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]

Nilsson in 1948.

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (December 2011)

Birgit Nilsson (17 May 1918 – 25 December 2005) was a celebrated Swedish dramatic soprano who specialized in operatic and symphonic works. Her voice was noted for its overwhelming force, bountiful reserves of power and the gleaming brilliance and clarity in the upper register.

Overview[link]

Nilsson made such strong imprints on many roles that they came to be known as the "Nilsson repertory". She sang the operas of Richard Strauss and made a specialty of Puccini's Turandot, but it was the music of Wagner that made her career; her command of his music was comparable to that of Kirsten Flagstad, who owned the Wagner repertory at the Metropolitan Opera during the years before World War II.^{[citation needed]}

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Märta Birgit Svensson was born on a farm at Västra Karup in Skåne (100 km/60 miles north of Malmö). When she was three years old she began picking out melodies on a toy piano her mother bought for her. She once told an interviewer that she could sing before she could walk, adding, "I even sang in my dreams". Her vocal talent was first noticed when she began to sing in her church choir. A choirmaster near her home heard her sing and advised her to take voice lessons.

She studied with Ragnar Blennow in Båstad, and in 1941, with Joseph Hislop and Arne Sunnegard at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm. However, she considered herself self-taught: "The best teacher is the stage", she told an interviewer in 1981. "You walk out onto it, and you have to learn to project." She deplored her early instruction and attributed her success to native talent. "My first voice teacher almost killed me ... [T]he second was almost as bad."^{[citation needed]}

Early career[link]

In 1946, Nilsson made her debut at the Royal Opera in Stockholm with only three days' notice, replacing the ailing Agathe in Carl Maria von Weber's Der Freischütz. Conductor Leo Blech wasn't very kind to her and, as she wrote in her autobiography, she even contemplated suicide after the performance. In 1947 she claimed national attention as Verdi's Lady Macbeth under Fritz Busch. A wealth of parts followed, from Strauss and Verdi to Wagner, Puccini, and Tchaikovsky. In Stockholm she built up a steady repertoire of roles in the lyric-dramatic field, including Donna Anna, Aïda, Lisa, Tosca, Venus, Sieglinde, Senta and the Marschallin, one of her favourite roles (though she later lamented that nobody ever asked her to undertake it),^{[citation needed]} all sung in Swedish.

International engagements[link]

Birgit Nilsson as Lady Macbeth in the opera by Giuseppe Verdi at the Royal Swedish Opera, Stockholm, 1947.

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Under Fritz Busch's tutelage her career took wing. He was instrumental in securing her first important engagement outside Sweden, as Elettra in Mozart's Idomeneo at the Glyndebourne Festival in 1951. Her debut at the Vienna State Opera in 1953 was a turning point; she would be a regular performer there for more than 25 years. It was followed by Elsa in Wagner's Lohengrin at the Bayreuth Festival in 1954, then her first Brünnhilde in a complete Ring at the Bavarian State Opera, at the Munich Festival of 1954. Later she returned as Sieglinde, Brünnhilde, and Isolde until 1969.

She took the title role of Turandot, which is brief but requires an unusually big sound, to La Scala in Milan in 1958, and then to the rest of Italy. Nilsson made her American debut as Brünnhilde in Wagner's Die Walküre in 1956 with the San Francisco Opera. She attained international stardom after a performance as Isolde at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 1959, which made front page news. She said that the single biggest event in her life was being asked to perform at the opening of the 181st season at La Scala as Turandot in 1958. She became the second non-Italian (after Maria Callas) ever granted the privilege of opening a season at La Scala. She performed at many major opera houses in the world including Vienna, Berlin, the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, Tokyo, Paris, Buenos Aires, Chicago, and Hamburg.

She sang with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in the all-Wagner concert that opened the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II in 1973. You can listen to the concert on australianscreen online. She gave the first lieder recital at the Opera House, accompanied by Geoffrey Parsons.

From the 1960s through to the 1980s[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Nilsson was widely known as the leading Wagnerian soprano of her time, the successor to the great Norwegian soprano Kirsten Flagstad, particularly as Brünnhilde. However, she also sang many of the other famous soprano roles, among them Leonore, Aida, Turandot, Tosca, Elektra, and Salome. She had, according to The New York Times, a "voice of impeccable trueness and impregnable stamina".

The conductor Erich Leinsdorf thought that her longevity, like Flagstad's, had something to do with her Scandinavian heritage, remarking that Wagner required "thoughtful, patient and methodical people." Nilsson attributed her long career to no particular lifestyle or regimen. "I do nothing special", she once said. "I don't smoke. I drink a little wine and beer. I was born with the right set of parents."

