[Wagner, Richard. (1813–1883)] [WAGNERIAN SINGERS] Flagstad, Kirsten. (1895–1962) [Lawrence, Marjorie. (1907–1979)]
Trio of Signed Photographs to Marjorie Lawrence
A historic trio of signed sepia doubleweight photographs of the supreme Norwegian soprano, each inscribed in green ink by Flagstad to the great Australian soprano, Marjorie Lawrence. The first, by Carlo Edwards, shows Flagstad as Sieglinde, in her historic Metropolitan Opera debut on February 2, 1935 in Wagner's Die Walküre and is inscribed "To my dear Brünnhilde from Sieglinde." The second shows Flagstad as Brünnhilde from her first Metropolitan performance of that role later in the same month and is inscribed "To the lovely Sieglinde from Brünnhilde! Kirsten Flagstad." The final photograph is a portrait of Flagstad in an elaborate fur wrap and is inscribed "To Marjorie Lawrence with sincere friendship and great admiration / yours, Kirsten Flagstad." All three photographs slightly rippled with moderate creases but overall in fine condition, from the collection of Marjorie Lawrence, gifted to her by Flagstad during their historic Metropolitan Opera run of alternating performances of Die Walküre.Flagstad's debut at the Met, as Sieglinde in Wagner's Die Walküure on the afternoon of February 2, 1935, was not planned as a special event. Flagstad was virtually unknown in the United States at the time, and the Saturday afternoon slot was usually reserved for lesser-known singers while the top stars performed in the evening. The performance was, however, broadcast on the Met's weekly syndicated radio program, and the first inkling of the deluge of critical praise to come was given when intermission host and former Met star Geraldine Farrar discarded her prepared notes, overwhelmed by what she had just heard, and breathlessly announced that a new star had just been born.
Marjorie Lawrence made her own debut at the Met later in the same year, singing Brünnhilde in Die Walküre on December 18, 1935. The following year, she played the immolation scene in Götterdämmerung by riding her horse into the flames as Wagner had intended, the first soprano to do so.
"Die Walküre offers the exciting prospect of soprano pairings in the same opera. No sequence of pairings is more intriguing than the succession of Walküre broadcasts near the end of the decade which offered Flagstad as Sieglinde, Lawrence as Brünnhilde (18 December 1937), then the role reversal on 17 February 1940." (Paul Jackson, "Saturday Afternoons at the Old Met," p. 163) (8584)
Signed Photograph Opera