Sippe is German for "clan, kindred, extended family". It continues a Proto-Germanic term *sibbja, which referred to a band or confederation bound by a treaty or oath, not primarily restricted to blood relations.^[1] The original character of sibb as a peace treaty is visible in Old English, e.g. in Beowulf (v. 1858):^[1]

hafast þû gefêred, þät þâm folcum sceal,

Geáta leódum ond Gâr-Denum

sib gemæne ond sacu restan.

The Sippe came to be a cognatic,^[2] extended family unit, exactly analogous to the Scottish/Irish sept.^[3]

Most of the information left about the nature and role of the Sippe is found in records left by the Lombards, Alamanni, and Bavarians.^[4] One of the functions of the Sippe was regulating use of forests. The average Sippe likely contained no more than 50 families.^[5] The Sippe seems to have been absorbed into the monogamous family later on; P.D. King asserts that this was already the case among the Visigoths during the time of the Visigothic Kingdom.^[6]

See also[link]

• Sif, a Norse goddess theorized as personifying the concept
• Band (anthropology)
• Sibling
• Norse clans
• Germanic tribes
• List of Germanic peoples
• Kinship
• Mund
• Clan
• Sept
• Extended family
• Consanguinity

Footnotes[link]

Meta Seinemeyer (September 5, 1895 - August 19, 1929) was a German opera star with an exceptionally fine spinto soprano voice.

Seinemeyer was born in Berlin, where she studied at the Stern Conservatory with Ernst Grenzebach. She made her debut at the Deutsche Opernhaus in 1918. She joined the Dresden Semperoper in 1924, and began appearing at the Vienna State Opera in 1927.

On the international scene, she sang at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1923, as Elisabeth in Tannhäuser and Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, as Agathe in Der Freischütz in 1926, and at the Royal Opera House in London in 1929, as Eva, Elsa in Lohengrin and Sieglinde in Die Walküre.

Besides the great Wagner heroines, she also played an important role in the renaissance of Verdi's operas in Germany, winning considerable acclaim as Leonora in La forza del destino, Elisabeth de Valois in Don Carlos, and the title role in Aida. She was also admired as Marguerite in Faust, Maddalena in Andrea Chénier, and the title role in Tosca.

She took part in the creation of Ferruccio Busoni's Doktor Faust in Dresden in 1925.

One of the greatest German singers of her generation, her career was cut short when she died of leukemia in Dresden a few weeks short of her 34th birthday. She is buried in the Stahnsdorfer Friedhof in Berlin.

Recordings[link]

Seinemeyer made 106 recordings ^[1]. Preiser issued a four CD collection entitled The Art of Meta Seinemeyer (89402). Other CD compilations include:

• The Art of Meta Seinemeyer Dutton CDBP 9770
• Meta Seinemeyer Hamburger Archiv für Gesangskunst 10228
• Meta Seinemeyer Pearl GEMM CD 9082
• Meta Seinemeyer Preiser 89029
• Meta Seinemeyer. Ses rôles italiens 1926 à 1928. LYS 439
• Meta Seinemeyer sings Puccini, Verdi, Giordano and Wagner Haenssler Classic 94.511

References[link]

• Alain Paris, Le dictionnaire des interprètes, Robert Laffont, 1989. ISBN 2-221-06660-X

External links[link]

• Vicki Kondelik's website dedicated to Seinemeyer

Cheryl Studer (born October 24, 1955) is a Grammy Award winning American dramatic soprano who has sung at many of the world's major opera houses.^[1] A singer with unusual versatility, Studer has performed more than eighty roles ranging from the dramatic repertoire to roles more commonly associated with lyric sopranos and coloratura sopranos. Because of her ability to sing many different kinds of roles, some critics have compared Studer's voice to that of Lilli Lehmann.^[2] She is most admired for her interpretations of the works of Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner.^[3]

Early childhood and education[link]