In sheer power, her high notes were sometimes compared to those of the Broadway belter Ethel Merman. One high C rendered in a "Turandot" performance in the outdoor Arena di Verona in Italy led citizenry beyond the walls to think that a fire alarm had been set off. However Nilsson claims her "explosive" high notes that were her biggest asset on-stage "have not been recorded like they should have been" in the studio. She later lamented: "It always made me a little bit sad when I heard my own recordings. And many people told me that I sang much better in person than I do on the recordings! That didn't flatter me at all, because I know what's going to be left when I am no longer singing"^[1] .Once urged to follow Nilsson in the same role at the Metropolitan Opera, the eminent soprano Leonie Rysanek refused.

Twice at the Met, Nilsson sustained injuries that kept her from performing. In February 1971, she sprained her ankle during a performance of "Elektra" that resulted in cancellation of one performance (that was substituted by a historical performance of Fidelio starring Christa Ludwig). Nilsson recovered to sing the broadcast performance of Elektra on 27 February. More seriously, in March 1974 she fell and dislocated her shoulder during a rehearsal of Götterdämmerung. Although able to sing Brünnhilde for the first two performances with her arm in a sling, her injury caused her to miss subsequent performances, including that season's Götterdämmerung broadcast. The New York Times' review of the production's 8 March opening night is reprinted in the Metropolitan Opera Archives.

"Miss N."[link]

Beginning at the summer of 1968 at the Bayreuth Festival, Nilsson was obsessively stalked by a much younger American actress and model, Nell Theobald, until Theobald's suicide nine years later in 1977. Nilsson recounted her experiences with Theobald at length in her memoir, La Nilsson, in which she referred to Theobald solely as "Miss N." The stalking incident was later featured in Opera News magazine and The New York Times.^[2][3]

Nilsson's humour[link]

Sir Rudolf Bing made a ritual joke of getting on his knees every time Nilsson returned to the Met. When he did this after having been knighted by Queen Elizabeth, she said, "You do that much better since you practiced for the queen."^{[citation needed]}

Sir Rudolf Bing asked Nilsson to sing the final scene from Salome at his farewell gala in 1972. As an added inducement, he said that she could have his head on a platter. Nilsson replied, "Oh, that's not necessary, Mr. Bing. I will use my imagination."^{[citation needed]}

Nilsson did not get along with famous conductor Herbert von Karajan. Once when rehearsing on stage at the Vienna Staatsoper, her string of pearls broke. While helping her retrieve them, Karajan asked, "Are these real pearls bought with your fabulous Metropolitan Opera fees?" Nilsson replied, "No, these are very ordinary fake pearls bought with your lousy Vienna Staatsoper fees." When Nilsson first arrived at the Met to rehearse the production of Die Walkure conducted by Karajan, she said, "Nu, where's Herbie?" And Karajan once sent Nilsson a cable several pages long, proposing in great detail a variety of projects, different dates and operas. Nilsson cabled back: "Busy. Birgit."^{[citation needed]}

There was a healthy competition between Nilsson and tenor Franco Corelli as to who could hold the high C the longest in Act II of Turandot. In one tour performance, after she outlasted him on the high C, he stormed off to Bing during the next intermission, saying that he was not going to continue the performance. Bing, who knew how to handle Corelli's tantrums, suggested that he retaliate by biting Nilsson on the neck when Calaf kisses Turandot in Act III. Corelli didn't bite her but he was so delighted with the idea that he told her about Bing's suggestion. She then cabled Bing, informing him she had to cancel the next two performances because she had contracted rabies.^{[citation needed]}

When Nilsson started singing Aida at the Met, soprano Zinka Milanov was miffed as Aida had theretofore been her role. After one performance in which Nilsson was singing, Milanov commandeered and drove off in the Rolls Royce Nilsson had hired for after the performance. When asked about this afterwards, Milanov said, "If Madame Nilsson takes my roles, I must take her Rolls."^{[citation needed]}

Business[link]

Nilsson was also famous for her ability to make money. She became one of the highest-paid singers in the field, in part because of the rarity of her skills. Being a shrewd businesswoman, she negotiated much of her own career. She never ranted or engaged in tantrums. She would begin contract talks by refusing every offer and being evasive about her availability. This tack would continue until the impresario offered something she wanted. Nilsson's reply would be "maybe". Now in control, she would be begged to accept what she desired in the first place.^{[citation needed]}

Birgit Nilsson behind the stage at Gröna Lund, Stockholm, 1960s.

