Leonie Rysanek (1926-1998) was an Austrian soprano, one of the great dramatic singers of the post-war period. She was especially admired in Wagner, Strauss and Verdi.

In the Pristine catalogue she appears in Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer from the Metropolitan Opera, opposite George London under Thomas Schippers.

Rysanek’s singing combined radiant amplitude, emotional risk and a thrilling sense of stage presence. Her sound could seem to arrive already aflame.

Her page is essential despite a compact catalogue footprint. Rysanek brings soprano lightning to the Wagner shelf.