These recordings were made on 9 and 11 May 1952 and document the latter part of Kirsten Flagstad’s career. They were made a few weeks before her 57th birthday - at a time when most sopranos will have been forced to move into ‘character fach’, but the Norwegian soprano was still in almost full command of her incomparably rich voice, even after a demanding career spanning over three decades.

These recordings of two concerts given at the Berlin Titania-Palast, with the Orchestra of the Municipal Opera, are particularly noteworthy: on the one hand, the Wagner songs sound fresher and more present than in the recording made four years later under Knappertsbusch; on the other, the Berlin live-recording of the Strauss songs is technically far superior to the recording made in London.

In May 1950 Kirsten Flagstad had given the first performance of the Four Last Songs by Richard Strauss, at the request of the composer. A tribute to her unique status was also the multitude of her concert engagements: during the course of her career, she sang more than 80 roles in around 2100 performances and also gave approximately 250 concerts with orchestra and 600 recitals.

Live recording: Berlin, 1952.