Studer was born in Midland, Michigan to parents Carl W. Studer and Elizabeth S. Studer (formerly Smith, later Peterson), in a family of three children.^[4] She began studying the piano at age five and a few years later the viola. She became interested in becoming an opera singer after listening to the album "Callas à Paris" at the age of 12. Her mother and stepfather, Carl A. Peterson, Jr., responded by giving her voice lessons with Gwendolyn Pike, a local opera singer and voice teacher. Studer attended Herbert Henry Dow High School,^[5] then transferred to the Interlochen Arts Academy for her junior and senior years and graduated from there in 1974. Following high school, Studer studied at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music but left the program after only one year, deciding to move with her family to Tennessee. She continued her studies at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Vocal Performance in 1979.^[6] Studer won several awards and competitions during this time, including the High Fidelity/Musical America Award in 1977 and the Metropolitan Opera Auditions in 1978.^[7]

While in college, Studer attracted the attention of Leonard Bernstein, who offered her full scholarships to study for three consecutive summers at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood (1975 to 1977), where she studied with Phyllis Curtin. She debuted at Tanglewood in 1976 in J. S. Bach's St Matthew Passion (BWV 244) with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Seiji Ozawa. Ozawa was so impressed with Studer's performance that he invited her for a series of concerts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall during the 1978/1979 season.^[3]

In the summer of 1979, Studer attended a course for foreign students on the art of the German Lied at the Schubert Institute in Baden bei Wien, Austria. In this program, Studer's teachers included Irmgard Seefried, Brigitte Fassbaender, and Hans Hotter. Hotter convinced Studer to remain in Europe to study further with him at the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst, Vienna. Studer studied with Hotter for one year before launching out on her professional career.^[8] In 1979, she won the Franz-Schubert-Institut-Preis for excellence in Lied interpretation.^[6]

Career[link]

1980s[link]

In 1981, Studer was hired as a permanent member of the Bavarian State Opera by Wolfgang Sawallisch. She remained with the company for two consecutive seasons, singing mostly minor roles in their productions. Her lead roles at the Bavarian State Opera included the title role in Carl Maria von Weber's Euryanthe and Mařenka The Bartered Bride.^[9] It was while working with the Bavarian State Opera that Studer was first encouraged to study the works of Richard Wagner and the dramatic soprano repertoire. Up to this point she had focused mostly on the bel canto repertoire, with her only foray into German repertoire up to that point being through lieder. She made her professional opera debut with the company as Helmwige in Wagner's Die Walküre.^[2] At the end of the 1981/82 season, she left the Munich ensemble to join the Staatstheater Darmstadt for two seasons. In the spring of 1983, Studer's big breakthrough came when she was cast as Violetta in Verdi's La traviata with the Staatstheater Braunschweig. This was followed by two more important roles the following summer: Irene in Wagner's Rienzi and Drola in Wagner's Die Feen, under the direction of Wolfgang Sawallisch at the Bavarian State Opera's Summer Music Festival. In 1984, Studer left the Staatstheater Darmstadt to become a permanent member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin ensemble. She stayed with the company for two full seasons. Also in 1984, Studer made her US opera debut with the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Micaëla in Bizet's Carmen.^[3]

In 1985, Studer garnered international attention with her performance of Elisabeth in Wagner's Tannhäuser under the baton of Giuseppe Sinopoli at the Bayreuth Festival. Positive reviews of this performance quickly led Studer to leading roles in the world's most prestigious opera houses.^[10] In 1986, Studer made her debut at the Liceu as Freia in Wagner's Das Rheingold and her debut at Opéra de Paris as Pamina in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. That same year, she also made her debut with the San Francisco Opera as Eva in Wagner's Die Meistersinger. In 1987, Studer made her debut with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, as Elisabeth in Wagner's Tannhäuser and her debut at La Scala as Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni. In 1988, Studer made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Micaëla in Bizet's Carmen. That same year she returned to La Scala to perform the role of Mathilde in Rossini's William Tell.^[11] She also sang the role of Agathe in Carl Maria von Weber's Der Freischütz at the Théâtre Musical de Paris.^[12] In 1989, Studer made her Vienna State Opera and Salzburg Festival debuts playing the same role, Chrysothemis in Richard Strauss' Elektra. That same year, Studer received the Grand Prix du Disque – Prix Maria Callas. Also in 1989, Studer returned to La Scala to perform the role of La Duchesse Hélène in Verdi's I Vespri Siciliani and made her debut with the Opera Company of Philadelphia in the title role of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor.^[13]

1990s[link]

In 1990, Studer returned to the Metropolitan Opera to sing the role of Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni. That same year, Studer sang the role of Elsa in Richard Wagner's Lohengrin at the Vienna State Opera. In 1991, Studer performed two more roles at the Met, Elettra in Mozart's Idomeneo and Violetta in Verdi's La traviata.^[14] That same year, Studer sang the role of Odabella in Verdi's Attila at La Scala and Countess Almaviva in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro at the Vienna State Opera. Also in 1991, Studer shared the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording with fellow artists for a recording of Wagner's Götterdämmerung. In 1992, Studer returned to the Salzburg Festival to perform the role of the Empress in Die Frau ohne Schatten.^[11] That same year, Studer embarked upon her first big European tour, giving acclaimed recitals of mostly German Lieder. With the London Symphony Orchestra and the Ambrosian Opera Chorus she sang the title role in Rossini's Semiramide and recorded it, also in 1992.

Studer is particularly admired for her interpretations of Schubert, Brahms, Mahler, Richard Strauss and Hugo Wolf.^[8] In 1993, Studer was chosen by an international jury as the first recipient of the International Classical Music Award (London) in the category Best Female Singer of the Year. That same year, she also received the Wilhelm Furtwängler Prize. Also in 1993, Studer performed the role of Madama Corstese in Rossini's Il viaggio a Reims with the Berlin Philharmonic. In 1994, Studer was chosen as Musical America's Vocalist of the Year. That same year she also received a second Grammy Award for a recording of Floyd's Susannah. Studer sang the title role opposite Samuel Ramey. Also in 1994, Studer returned to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, to sing the title role in Verdi's Aïda.^[11]

In 1995, she sang the role of Princess von Werdenberg in Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier for the first time at the Salzburg Festival. In 1996, Studer sang the same role at the Vienna State Opera. That same year, Studer returned to the Royal Opera to sing the title role of Richard Strauss' Arabella.^[15] She also sang the role of Leonore in Beethoven's Fidelio at the Salzburg Festival under the baton of Sir Georg Solti.^[2] In 1998, Studer sang the role of Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus and Sieglinde in Die Walküre at the Bavarian State Opera.^[16] That same year she also sang the role of Primadonna/ Ariadne in Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos at the Munich, Nationaltheater.^[17] During the late 1990s, Studer had a period of vocal problems that led to the Bavarian State Opera canceling her contracts in 1998, but after a brief time off the stage, her performances indicated a return to form and the Bavarian State Opera renewed her contract for fourteen more productions.^[7]

2000–present[link]

In 2000 Studer returned to the Metropolitan Opera to sing the role of Princess von Werdenberg (the Marschallin) in Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier.^[14] That same year, Studer sang the title role of Richard Strauss' Arabella at the Zürich Opera.^[18] She also filled in as a last minute Sieglinde in Die Walküre at the Bayreuth Festival.^[2] and sang the role of Primadonna/ Ariadne in Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos with the Vienna State Opera in Tokyo, Japan.^[19] In September 2002, Studer sang the role of Leonore/Fidelio in staged performances at the Opera Thessaloniki, Greece, conducted by Dejan Savic.^[20] In 2003, Studer performed several excerpts from Wagner operas with the St. Louis Symphony under the direction of Asher Fisch.^[21] Studer also sang the soprano part in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in Berlin during UNESCO's official designation of the symphony's manuscript as Memory of the World.^[22]

In October 2005, Studer sang the role of Sieglinde in Richard Wagner's first-ever Ring Cycle in China, at Beijing's Poly Theatre. The cycle was produced by Stephen Lawless for the Staatstheater Nürnberg and the performances were conducted by Philippe Auguin.^[23]

In November 2005 it was falsely reported that Studer suffered a mild heart attack, forcing her to cancel a number of scheduled concerts in Spain.^[24] Studer actually cancelled one recital because of ill health and has to date never suffered any kind of heart attack.

