Kirsten Flagstad: Wagner - Tannhäuser, ’Dich, teure Halle’

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 century.“ Desmond Shawe-Taylor 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 tone.“... Lyrics & English Translation Dear hall, I greet thee once again, joyfully I greet thee, beloved place! In thee his songs awake and waken me from gloomy dreams. When he departed from thee, how desolate thou didst appear to me! Peace forsook me, joy took leave of thee. How strongly now my heart is leaping; to me now thou dost appear exalted and sublime. He who thus revives both me and thee, tarries afar no more. I greet thee! I greet thee! Thou precious hal