Once, asked what was her favourite role, she answered: "Isolde made me famous. Turandot made me rich". When long-time Metropolitan Opera director Sir Rudolf Bing was asked if she was difficult, he reportedly said, "Not at all. You put enough money in, and a glorious voice comes out." When Nilsson was preparing her taxes and was asked if she had any dependents, she replied, "Yes, just one, Rudolf Bing."^{[citation needed]}

Interactions with conductors[link]

Nilsson was known for standing up to conductors. In a 1967 rehearsal of Die Walküre with Herbert von Karajan conducting, Nilsson responded to the gloomy lighting of the production by wearing a miner's helmet (complete with Valkyrian wings). When on some occasion von Karajan urged a retake "and this time with our hearts - that's where your wallet has its place", Nilsson replied, "I'm glad to know that we have at least one thing in common, Maëstro von Karajan!" When Georg Solti, in Tristan und Isolde, insisted on tempos too slow for Nilsson's taste, she made the first performance even slower, inducing a conductorial change of heart. After a tiff with Hans Knappertsbusch, Nilsson reported: "He called me by a name that begins with "A" and ends with 'hole'".^{[citation needed]}

Self-criticism[link]

Despite her worldwide recognition, Nilsson said she was nervous before every major performance. "Before a premiere, on the way to the opera, I'd hope for just a small, small accident, it didn't need to be much, but just so I would not have to sing", she said in a 1977 interview on Swedish TV. Nilsson often spoke of her limits. She said her voice was not a good fit with what she described as the softer textures and refined tones of Italian operas. Nonetheless, she sang roles in Italian operas such as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni.

Recordings[link]

Nilsson recorded all of her major roles. Partly because of her availability to play Brünnhilde, Decca Records undertook the expensive project of making the first studio recording of Wagner's four-opera Ring cycle, conducted by Solti and produced by John Culshaw. The effort took seven years, from 1958 to 1965. A film of the proceedings made her a familiar image for arts-conscious television viewers.^{[citation needed]}

Absence from New York and Salzburg[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Though a frequent visitor to the Metropolitan Opera, Nilsson did not always see eye to eye with its redoubtable general manager, Sir Rudolf Bing (who was often said to dislike Wagner), nor with conductor Herbert von Karajan. Subsequently, she made fewer New York appearances than hoped in the early 1970s and was virtually excluded from the Salzburg Festival. Her American career was derailed in the mid-1970s by US Internal Revenue Service claims filed for back taxes. Several years later a schedule of payments was worked out, and Nilsson's hiatus from the United States ended. When she returned, Donal Henahan wrote in the New York Times, "The famous shining trumpet of a voice is still far from sounding like a cornet."

Nilsson appeared at the Metropolitan Opera 223 times in 16 roles. She sang two complete Ring cycles in the 1961–62 season, and another in 1974–75. She was Isolde 33 times, and Turandot 52. She played most of the other major soprano parts: Aida, Tosca, the Dyer's Wife in Strauss's Die Frau ohne Schatten, Salome, Elektra, as Verdi's Lady Macbeth, Leonore in Beethoven's Fidelio, and both Venus and Elisabeth in Wagner's Tannhäuser. She memorably appeared as replacement Sieglinde to Rita Hunter's Brünnhilde in the 1970s. She appeared 232 times at the Vienna State Opera from 1954–82, and the Vienna Philharmonic, the company's orchestra, made her an honorary member in 1999. "If there ever was someone that one can call a real star today and a world-famous opera singer during her time then that was Frau Nilsson", said Ioan Holender, director of the Vienna State Opera.

Later life[link]

Nilsson's autobiography, Mina minnesbilder (My memoirs in pictures) was published in Stockholm in 1977. She retired in 1984 to her childhood home in the Skåne province of southern Sweden, where her father had been a sixth-generation farmer and she had worked to grow beets and potatoes until she was 23. In an interview in the mid-1990s, she appeared happy, serene and as unpretentious as ever. "I've always tried to remember what my mother used to tell me", she said. "Stay close to the earth. Then when you fall down, it won't hurt so much."

In 1981, Sweden issued a postage stamp showing Nilsson as Turandot. She has received the Illis Quorum gold medal, today the highest award that can be conferred upon a Swedish citizen by the Government of Sweden. In 1988, The American-Scandinavian Foundation named their prize for promising young American opera singers the Birgit Nilsson Prize. Nilsson personally chaired several competitions.

Death[link]

Nilsson died, aged 87, on 25 December 2005 at her home at Bjärlöv, a small village near Kristianstad in Skåne in the same county where she was born. She was survived by her husband Bertil Niklasson (died March 2007), a veterinarian whom she had met on a train and married in 1948. They had no children.

Legacy[link]

Three years after Nilsson's death, in December 2008, the Birgit Nilsson Foundation announced that it would award a prize every two to three years to a concert or opera singer, a classical or opera conductor, or a specific production by an opera company. The prize was funded by Nilsson herself. The foundation said that Nilsson had chosen the first winner, to be announced in early 2009.

On 20 February 2009, Spanish-Mexican tenor Plácido Domingo was announced as the inaugural recipient of the prize, which carried with it a cash award of $1,000,000.^[4] The first award ceremony took place in the Royal Swedish Opera on 13 October 2009. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden personally presented the prize to the designated winner. A jury has been set up by the foundation to make recommendations for future prizes.^[5] The second winner of the Birgit Nilsson prize was Riccardo Muti,^[6] who received the award in Stockholm on 13 October 2011.