On July 9, 2010, Studer made her official directorial debut in a new production of Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Bayerische Kammeroper in Würzburg, Germany.^[25] Also in 2010, Studer directed a production of Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos at the University for Music in Würzburg, Germany, where she is a professor. Future directorial plans include a production of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro.

In November 2011, Studer appeared in concert in Nuremberg, Germany,^[26] and Antwerp, Belgium, ^[27] with the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra and its Chief Music Director, Alexander Shelley. The all-Wagner concerts, also featuring Belgian bass-baritone Wilfried Van den Brande, were recorded and will be released as part of the orchestra's "Nürnberger Symphoniker Live" series.^[28]

In December 2011 Studer appeared as Gertrud, her role debut, in performances of Engelbert Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel at the Hamburg State Opera.^[29] The soprano is reportedly preparing the role of Kundry in Wagner's Parsifal, her 14th Wagner role to date, and presumably that of Countess Madeleine in Richard Strauss' Capriccio as well.^[30]

Concert work[link]

From the mid 1980s up until today Studer has performed with some of the world's finest orchestras as a concert soloist. She has sung with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the China Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Dresden Staatskapelle, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw, the Boston Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic among many others. Her concert repertoire includes the great symphonic works and orchestral Lieder by Beethoven, Mozart, Verdi, Bruckner, Rossini, Dvořák and Mahler, Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder, Strauss's Vier letzte Lieder and final scenes from Salome and Capriccio, Schoenberg's Gurre-Lieder, Berg's Sieben frühe Lieder, Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and Ravel's Shéhérazade. Studer has toured extensively as a recitalist, performing throughout Europe and the United States and parts of Asia and South America.^[3] Her current recital repertoire includes art songs by Brahms, Schubert, Schumann, Wolf, R. Strauss, Mahler, Ravel, Massenet, de Falla, Verdi, Rossini, Copland and Barber, among others.

Opera roles[link]

Discography[link]

Complete opera recordings[link]

