time I see this clip I am mesmerized from beginning to end. It is consumate madness. That she is a great Wagnerian and not a superb Mozartean hardly is the issue and certainly does not detract from a damn thing. Brava!!!

Love Her in this Aria! She Kicks Major Ass! LOVE IT!!!

She looks strange & great...
I like her interpretation...its a wonderful calm legatoline and the ease is wonderful...
Ok ...I miss hysteric notes....
Brava!

OMG: who cares if there are 8 notes that don't speak and she is stylistically over the top! She's amazing!

IHMO the only right 'style' is coherent musical theatre. Otherwise we should limit ourselves in performing operas on concert stage in a 'stylistically' correct context. This is opera stage, this is drama, this is living music. Brava, Hildegard!

Wow the exclamation point in the title is well deserved! This is Behrens as Mozart's Elettra!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did u see in the beginning when she had that crazy smile and went straight up to Ilia? that would have scared the shit out of me, acting or no. plus her top range is so free as well.

Powerful, indeed!

This is a performace we go to boo and end up giving a standing ovation.

Brilliant!!

meravigliosa

Excellent, beyond good.

you really have to have chops to sing this man o man can she sing!

adios diva...

I absolutely love this woman!

Gorgeous interpretation. One of the most gracious sopranos I have ever had the pleasure to meet! What a delightful video! Thank you so much for posting.

she's really good...I do like her voice

Incredible !!!!! Mozart goes Dramatic and this needs a Wagnerian Brunhild like Behrens. Greatful !!!!!

aparte de la voz,que gran actuación, si en todas las óperas todos/as actuaran así, sería más sublime aún este género

Just the best.

That is just genius!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The ending! I cannot stop watching it!!!! I´m speechless...

The most impressive Elettra on stage I have seen (on video, of course, because I couldn't - unfortunately - have heard her live). Behrens was certainly one of the great legends of the Post War period, though she wasn't as renowned as she deserved with that amazing voice (though not the most powerful), animal stage presence and a powerful sense of femininity and sensitivity even in the most dramatic and tragic roles. She'll be remembered as a great diva in a very broad range of repertoires.

nunca lo superaré

Adios a otra Grande de la ESCENA LIRICA

She looks and sounds great here! I was so sad to hear of her death, she was always a favorite singer of mine.

BRAAAVAAA!!!! Requiescat in Pacem! Never to be forgotten!!!!

Posted in memory of this wonderfully exciting diva.

I regret not having known about this lady until reports of her death. What an amazing voice to be lost!

I have become a huge Hildegard Behrens
fan in the past year. She is so good.

she´s perfect!!! Brava muy her high notes are perfection, and is such a risker singer, she made herself famous with Salome.

I love this. She is great.

straordinaria interprete grande attrice anke se un po negata nelle agilita ke la vocalita di elettra rikiede cmq straordinaria lo stesso

You can love or hate her singing here, but she NAILS the acting like no other! I have always liked this aria for its rage and dramatics. I can certainly forgive the minor vocal flaws in favor of her acting. Brava!

Awesome, what a great singer and great opera actor!

It was mine too, until the Strauss Elektra in 1994, the greatest ovation in the history of the Met. What a night that was. Why is that sensational performance not out on DVD yet?????

More than her face - her singing and acting is all about her entire body.

I love her face. It is as expressive as her singing, resp. shouting/moaning.

Behrens' performance here is indescribably more sophisticated than I ever imagined it would be. Perhaps one of the only Italian roles that suited her unique talent; I was really impressed!!

This was perhaps the most amazing performance I ever witnessed at the Met in my 35 years or so of attending.

Incredible!

FIDELIO:



I almost wore out this record when I was sixteen. Her Fidelio meant so much to me on so many levels.

I love her Fidelio Recording! One of my favorite interpretations!





ISOLDE:

Behrens is the greatest Isolde ever, the liquid ethereal sound, the power, the phrasing, all directed from heaven, what an inspiration.

And Behrens is the greatest of all German sopranos!, what a sublime rendition, unparalleled, never before, probably never after, the only ONE!

Breathtakingly beautiful singing. The greatest Isolde ever! What a glorious singer, the true SUPERSOPRANO! Brava Diva

"Verweile noch! Du bist so schön..."
Die schöne Seele ist abgeschieden, die schöne Stimme verbleibt.

The tranquility that she emanates during the piece. She lets the music do the transfiguration and she just sits there and looks calm. Beautiful.

Hildegard, you bring us the vulnerability of Isolde and the humanity of the vocal artist. We will always be moved by your sincerity and self-giving. We miss you.

Terrific, she really took her time with the phrasing. Excellent!!!

Incomparable.

Chère Hildegarde,
Vous avez rejoint les anges, vous futes et vous resterez une des "grandes" du siècle. Vous nous manquerez.

Möge Gott Hildegard Behrens im Himmel beschützen. Ruhe sanft, sanfte Ruh.

What a wonderful singer, conductor, musicians...sad that she's gone...

Absolutely beautiful!

Incomparable

Bernstein_Behrens que demander de mieux le public ne s'y trompe pas... notez les tempsentrela dernière note et les applaudissements.. 15 secondes... C'est ENORME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YouTube, magnífico recurso, que me trae a casa maravillas como ésta, de manos de usuarios tan generosos. ¡Qué sublime belleza en una muerte de amor!

Carajo!
que muerte de amor de la mas grande opera de Wagner y no podía ser de otra manera bajo la batuta del genio de Bernstein y la voz de Hildegard Behrens, el tempo es majestuoso y me lleva a una muerte lenta alcanzando un climax incomparable de pasion en el tuti. Bien por lo mas grande que aporto a la musica del siglo XX el genio de Wagner

non penso di aver mai ascoltato nulla di più grande

"Verweile noch! Du bist so schön..."
Die schöne Seele ist abgeschieden, die schöne Stimme verbleibt.

Yes! Love the way she waits for the orchestra and comes in dead on the big note.

 

KAISERIN (Die Frau ohne Schatten):

Behrens later always sang the Färberin. but she's so good here as the Kaiserin! gorgeous voice and actress, fantastic high notes.

Her interpretation was always rather intense and and interesting. We were all very excited at the Met for her debut which I believe was Fidelio and it was quite smashing.

Her singing is so technically accomplished and has such a transcendental freshness of sound that astonishes me. God bless her soul.

I think ive said it on every video of her, but there are very few sopranos with an upper register as beautiful as hers.

what a great artist she was. wonderful voice, great actress... sad.

Cher Maître, envoyez-nous les coupures............

Love her passion!


SALOME:


Her ghostlike "Ich habe deinen Mund" never fails to send shivers up my spine. Then her voice opens like a silver flower.

Sublime Salomé!

She was phenomenal! She was the first Salome I saw, I will never forget how wide her mouth opened and the wall of sound that came out. the most engaging dynamic singing actress! What a force!

Thanks a thousand times for this video! I never realized there could be a video of Behrens' Salome, for me the most genuine interpretation of all: youthful, somewhat naïve and amazed, but nonetheless capable of cruelty and selfish coldness. Her voice was exactly what Strauss meant for the part.

oh. my. goodness. awesome, awesome, awesome. young sounding, bright, cut. so so functional. wow.

unbelievable. wow. thanks for posting this.

Fantastic

TOSCA:

Sublime ... come non rimpiangerla... How could we not cry for her death? She was - I think - underrated in respect of other sopranos ...but she was "divina"....absolutely !!!

Impeccable Tosca!!!

Tecnica impeccabile

Incomparable! She always gave everything..

She's a new angel in heaven! Gorgeous!

I thought this was a spinto aria, but she sings this so beautifully. She truly was exceptional.

This is my favorite Tosca. It's better than Callas and Tebaldi, in my opinion. The singing is beautifully done.

Ho da poco acquistato questa versione della Tosca...La behrens bravissima davvero,oerò ho notato una sorta di difetto: non notate che nel parlato sforzi troppo la voce, rendendola innaturale (Per esempio "assassino, voglio vederlo" oppure "e avanti a lui tremava tutta roma" o ancora "sogghigno di demone" o "quanto! il prezzo!")...quest'effetto, non so se voluto o se è la sua voce proprio così, a me non piace...per il resto è una bravissima cantante, davvero...

Caspita che voce la Hildegard... acuti perfetti.. se fosse meno algida sarebbe perfetta cmq bravissima.

Their performance on DVD of this is fantastic. Though older at this time, Behrens gives the most powerful portrayal of Tosca I've yet scene, particularly her Vissi d'arte. Bravo all around!

