I just finished listening to *Fidelio*, not my favorite opera, on a Lys
recording I recently received from Berkshire, and I liked it better this
time than I ever did before.

It's conducted by Bruno Walter conducting the Metropolitan Opera in
February 1941 w/ an all star cast consisting of Flagstad as Leonore, Kipnis
as Rocco, Janssen as Don Fernando, and Huehn as Don Pizarro.  The liner
notes are all in French and there is no libretto.  The label number is LYS
023/24, alas, no longer listed in the current Berkshire catalog.

Several Beethoven Lieder, added as *complements*, sung by Flagstad,
accompanied by Waldemar Alme on the piano, recorded in 1953 and 1954
sounded awful (to me).  Flagstad sounded as though she was bellowing and
seemed to be singing without feeling.  Frankly, the music didn't sound to
me like Beethoven at his best either.

Walter Meyer