• Aida in Verdi's Aïda, recorded 6/94, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Edward Downes, Pioneer
• Countess in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, recorded 5/91, Wiener Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado, Sony
• Countess in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, recorded 1–2/94, Wiener Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado, Deutsche Grammophon
• Chrysothemis in Richard Strauss' Elektra, recorded 6/89, Wiener Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado, Pioneer
• Chrysothemis in Strauss' Elektra, recorded 1/90, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Wolfgang Sawallisch, EMI
• Desdemona in Verdi's Otello, recorded 5/93, Opéra Bastille, Myung-whun Chung, Deutsche Grammophon
• Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni, recorded 9/90, Wiener Philharmoniker, Riccardo Muti, EMI
• Drolla in Wagner's Die Feen, recorded 7/83, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Orfeo
• Elena in Verdi's I Vespri Siciliani, recorded 12/89–1/90, Teatro alla Scala, Riccardo Muti, Fonit Cetra
• Elisabeth in Wagner's Tannhäuser, recorded '88, Philharmonia Orchestra, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Deutsche Grammophon
• Elisabeth in Wagner's Tannhäuser, recorded '89, Bayreuth Festival, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Philips
• Elsa in Wagner's Lohengrin, recorded 6/90, Bayreuth Festival, Peter Schneider, Philips
• Elsa in Wagner's Lohengrin, recorded '90, Wiener Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado, Deutsche Grammophon
• Eva in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, recorded 4/93, Bavarian State Opera, Wolfgang Sawallisch, EMI
• Florinda in Schubert's Fierrabras, recorded 5/88, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Claudio Abbado, Deutsche Grammophon
• Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto Act III, recorded 9/91, Metropolitan Opera, James Levine, Deutsche Grammophon
• Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto, recorded 6/93, Metropolitan Opera, James Levine, Deutsche Grammophon
• Giulietta in Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffmann, recorded 87/88/89, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, Jeffrey Tate, Philips
• Gutrune in Wagner's Götterdämmerung, recorded 5/89, Metropolitan Opera, James Levine, Deutsche Grammophon
• Hanna Glawari in Lehár's Die Lustige Witwe, recorded 1/94, Wiener Philharmoniker, John Eliot Gardiner, Deutsche Grammophon
• Irene in Wagner's Rienzi, recorded 7/83, Bavarian State Opera, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Orfeo
• Jessonda in Spohr's Jessonda, recorded '84, Austrian Radio Orchestra, Gerd Albrecht, Voce
• Kaiserin (Empress) in Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten, recorded 2–12/87, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Wolfgang Sawallisch, EMI
• Kaiserin (Empress) in Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten, recorded '92, Wiener Philharmoniker, Sir Georg Solti, Salzburg Festival, DECCA/London
• Konstanze in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail, recorded 4/91, Wiener Symphoniker, Bruno Weil, Sony
• Lucia in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, recorded 8/90, London Symphony Orchestra, Ion Marin, Deutsche Grammmophon
• Madama Cortese in Rossini's Il viaggio a Reims, recorded 10/92, Berliner Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado, Sony
• Marguerite in Gounod's Faust, recorded 2/91, Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Michel Plasson, EMI
• Matilde in Rossini's Guglielmo Tell, recorded 12/88, Teatro alla Scala, Riccardo Muti, EMI
• Odabella in Verdi's Attila, recorded 6–7/89, Teatro alla Scala, Riccardo Muti, EMI
• Odabella in Verdi's Attila, recorded 6/90, Teatro alla Scala, Riccardo Muti, Home Vision
• Ortlinde in Wagner's Die Walküre, recorded 8/81, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, Marek Janowski, Eurodisc
• Queen of the Night in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, recorded 7/89, Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner, Philips
• Salomé in Massenet's Hérodiade, recorded 11–12/94, Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Michel Plasson, EMI
• Salome in Strauss' Salome, recorded 12/90, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Deutsche Grammophon
• Semiramide in Rossini's Semiramide, recorded 7/92, London Symphony Orchestra, Ion Marin, Deutsche Grammophon
• Senta in Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer, recorded 1/91, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Deutsche Grammophon
• Sieglinde in Wagner's Die Walküre, recorded 2–3/88, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bernard Haitink, EMI
• Susannah in Carlisle Floyd's Susannah, recorded 3/94, Opéra de Lyon, Kent Nagano, Virgin
• Violetta in Verdi's La traviata, recorded 1/91, Metropolitan Opera, James Levine, Deutsche Grammophon
• Zemlinsky's Der Zwerg, recorded 83, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra^{[disambiguation needed ]}, Gerd Albrecht, Koch-Schwann

Concert recordings[link]

• Samuel Barber Complete Songs, recorded 9/92, John Browning, Thomas Hampson, Emerson String Quartet, Deutsche Grammophon
• Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, recorded 8/91, Wiener Philharmoniker, Salzburg Festival, James Levine, Deutsche Grammophon
• Beethoven in Berlin ("Ah perfido!/Choral Fantasy/Egmont), recorded 12/91, Berliner Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado, Deutsche Grammophon
• Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, recorded 4/89, Philadelphia Orchestra, Riccardo Muti, EMI
• Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, recorded 1/03, Philharmonie der Nationen, Justus Frantz, private issue
• Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem, recorded 10/92, Berliner Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado, Deutsche Grammophon
• Bruckner's Mass in F minor/Mozart's Vespers, recorded 3/77, MIT Choral Society, John Oliver, private issue
• Donizetti's Messa da Requiem, recorded 1/84, Bamberger Symphoniker, Miguel Ángel Gómez-Martínez, Orfeo
• Mahler's Das klagende Lied, recorded 11/90, Philharmonia Orchestra, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Deutsche Grammophon
• Mahler's Symphony No. 2, recorded 11/92, Wiener Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado, Deutsche Grammophon
• Mahler's Symphony No. 8, recorded 11–12/90, Philharmonia Orchestra, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Deutsche Grammophon
• Mahler's Symphony No. 8, recorded 1/94, Berliner Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado, Deutsche Grammophon
• Schubert Lieder, recorded 1/90, Irwin Gage, Deutsche Grammophon
• von Schweinitz's Messe, Op. 21, recorded 7/84, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gerd Albrecht, Wergo
• Strauss Choral Works, recorded 9/84, RIAS Kammerchor, Uwe Gronostay, Marcus Creed, Deutsche Schallplatten
• Strauss' Vier Letzte Lieder/Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder and Isolde's Liebestod, recorded 1/93, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Deutsche Grammophon
• Verdi's Messa da Requiem, recorded 6/87, Teatro alla Scala, Riccardo Muti, EMI
• Verdi's Messa da Requiem, recorded 11/91, Wiener Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado, Deutsche Grammophon
• Wagner, Isolde's Liebestod, recorded 1/88, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jeffrey Tate, EMI
• Wagner Gala (Tannhäuser/Lohengrin/Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg/Die Walküre), recorded 12/93, Berliner Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado, Deutsche Grammophon
• Covent Garden Gala (Otello/La traviata/Die Fledermaus), recorded 7/88, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, John Barker, EMI
• First Europakonzert in Prague (Mozart: Non mi dir/Ch'io mi scordi di te? – Non temer, amato bene), recorded 5/91, Berliner Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado, Sony
• Salzburg Recital (Strauss/Schubert/Debussy), recorded 8/92, Irwin Gage, Deutsche Grammophon