Merveilleuse Tosca que Behrens.
On ne lui rend pas assez justice en France. Elle fut pourtant une des grandes du siècles y compris dans Wagner.

This is a first-class performance. I don't care how old she was here.

48? Who cares?? She's wonderful!

After Callas, this is is my favorite Vissi D'arte

She is so good.

I could swim in a pool of my tears.....so great.

RIP Hlidegard - we lost a legend :(



WOZZECK:


I saw Madame Behrens perform this opera in a concert version with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the 80s. I went fully expecting NOT to like it. Now I consider it one of the Highlights of my opera attending career. It was absolutely mesmerizing and spellbinding. Half of the audience left at the interval. The rest of us who stayed screamed our lungs out with ovation after ovation!


I saw a proscenium production in Chicago with Abbado, Behrens, and Benjamin Luxon. It was incredible...  It was the operatic experience of my life, more memorable than Gotterdammerung at Bayreuth in 1976.

HILDEGARD BEHRENS: she makes music worth seeing!

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HILDEGARD BEHRENS
supersoprano*

Saddened by her passing,
we celebrate her life.

POST A TRIBUTE

(in English, German, Spanish, French, or Italian)

* ...a super soprano in almost every sense."
- New York Times
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~~~
OVATION:
Elektra

Brünnhilde


PAUSE / STOP
Opening music



LISTEN / WATCH!
(Thanks to all who posted media
on YouTube and allowed
embedding of same.)

Excerpts from:

"Dich teure Halle"
-Tannhäuser

Immolation scene
-Götterdämmerung

Final scene
- Salome

"Allein, weh ganz allein" 
"Orest!"
- Elektra


"Mild und Leise"
-Tristan Und Isolde

"Jojohoe"
- Der fliegende Holländer

"Komm, Hoffnung"
-Fidelio

"Wiegenlied"
- Wozzeck

"Bien, mon fils!"
- Guercouer

Aria from Jenufa
- Behrens as the Kostelnicka


Aria from Cronaca del luogo
- Behrens as the Woman "R"


"Und ob die Wolke sie verhulle"
- Der Freischutz

"Es gibt ein Reich"
- Ariadne auf Naxos


"Song to the Moon"
-Rusalka
(sung in German)


"Da liegt nun der gute Topf..."
-as the Mother in Hansel und Gretel


"Ein Handwerk verstehst..."

-as the Dyer's Wife in
Die Frau ohne Schatten


"Seit ich ihn gesehen"
- from Schumann's
Frauenliebe und Leben


"Bist du bei mir"


"Träume"
( Monte Carlo 1978)
- from Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder


"Leb wohl"
- sung by James Morris



  VIDEOS

METROPOLITAN OPERA:
IMMOLATION SCENE-
GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG

DIE WALKÜRE - Act3

BAVARIAN STATE OPERA:
DIE WALKÜRE - Act2
DIE WALKÜRE - Act3
FINAL DUET - SIEGFRIED
DUET -GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG


ELEKTRA
"ALLEIN, WEH GANZ ALLEIN"
MET

TRIER ANTIKENSPIELE
TEATRO COLON


"OREST!" - MET
"OREST!" - PARIS OPERA
FINAL SCENE - MET



"Liebestod"
- from 1981 recording with
Leonard Bernstein, cond.
TRISTAN UND ISOLDE



"Vissi d'arte"
TOSCA - MET


Elettra's aria
IDOMENEO - MET


Kusatsu Festival /
Japan 2007:

PIERROT LUNAIRE
MASTERCLASS

MITTERNACHTSTÜCK
BEETHOVEN FESTSIPELE- BONN
BERLIN


BEHRENS on the PASSING
of PAVAROTTI


BEHRENS on HER TOSCA
with PAVAROTTI


BEHRENS on the MET's
100th ANNIVERSARY (1983)



CURRENTLY STREAMING:
- FREE and under license from OPERA TODAY:
FIDELIO
with HILDEGARD BEHRENS,
KARL BÖHM conducting

(includes complete libretto)



A PARTIAL DISCOGRAPHY

The Very Best of
HILDEGARD BEHRENS


Götterdämmerung

Die Walküre

Salome

Elektra-Boston Symphony

ELEKTRA -Montpellier

FIDELIO (Böhm)

FIDELIO
(Solti)

WOZZECK

MORE - CDs/DVDs



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
by HILDEGARD BEHRENS


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