On 6 April 2011, the Bank of Sweden announced that Nilsson's portrait will feature on the 500 kronor banknote, beginning in 2014-15.^[7][8]

Awards[link]

• Sonning Award (1966, Denmark)
• Voted into Gramophone's Hall of Fame in 2012^[9]

References[link]

Sources[link]

• Nilsson, Birgit, My Memoirs in Pictures, translated from the Swedish by Thomas Teal, Garden City: Doubleday, 1981; ISBN 0-385-14835-6.
• Nilsson, Birgit, Mina minnesbilder, Stockholm: Bonnier, 1977; ISBN 91-0-042069-7
• Nilsson, Birgit, La Nilsson, Stockholm: Fischer, 1995; ISBN 91-7054-756-4.
• "Birgit Nilsson, Soprano Legend Who Tamed Wagner" by Bernard Holland, New York Times (12 January 2006)
• "Så höll han allt hemligt", (why Nilsson's death was kept a secret for 16 days) by Pelle Tagesson, Aftonbladet (13 January 2006)
• Blum, David, "The Farm Girl and the Stones", chapter 5 in David Blum, Quintet, Five Journeys toward Musical Fulfillment (Cornell University Press, 1999).

Further reading[link]

• La Nilsson: My Life in Opera by Birgit Nilsson, foreword by Georg Solti, afterword by Peggy Tueller. Translated by Doris Jung Popper UPNE, 2007; ISBN 1-55553-670-0, ISBN 978-1-55553-670-1

External links[link]

Audio[link]

• Birgit Nilsson sings Turandot, 1960s (video)
• Birgit Nilsson - Salome - Gala Bing, MET 1972 (video)
• Birgit Nilsson as Lady Macbeth, 1970s (video)
• Birgit Nilsson sings Götterdämmerung, 1960s in a recording session for Solti's Ring (video)
• Birgit Nilsson conducted by Charles Mackerras for the 'Sydney Opera House Opening Concert', 1973 on australianscreen online

TV appearances[link]

• Birgit Nilsson on Swedish talk show "På parkett", after a recent performance as Turandot in Berlin, 15 May 1971 (part 1) (in Swedish)
• Birgit Nilsson on Swedish talk show "På parkett", with composer Sten Broman, 15 May 1971 (part 2) (in Swedish)
• Birgit Nilsson and Zarah Leander talking about life as a celebrity, on Swedish talk show "Stjärna mot stjärna" (Star vs Star), 25 December 1977 (in Swedish)
• Birgit Nilsson and Franco Corelli, on Swedish talk show "Här är ditt liv" (This is your life; Birgit Nilsson), Nov 1981 (in Swedish)
• News report from 1984 from when Birgit Nilsson gives a Master Class in Malmö, Sweden (in Swedish)
• Swedish news report from Birgit Nilsson's death with video clip together with comments from workers, fans and colleagues at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm, Metropolitan in New York, the Wagner Society and from Italian Opera (January 2006)

Interviews & articles[link]

• "Glänsande debut", the debut at the Royal Opera in Stockholm, Dagens Nyheter, 10 October 1946 (in Swedish)
• "Det finns ingen genväg för sångare", interview, Dagens Nyheter, 17 August 1986 (in Swedish)
• "Birgit Nilsson fyller 85 utan krusiduller", interview, Svenska Dagbladet, 16 May 2003 (in Swedish)
• "Sjuksköterskorna mobbad mig, Operastjärnan Birgit Nilsson anmäler sjukhus för vanvård", Aftonbladet 30 June 1999 (in Swedish)
• "Så höll han allt hemligt", why Nilsson's death was kept a secret for 16 days, Aftonbladet, 13 January 2006 (in Swedish)
• Holland, Bernard (12 January 2006). "Birgit Nilsson, Soprano Legend Who Tamed Wagner, Dies at 87". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/12/arts/music/12nilsson.html. Retrieved 26 April 2010. 
• Tommasini, Anthony (14 January 2006). "Nilsson in Person: The Glory of the Power". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/14/arts/music/14nils.html. Retrieved 26 April 2010. 
• "Birgit Nilsson: An unparalleled artist and a lovely, down-to-earth woman", by Jane Eaglen, The New York Times, 16 January 2006
• "Varewell to the Valkyrie", by Peter G. Davis, Opera News, April 2006, Vol. 70, No. 10, pp. 82-83
• Birgit Nilsson interview by Bruce Duffie, 20 April 1988

External links[link]

• Nilsson's official website
• Wagner Operas website
• Decca Classics website
• Metropolitan Opera Archives
• The One Million Dollar Birgit Nilsson Prize
• The Birgit Nilsson Prize by the American-Scandinavian Foundation

Eva-Maria Westbroek (born 26 April 1970, Belfast) is a Dutch soprano. She is one of three daughters of the geology researcher and professor Peter Westbroek.

