Kirsten Flagstad: Wagner Lohengrin, Elsas Dream

Kirsten Målfrid Flagstad (12 July 1895 7 December 1962) was a Norwegian opera singer and a highly regarded Wagnerian soprano. She ranks among the greatest singers of the 20th century, and many opera critics called hers the voice of the Desmond ShaweTaylor wrote of her in the New Grove Dictionary of Opera: No one within living memory surpassed her in sheer beauty and consistency of line and Lyrics English Translation Lonely, in troubled days Ilooked toward the heavens, my most heartfelt grief I poured out my longings. And from my groans there issued a plaintive sound that grew into a mighteous roar as it echoed through the skies: I listened as it receded into the distance until my ear could scarce hear it; my eyes closed and I fell into a deep sleep. In splendid, shining armour a knight approached, a man of such pure virtue as I had never seen before: