Flagstad, Kirsten

Flagstad, Kirsten (kĭr`stən flăg`stăd, Nor. khĭsh`tən fläg`stä), 1895–1962, Norwegian soprano. She made her debut in 1913 but sang only in Scandinavia until 1934, when she appeared at the Bayreuth Festival. In 1935 she made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, as Sieglinde in Wagner's Die Walküre and was soon acclaimed as the greatest living Wagnerian soprano. In 1941 she returned to Norway. From 1947 until 1953, when she retired, she sang in the United States and Europe.

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Flagstad, Kirsten (Marie)

(born July 12, 1895, Hamar, Nor.—died Dec. 7, 1962, Oslo) Norwegian soprano. Born to musician parents, she made her operatic debut in 1913. In 1934 she sang Sieglinde in Die Walküre and Gutrune in Götterdämmerung at Bayreuth. Recognized as the greatest Wagnerian soprano of her generation, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1935. With New York as her base, she toured widely until 1941, returning to Norway to be with her husband, a member of Vidkun Quisling's government. Though cleared of charges of collaboration with the Germans, her later U.S. appearances were controversial. She was the first director of the Royal Norwegian Opera (1958–60).