Gertrud Grob-Prandl should have made it to the Met
Yes, the Met had Birgit Nilsson – so they let the volcano that was Gertrude Grob-Prandl‘s voice slip through their fingers.
Perhaps she, too, was happier singing close to home, where her artistry was respected and adored. While it is a toss-up between her and Birgit when it comes to the big Wagnerian and Straussian ladies, Grob-Prandl had a more flexible voice, could sing coloratura, and had a tight, brisk, consistent vibrato, heard to great effect in her Elettra here. Sadly, outside of her core rep of Turandot, Amelia (Ballo), and the Wagnerian/Straussian heroines, she didn’t record a lot of things, which might have changed if the Met had taken notice of her.
Eli Jacobson agrees:
Gertrud Grob-Prandl had a soprano voice as big as Birgit Nilsson and some prefer it as having more warmth and womanly depth.
https://youtu.be/PqjqkV-COGI
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People: Birgit Nilsson, Eli Jacobson
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Works: Turandot, Un ballo in maschera
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Places & Organizations: Metropolitan Opera