Westbroek studied at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague from 1988 to 1995. Her vocal teachers included Iris Adami Corradetti and the American tenor James McCray. She made her operatic debut at the Aldeburgh Festival in 1994 as Mère Marie in Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites. She was a prize winner at an international competition in Rome, which allowed her to sing the role of Tosca at age 25. She also was a laureate at the Angelica Catalani Concours and the Santa Maria Ligure Concours. A subsequent slow spell in her career followed, during which time her mother died.^[1] Westbroek also worked as a singing waitress during that period.^[2]

In 2001, Westbroek secured a 5-year contract as a company member of the Staatsoper Stuttgart.^[1] Her roles in Stuttgart included Carlotta (Schreker, Die Gezeichneten), Tosca, Emilia Marty (Janáček, Věc Makropulos, Desdemona (Verdi, Otello), Donna Anna (Mozart, Don Giovanni), Giulietta (Offenbach, Les Contes d'Hoffmann), Marie (Smetana, The Bartered Bride) and The Duchess of Parma (Busoni, Doktor Faust). In 2006, at the end of her work in Stuttgart, she was given the title of Kammersängerin der Staatsoper Stuttgart.

In 2003, Westbroek debuted at the Salzburger Festspiele as Agave in a concert performance of Egon Wellesz' Die Bakchantinnen. In 2004, she debuted at the Opéra Bastille as Madame Lidoine in Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites. Her debut at De Nederlandse Opera was as Katerina Izmailova in Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. This performance was commercially recorded for DVD release, and Westbroek won first prize from the Dutch VSCD Classical Music in the category "most impressive individual artistic achievement" for this performance. She repeated this role in her debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London in October 2006.^[3] In 2008, she won the Grand Prix Antoine Livio of the Presse Musicale Internationale.

In her first world premiere production^[4], Westbroek created the role of Anna Nicole Smith in the February 2011 Royal Opera premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage's opera Anna Nicole at Covent Garden.^[5]

Westbroek made her Metropolitan Opera debut on April 22, 2011 singing the role of Sieglinde in the premiere of a new production of Wagner's "Die Walküre" directed by Robert Lapage. Unfortunately, she had to withdraw mid-performance after the first act due to illness. Mezzo-soprano Margaret Jane Wray stepped in to complete the evening's performance.^[6] Ms. Westbroek finally sang the entire opera the following week on April 25, 2011.

Westbroek's commercial recordings include Bohuslav Martinů's Julietta, in the title role, for VMS Music Treasures, and two recorded productions of Wagner's Die Walküre as Sieglinde, on DVD^[7] and on CD^[8]. She is also featured in a DVD recording (Opus Arte) of Puccini's La fanciulla del West as Minnie, her own acknowledged favourite role.^[1]

Westbroek is married to tenor Frank van Aken. She does charity work for the organisation Musicians Without Borders.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Eva-Maria Westbroek web page
• MusicalCriticism.com interview with Eva-Maria Westbroek
• Dutch Divas page on Eva-Maria Westbroek
• Music Web International review of recording of Martinů's Julietta (VMS 106), 6 March 2006
• Opera Today.com review of Opus Arte OA0965D DVD recording of Shostakovich, Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, October 2007
• "Antonio Livio Preis für Eva-Maria Westbroek", klassik.com, 29 December 2008

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009)

Leonie Rysanek

Leopoldine "Leonie" Rysanek (November 14, 1926 – March 7, 1998) was an Austrian dramatic soprano.

Biography[link]

Rysanek was born in Vienna and made her operatic debut in 1949 in Innsbruck. In 1951 the Bayreuth Festival reopened and the new leader Wieland Wagner asked her to sing Sieglinde. He was convinced that her unique, young and beautiful voice, combined with her rare acting abilities, would create a sensation. She became a star overnight, and the role of Sieglinde followed her for the rest of her career.

Her Metropolitan Opera debut came in 1959 as Lady Macbeth, replacing Maria Callas who had been "fired" from the production. She made her farewell to the Met as the Countess in The Queen of Spades in January 1996.

Her final performance was at the Salzburg Festival in August 1996, as Klytämnestra in Elektra. Over her lengthy career, she sang 299 performances of 24 roles at the Met. She starred in the Met premieres of Macbeth, Nabucco, Ariadne auf Naxos, Die Frau ohne Schatten, and Káťa Kabanová.