Solo recordings[link]

• Coloratura Arias by Bellini (La sonnambula/Norma), Verdi (La traviata/Il trovatore), Donizetti (Lucia di Lammermoor/Lucrezia Borgia), Rossini (Il barbiere di Seviglia/Semiramide), recorded 4/89, Munich Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gabriele Ferro, EMI
• Sacred Works (J. S. Bach/Schubert/Mendelssohn/Handel/Mozart/Gounod/Fauré/Poulenc/Bernstein/Bruch), recorded 3/91, London Symphony Orchestra, Ion Marin, Deutsche Grammophon
• Mozart Arias (Die Entführung aus dem Serail/Die Zauberflöte/Idomeneo/Le nozze di Figaro/Don Giovanni/La clemenza di Tito/Così fan tutte), recorded 9/89, Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner, Philips
• Schubert Lieder, recorded 6/90, Irwin Gage, piano, Deutsche Grammophon

Television and DVD appearances[link]

• Aida in Verdi's Aida with Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, conductor Edward Downes, aired on television in 1994, released on DVD in 2001.
• Elisabeth in Wagner's Tannhäuser, recorded '89, Bayreuth Festival, Giuseppe Sinopoli, released by Euroarts on DVD in 2008. The production is by Wolfgang Wagner.
• Elsa in Wagner's Lohengrin, recorded 6/90, Bayreuth Festival, Peter Schneider, released by Deutsche Grammophon on DVD in 2008. The production is by Werner Herzog.
• Kaiserin (Empress) in Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Salzburg Festival, with the Wiener Philharmoniker, Sir Georg Solti conductor, aired on television in 1992, released on DVD in 2002.
• Madama Cortese in Rossini's Il viaggio a Reims with the Berliner Philharmoniker, conductor Claudio Abbado, aired on television in 1992.^[31]
• Matilde in Rossini's William Tell with Teatro alla Scala, conductor Riccardo Muti, live performance in Italian in 1988, reased on DVD in 1998, also available as an audio recording.

References[link]

Sources[link]

• Alan Blyth: "Cheryl Studer", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed September 21, 2008), (subscription access)

External links[link]

• Cheryl Studer on YouTube
• Studer on YouTube (Contessa in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro)
• Studer on YouTube (Elsa in Wagner's Lohengrin)
• Studer on YouTube (Odabella in Verdi's Attila)
• Complete recording on YouTube of Studer in Attila

Margaret Jane Wray is an award winning American dramatic soprano known for her interpretations of the works of Richard Wagner.

