Astrid Varnay (1918-2006)

Astrid Varnay is one of the key singers in the post war era at Bayreuth, singing the roles of Brünnhilde, Isolde, Ortrud, Kundry, Senta - and also Sieglinde, Gutrune and 3. Norn (the same years she sang Brünnhilde!).

Her full name was Ibolyka Astrid Maria Varnay.

Astrid Varnay at the Bayreuth Festival

Hans Hotter: “At Bayreuth in the '50s there were only two Brünnhildes, Astrid Varnay and Martha Mödl and they were perfectly contrasted. You simply could not compare them because each excelled in her own very different way. Astrid was always for me the great actress. Her acting was so good that you could not decide whether she was trying to be the character or whether she actually was the character. She has such a dynamic quality that she was able to project and to fire the onlooker's imagination, to create contact. That for me was her great quality – the performer, the actress, the personality. And she was always a helpful artist, very controlled. She was a really refreshing colleague, relaxed, understanding –though one had to try hard not to laugh at her jokes on stage!” (In Penelope Turing: Hans Hotter. Man and Artist)

1951

Die Walküre (Brünnhilde)
Siegfried (Brünnhilde)
Götterdämmerung (Brünnhilde)

1952

Tristan und Isolde (Isolde)
Die Walküre (Brünnhilde)
Siegfried (Brünnhilde)
Götterdämmerung (Brünnhilde)

1953

Lohengrin (Ortrud)
Tristan und Isolde (Isolde)
Die Walküre (Brünnhilde)
Siegfried (Brünnhilde)
Götterdämmerung (Brünnhilde)

1954

Lohengrin (Ortrud)
Die Walküre (Brünnhilde, Sieglinde)
Siegfried (Brünnhilde)
Götterdämmerung (Gutrune, Brünnhilde)

1955

Der fliegende Holländer (Senta)
Die Walküre (Sieglinde, Brünnhilde)
Siegfried (Brünnhilde)
Götterdämmerung (Brünnhilde, Norn dritte)

1956

Der fliegende Holländer (Senta)
Die Walküre (Brünnhilde)
Siegfried (Brünnhilde)
Götterdämmerung (Norn dritte, Brünnhilde)
Parsifal (Kundry)

1957

Die Walküre (Brünnhilde)
Siegfried (Brünnhilde)
Götterdämmerung (Brünnhilde)
Parsifal (Kundry)

1958

Lohengrin (Ortrud)
Die Walküre (Brünnhilde)
Siegfried (Brünnhilde)
Götterdämmerung (Brünnhilde, Norn dritte)

1959

Der fliegende Holländer (Senta)
Lohengrin (Ortrud)

1960

Lohengrin (Ortrud)
Die Walküre (Brünnhilde)
Siegfried (Brünnhilde)
Götterdämmerung (Brünnhilde)

1961

Die Walküre (Brünnhilde)
Götterdämmerung (Brünnhilde)

1962

Lohengrin (Ortrud)
Die Walküre (Brünnhilde)
Siegfried (Brünnhilde)
Götterdämmerung (Brünnhilde)
Parsifal (Kundry)

1963

Siegfried (Brünnhilde)
Götterdämmerung (Brünnhilde)

1964

Siegfried (Brünnhilde)
Götterdämmerung (Brünnhilde)

1965

Parsifal (Kundry)

1966

Götterdämmerung (Brünnhilde)
Parsifal (Kundry)

1967

Götterdämmerung (Brünnhilde)

Selected Biographies

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One of the finest monuments in sound ever to have been raised to the everlasting glory of music. (Claude Debussy on Parsifal)

"The thing about Wagner is that there can be no true success in any production of his operas, only degrees of failure. There is so much in these bloody pieces, all you can do is try to live up to them." (Keith Warner, The Guardian)

"I have never come across an audience with so much hatred, so much anger, such a thirst for revenge. They take everything personally. It makes you a little bit scared, and it's really quite terrifying." (Lance Ryan on the audiences at Bayreuth)

"People sometimes complain that Wagner operas are too long, that they get stiff and sore about 10.30 because they have rushed in to hear one of his works straight from work and are not properly prepared for listening to his music. The audience, as much as the artists, must be prepared for a performance."
(Benjamin Britten to Alan Blyth, Gramophone)

"I was bowled over. It was the year after Wieland Wagner had died; to be able to see his productions was a total knock-out. These bare stagings, where everything was done with lighting. The light changed with the music, and the shadows and patterns seemed as archetypal as the music itself. Nobody had done that on the stage before. I thought it was extraordinary and wonderful."
(Patrick Carnegy to The Guardian)

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