In 1951, she was the first Sieglinde of the new Bayreuth Festival in Die Walküre under Herbert von Karajan. From then on, she became one of the brightest stars of the new opera theatre, the German "Musikdrama". Wagner made her career, but it was perhaps as a singer of Richard Strauss's operas that she made the largest contribution to modern opera. She was the reigning Empress of Die Frau ohne Schatten and triumphed as Salome, Elektra, Chrysothemis, Ariadne, the Marschallin and Ariadne. But the Empress was a very special role for her: the opera became a part of the regular repertoire in her time, and she created the part in many opera houses, first and foremost the Met and the Paris Opera.

She was appointed curator of the Vienna Festival a few months after her retirement, a post she held until her death in Vienna at age 71 (she had been diagnosed with bone cancer during her last Met performances).

Voice and roles[link]

Leonie Rysanek's voice was astride the spinto and dramatic soprano voices in certain roles. Although her voice fell in the upper end of the jugendlich-dramatisch and dramatischer sopran categories in the German repertoire, it was exclusively dramatic by Italian operatic standards. In the octave just above middle C, the voice could sound dry with wobbly intonation, but at the top of the staff it blossomed into one of the most glorious sounds of the twentieth century. Her endurance in the high tessitura of Strauss' operas is legendary.

She excelled in the music of Richard Strauss. She was especially successful as the Empress (Kaiserin) in Die Frau ohne Schatten, the title role in Salome, the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier and Chrysothemis in Elektra. She occasionally sang Ariadne/Prima Donna in Ariadne auf Naxos and female leads in Strauss operas rarely staged (Die ägyptische Helena and Die Liebe der Danae). However, cautious of playing out of her league, she didn't tackle Salome until 1972 when she was 46, although she kept the role of Sieglinde in her active repertoire from her early 20s until age 62. She avoided offers to sing Isolde in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde despite speculation that the role would be perfect for her. She sang Brünnhilde in Die Walküre in 1950 in Innsbrück but did not return to this role. She stated in interviews that her great respect for her colleague Birgit Nilsson was a factor in her avoidance of that soprano's signature roles. Extraordinarily, one of her performances in Die Walküre took place in the same week as her appearance as Gilda in Rigoletto. This little-known feat equals the more often cited accomplishment of Maria Callas, who once performed Die Walküre and Bellini's I puritani within the same week.

Strauss sopranos often make excellent Puccini voices and accordingly Rysanek sang many Toscas and a few Turandots. She also sang a remarkable Leonore in Beethoven's Fidelio.

In Wagner, she sang many Tannhäuser Elisabeths and Lohengrin Elsas, a few Ortruds in her later career - she virtually owned the role of Senta in Der fliegende Holländer for two decades, but the role in which she was most revered, in addition to Strauss's Kaiserin and Chrysothemis, was Sieglinde in Die Walküre.

Such a powerful, long and expressive voice as Rysanek's allowed her to sing many Verdi leads, notably Desdemona in Otello, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Amelia in Un ballo in maschera, Elisabetta in Don Carlo, Leonora in La forza del destino, and Aida. She also sang Abigaille in the Metropolitan Opera's first staging of Nabucco in 1960. She found this last role uncongenial, and the strain of performing it numerous times during that season brought on something of a vocal crisis, from which she successfully recovered. The overall nature of Rysanek's voice is particularly evident in her 1959 recording of Lady Macbeth, when she was in her prime at age 33, where her somewhat hollow lower register is combined with soaring, dramatic power in her upper range, with strong skills at negotiating Lady Macbeth's upper range coloratura.

As an Austrian and a Mitteleuropäerin, Rysanek also took an interest in music from Slavic countries, both Russian (Tchaikovsky) and Czech (Smetana, Janáček).

Of the notorious five "biggest" soprano roles, Rysanek sang Turandot and enjoyed success as Kundry in Parsifal at the Met and the Bayreuth Festival. Starting her career when Kirsten Flagstad was still alive and Birgit Nilsson and Astrid Varnay at the peak of their vocal abilities, Rysanek knew better than to go for Wagner's Isolde or any of his three Brünnhildes. However, in 1981, Karl Böhm persuaded her to sing Elektra for a Unitel film (with the soundtrack recorded in the studio), not a live production in an opera house.

In her later years, and like many "big" soprano voices, Rysanek reverted to dramatic mezzo-soprano roles like Ortrud in Wagner's Lohengrin, Herodias in Strauss's Salome and Klytemnestra in his Elektra.

Officially published recordings[link]

Work (composer), role, conductor, year of recording, label.

Only recordings marked thus ! were originally recorded by the respective record companies. All others are recordings of concerts or opera performances generally made by radio stations.