Wray began her career as a member of the Metropolitan Opera's Young Artist program in the mid to late 1980s. She made her debut with the company in 1987 as Annina in Verdi's La Traviata.^[1] Wray was quickly identified as one of the most talented young artists in the field and success soon followed. In 1989, Wray was awarded the prestigious Richard Tucker Award. Wray went on to appear in lead roles with many of the world's leading opera companies including the Metropolitan Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Seattle Opera, La Scala, the Bavarian State Opera, the Berlin State Opera, Opéra National de Paris, La Monnaie, L’Opéra de la Bastille, Oper Frankfurt, Teatro Regio^{[disambiguation needed ]}, Théâtre du Capitole, Teatro Massimo Bellini, Opéra de Nice, and Welsh National Opera among others.^[2] Wray has also had a prolific career as a concert artist appearing with many of the world's finest conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Mariss Jansons, Seiji Ozawa, Kwun Chung and James Conlon.^[3] She has also performed with many of the world's great orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony and National Symphony Orchestra among others.

Opera Roles[link]

References[link]

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Germaine (Léontine Angélique) Lubin (1 February 1890 – 27 October 1979) was a French dramatic soprano best known for her association with the music of Richard Wagner. She possessed a brilliant voice but her later career was tainted with accusations of Nazi sympathies.

Biography[link]

Training[link]

Born in Paris, Germaine Lubin was soon taken to Cayenne in French Guiana where her father was a doctor, and from him she received her first piano lessons. She returned to live in Paris at the age of eight, and attended the Collège Sévigné with the intent of studying to become a doctor. Instead, in 1908 she entered the Paris Conservatory, where Gabriel Fauré was then the director. Fauré formed a high opinion of her voice —and her statuesque beauty— and would accompany her personally in performances of his songs. She left the Conservatory in 1912 after winning three first prizes for her singing, and she was immediately in demand for performances. Throughout most of her career however she continued to take voice lessons, studying for 10 years from 1912 with the Franco-Russian soprano Félia Litvinne. She would later work on roles with Lilli Lehmann and Marie Gutheil-Schoder. She also studied with Jean de Reszke, although she felt that he taught her little.

Career[link]

In 1912 she made her debut at the Opéra-Comique, singing Antonia in The Tales of Hoffmann, to an audience which included Claude Debussy and Paul Dukas, and she enjoyed a great success. At the Opéra-Comique, Albert Carré gave her the chance to appear in numerous contemporary operas, including works by Dukas, (Ariane et Barbe-bleue) and Gabriel Fauré (Pénélope). She also sang Charlotte in Jules Massenet's Werther and the title role in Gustave Charpentier's Louise, and appeared in the world premiere of Le Pays by Guy Ropartz.

In 1913 Lubin married the French poet Paul Géraldy. A son, Claude, was born to them in 1916. Their marriage lasted until 1926. (In 1918, Lubin met Marshal Philippe Pétain and they conducted a warm correspondence for a while; Pétain declared a wish to marry her, had she been free. Lubin would remain an ardent admirer of Pétain until his death in 1951.^[1])

Lubin made her first appearance at the Paris Opéra in 1915, in Vincent d'Indy's Le Chant de la cloche, and continued to sing there for nearly 30 years. In addition to standard French works, she also found success in the operas of Christoph Willibald Gluck and Richard Strauss, singing the first French performances of Elektra in 1932. She also created roles for d'Indy, Darius Milhaud, and Henri Sauguet.

In 1921 Lubin embarked on the series of Wagner roles for which she would be most admired: first Sieglinde in Die Walküre, then Elsa (Lohengrin), and finally Eva (Die Meistersinger), all sung in French at the Opéra. Later came Brünnhilde (Der Ring des Nibelungen (1928) and Kundry (Parsifal) (1938).

In 1930 she sang the role of Isolde (Tristan und Isolde) at the Paris Opéra for the first time and met with an ecstatic reception. Her physical beauty —she was tall, slim and blonde— and her strong, even voice made her ideal for the part. She went on to sing it again in Paris in 1938 (this time in German, conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler), and in London in 1939 (at the invitation of Sir Thomas Beecham). In July 1939 she became the first Frenchwoman to sing Isolde at Bayreuth (under the baton of Victor de Sabata). At Bayreuth, she established friendships with members of the Wagner family. She was even complimented by Adolf Hitler, who said she was the finest Isolde that he had heard.

