Birgit Nilsson share the distinction of each performing the role just once at Bayreuth (Nilsson sang it at the Festival in 1957 under Knappertsbusch), however Mödl sang this role literally only once (i.e. in one spectacle), whereas Nilsson sang it in both 1957 spectacles. This 1954 Ring Cycle (of which only Die Walküre has been released) is the only time the three major postwar Wagner sopranos were recorded together—Varnay as Brünnhilde, Mödl as Sieglinde, and Nilsson as Ortlinde (one of the Walküre sisters). It is also one of only two times Max Lorenz sang at Bayreuth after World War II, and his acting abilities lend the record further interest. During the 1960s, she had difficulties with her voice from singing such heavy parts for a decade, and returned to singing mezzo-soprano repertoire, such as Klytemnestra in Elektra, the Nurse (Die Frau ohne Schatten) and Waltraute. In 1968 she appeared as Ruth in a German-language production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance, and in 1970 she appeared in The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny in Cologne. From the 1970s, Mödl appeared in character parts: Grandmother Buryjovka, the Countess in The Queen of Spades in Nice (1989) which she was still performing in Mannheim at the age of 87. In 1997, she reminisced about her career in the film Love's Debris. A book of conversations with the singer was published in 1998 entitled So war mein Weg. She appeared at several premieres: Elisabeth Tudor (Fortner, 1972), Kabale und Liebe (Von Einem, 1976), and Baal (Cerha, 1999). She never married, and lived with her mother until the latter's death in 1989. Few details about her personal life survive. A brief video from six months prior to her death survives in which she appears with another famous dramatic soprano (of younger generation), Hildegard Behrens. Selected discography Her complete discography can be found here. Parsifal, 1951 (conducted by Hans Knappertsbusch) Oedipus Rex, 1951 (conducted by the composer) Tristan und Isolde, 1952 (Herbert von Karajan) Parsifal, 1953 (Clemens Krauss) Fidelio, 1953 (Wilhelm Furtwängler, both the live and studio recordings) Fidelio, 1953 (Herbert von Karajan) Der Ring des Nibelungen, 1953 (Wilhelm Furtwängler, as Brünnhilde) Der Ring des Nibelungen, 1953 (Joseph Keilberth, as Brünnhilde) Die Walküre, 1954 (Wilhelm Furtwängler, as Brünnhilde) Die Walküre, 1954 (Joseph Keilberth, as Sieglinde, the only recording in which Nilsson, Varnay, and Mödl sing together) Der Ring des Nibelungen,