• Die Walküre third act (Richard Wagner), Sieglinde, Herbert von Karajan, 1951, EMI.
• Die Walküre (Richard Wagner), Sieglinde, Wilhelm Furtwängler, 1954, EMI
• Die Frau ohne Schatten (Richard Strauss), Kaiserin, Karl Böhm, 1955, Decca.
• Fidelio (Ludwig van Beethoven, Leonore, Ferenc Fricsay, 1956, Deutsche Grammophon.
• Operatic Arias, Arturo Basile, 1958, RCA.
• Ariadne auf Naxos (Richard Strauss), Prima Donna/Ariadne, Erich Leinsdorf, 1958, Decca.
• Macbeth (Giuseppe Verdi), Lady Macbeth, Erich Leinsdorf, 1959, RCA.
• Otello (Giuseppe Verdi), Desdemona, Tullio Serafin, 1960, RCA.
• Requiem (Giuseppe Verdi), soprano, Herbert von Karajan, 1960, EMI
• Der fliegende Holländer (Richard Wagner), Senta, Antal Doráti, 1961, Decca.
• Die Frau ohne Schatten (Richard Strauss), Kaiserin, Herbert von Karajan, 1964, Deutsche Grammophon
• Die Walküre (Richard Wagner), Sieglinde, Karl Böhm, 1967, Philips
• Medea (Luigi Cherubini), Medea, Horst Stein, 1972, RCA.
• Salomé (Richard Strauss), Salomé, Karl Böhm, 1972, RCA
• Die Frau ohne Schatten (Richard Strauss), Kaiserin, Karl Böhm, 1977, Deutsche Grammophon
• Elektra (Richard Strauss), Elektra, Karl Böhm, 1981, Unitel (video).
• Jenůfa (Leoš Janáček), Kostelnicka, Eve Queler, 1988, BIS
• Salome (Richard Strauss), Herodias, Giuseppe Sinopoli, 1990], Deutsche Grammophon
• Elektra (Richard Strauss), Klytemnestra, Friedemann Layer, 1995, Actes sud.
• Elektra (Richard Strauss), Klytemnestra, Jeffrey Tate, ?, Claves

Other recordings[link]

• Senta in Der fliegende Holländer: Bayreuth Festival 1959, cond. Wolfgang Sawallisch.
• Sieglinde in Die Walküre: Bayreuth Festival 1958, cond. Hans Knappertsbusch.
• Salome: Chorégies d'Orange 1974, cond. Rudolf Kempe.
• Gioconda in La Gioconda: Berlin Staatsoper, 1974, cond. Giuseppe Patanè.

Many roles in which Rysanek was virtually unsurpassed—or performed with distinction—were never recorded or published officially. These include, among others:

• Chrysothemis in Elektra: Cologne Radio 1953, cond. Richard Kraus, Bavarian State Opera 1955, cond. Karl Böhm.
• Elisabeth in Tannhäuser: Bayreuth Festival 1964, cond. Otmar Suitner and 1966, cond. Carlos Melles.
• Elsa in Lohengrin: Bayreuth Festival 1958, cond. André Cluytens.
• Danae in Die Liebe der Danae (Richard Strauss): Bavarian State Opera 1953, cond. Kurt Eichorn.
• Helena in Die Ägyptische Helena (Richard Strauss): Bavarian State Opera 1956, cond. Joseph Keilberth.
• Aida (Giuseppe Verdi): Vienna Opera 1955, cond. Rafael Kubelík.
• Amelia in Un ballo in maschera (Giuseppe Verdi): Metropolitan Opera 1962, cond. Nello Santi.

External links[link]

• Interview with Leonie Rysanek by Bruce Duffie, June 25, 1986

Waltraud Meier (born 9 January 1956 in Würzburg) is a Grammy Award–winning German dramatic soprano and mezzo-soprano singer. She is particularly known for her Wagnerian roles as Kundry, Isolde, Ortrud, Venus and Sieglinde, but has also had success in the French and Italian repertoire appearing as Eboli, Amneris, Carmen and Santuzza. She resides in Munich.

Meier has performed in the world's famed opera houses (including La Scala, Covent Garden, Metropolitan Opera, the Vienna State Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Colón Theater). She has performed under the batons of conductors including Riccardo Muti, Daniel Barenboim, Claudio Abbado, James Levine, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, and Giuseppe Sinopoli. She has been named a "Kammersängerin" by both the Bavarian State Opera in Munich and the Vienna State Opera, and "Commandeur" of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government.

Education, vocal training and early career[link]

Waltraud Meier was born in Würzburg, Germany.^[1] She sang in numerous choral groups during her younger years. Upon finishing her secondary education, she began graduate studies in English and Romance Languages while also taking voice lessons. She studied singing with Professor Dietger Jacob.^[1] In 1976, she decided to concentrate on a singing career and soon thereafter debuted at the Würzburg Opera as Lola in Cavalleria rusticana. Over the next several years she performed regularly at the opera house in Mannheim (1976–1978).^[1]

1980s[link]

She made her international debut in 1980 at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires,^[1] appearing as Fricka in Die Walküre. She also continued to appear regularly in Germany at the opera houses in Dortmund (1980–1983),^[1] Hanover (1983–1984) and Stuttgart (1985–1988).