Lubin hoped to sing also at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, having been recommended to the Met's management by Kirsten Flagstad. Owing, however, to the outbreak of World War II in 1939, she never sang in the United States.

World War II[link]

Germaine Lubin and Herbert von Karajan, 17 May 1941 at the stage door of the Paris Opéra

After the German occupation of Paris in 1940, Jacques Rouché sought to re-open the Opéra and invited Lubin to return to sing Alceste. This was followed by performances of Fidelio and Der Rosenkavalier, and in 1941 she again sang Isolde, this time with the visiting company of the Staatsoper from Berlin under the direction of Herbert von Karajan.^[2] She continued to associate with German acquaintances, and in 1942 she performed at a concert to mark an exhibition by Arno Breker, the sculptor who was closely associated with the Nazi leadership. (She later said that she had agreed to this performance as part of a deal to secure the release of Maurice Franck, the Jewish "chef de chant", or music staff/vocal coach, at the Opéra.^[1])

These activities brought Germaine Lubin under suspicion of collaboration with the Nazis, and after the Liberation in 1944 she was arrested and imprisoned. At her trial in 1946, she was acquitted of the accusation after a number of testimonials were produced from people she had helped during the war. Nevertheless she was sentenced to "dégradation nationale" for life (subsequently reduced to five years), confiscation of property, and "interdiction de séjour" (a form of exile). She found refuge with friends in Italy.

For her part, Lubin denied all ties to Nazi Germany, and grew deeply bitter over her treatment at the hands of the French government. She once said that

I have suffered an enormous injustice. They curtailed my career by ten years — my own people! The fact is that I knew some of the Germans when they came to Paris during the occupation. This gave my enemies the chance to satisfy their envy … If I saw the Germans in Paris —and they had been more than kind to me— it was to save my compatriots. It was my way of serving my country at that particular moment. Nobody knows how many prisoners I had released … When I spent three years in prison, they confiscated my château at Tours and my possessions. Did anyone bother to ask me why I did not accept Winifred Wagner’s invitations to sing in Germany during the occupation? But my trial was a complete vindication: I was completely cleared. Yes, they gave back most of what they had taken …^[3]

Later years[link]

In 1950 Germaine Lubin had returned to Paris and sought to resume her career with a recital. Although she met with some sympathy and gave a few further performances, it was a difficult transition, and when in 1953 her son committed suicide she abandoned public performance entirely. For the remainder of her life she became a voice teacher, giving lessons at her home on the Quai Voltaire in Paris. Among her notable pupils was the leading soprano Régine Crespin. Lubin died in Paris in 1979 at the age of 89.

Lubin had a powerful voice of gleaming tonal splendour. By her own admission she was a forceful and demanding personality, often haughty and distant with other people, and she responded to the heroic dimension of the characters that she portrayed on the operatic stage. "I do not like to sing the role of victims", she said in an interview.^[4]

Recordings[link]

Although Germaine Lubin became the foremost French dramatic soprano during the 1920s and '30s, and indeed one of the finest opera singers to be heard anywhere during the inter-war period, her performances are not particularly well represented on disc. She recorded in 1929–30 a number of excerpts from her central repertoire, notably her Wagnerian roles as well as Tosca, Der Freischütz and Sigurd. She also recorded a few songs by Schubert, Schumann and her erstwhile admirer Fauré. Among her later recordings from 1944 are two of the earliest featuring the young Gérard Souzay in which they perform duets by Leguerney and Blangini. In the 1950s, she also recorded a couple of songs by Hugo Wolf. In total her recorded legacy amounts to about two dozen items, many of which are available on CD reissues.

References[link]

• Martin Cooper, Elizabeth Forbes: article on Germaine Lubin in: Grove Music Online; ed. by L. Macy; (accessed 10 April 2007).
• David Ewen, Encyclopedia of the Opera: New Enlarged Edition. (New York: Hill and Wang, 1963.)
• Biography at Bach-Cantatas website.