Following a success as Kundry in Wagner's Parsifal at the 1983 Bayreuth Festival, Meier's international career gained momentum, and she had debuts at Covent Garden (1985) and the Metropolitan Opera (1987)^[2] (as Fricka, with James Levine conducting his first Das Rheingold at the Met).^[3]

She also had debuts at La Scala, the Opéra National in Paris, the Vienna State Opera and the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. She continued to appear regularly at Bayreuth as Kundry between 1983 and 1993.

1990s[link]

In addition to appearing as Kundry at Bayreuth, Meier continued to appear elsewhere in the role during the 1990s, including a 1991 production at La Scala under the baton of Riccardo Muti and at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, in a version staged by Klaus Michael Grüber and conducted by Semyon Bychkov. In 1992, she appeared for the first time as Kundry at the Metropolitan Opera, opposite Siegfried Jerusalem as Parsifal, with James Levine conducting. The New York Times reported: "Waltraud Meier, bringing her acclaimed performance as Kundry to the Met for the first time, was seductive and gentle in her first approach to Parsifal, holding in reserve a strength and determination that gave her singing an eerie calm."^[4] The following year, Meier returned to the Met as Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana. Of that performance, The New York Times wrote:

As Santuzza in "Cavalleria", Waltraud Meier was superb at the first performance on Friday evening, singing clearly and evenly throughout her range, carrying lines smoothly and coloring her tone richly. She gradually worked an incisive, telling edge into her voice without sacrificing its basic beauty; even her shrieks were musical. And she projected a riveting dramatic presence, convincingly fragile as well as ferocious.^[5]

During the 1990s, Meier also moved into roles within the dramatic soprano repertoire. Between 1993 and 1999, she appeared at Bayreuth as Isolde in Tristan und Isolde staged by Heiner Müller and conducted by Daniel Barenboim. In 1998 she added additional dramatic soprano roles, debuting as Leonore in Fidelio at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, again under the direction of Barenboim, and also appearing as Ortrud in a new Lohengrin production at the Bavarian State Opera.

2000s[link]

In 2000, Meier appeared again at Bayreuth, performing the role of Sieglinde in Die Walküre in the "Millennium Ring" at the 2000 festival staged by Jürgen Flimm and conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli with Plácido Domingo. She also appeared that year as Isolde at the Salzburg Festival, with Lorin Maazel conducting. In 2001 at the opening of the Munich Opera Festival, the singer made her debut in the role of Didon in Hector Berlioz's Les Troyens with Zubin Mehta conducting.

In 2003 Meier shared a Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording for her contributions as Venus in Tannhäuser under the direction of Daniel Barenboim. She devoted her 2003-2004 season exclusively to recitals and concerts. She performed in Bach's St Matthew Passion and toured throughout Europe, Russia and the United States with a recital program featuring works by Brahms, Schubert and Hugo Wolf.

She returned to the opera stage in 2004-2005, including appearances as Carmen in a new production at the Semper Oper in Dresden directed by Katarina Lauterbach. In 2005, she appeared again as Isolde, this time in a new production at the Opéra Bastille in Paris, staged by Peter Sellars and conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. She also returned to the Vienna State Opera as Kundry in Parsifal.

She returned as Kundry in the Met's Parsifal in 2006, appearing opposite Ben Heppner. The New York Times wrote:

The role of Kundry is that of a lone woman surrounded by men, but Waltraud Meier made it the star turn of the evening. Known as volatile both onstage and off, Ms. Meier is suited to the part, propelling herself into it like a wide-bore, high-explosive cannon shell. This was singing of fierceness and fearlessness, all of it pertinent to the persona she represented. Ms. Meier gives all and takes risks, and her audience went crazy for her.^[6]

Meier's 2007 performances include appearances as Isolde (Japan, Berlin, Munich, Milan), Leonore (Munich), Ortrud (Milan, Paris).

A CD featuring Meier and Breinl performing works by Franz Schubert and Richard Strauss, with her song accompanist Joseph Breinl was released in late 2007.^[7] Meier and Breinl are performing numerous recitals in 2007-08 in Japan, Germany, France, Austria, and Spain.^[8]

In July 2008, Meier appeared as Venus in a production of Tannhäuser in Baden-Baden, directed by Nikolaus Lehnhoff, conducted by Philippe Jordan, and also starring Robert Gambill (Tannhäuser), Stephen Milling (Herrmann), and Camilla Nylund (Elisabeth). The New York Times reported that "Ms. Meier, a musician with deep reserves of force and a gift for madness, was the perfect Venus." ^[9]

On 22 August 2009 she appeared in a televised concert performance of Fidelio at a Henry Wood Promenade Concert in London's Albert Hall in which she also spoke a narration. This was reported as her 2,000th professional engagement. It was conducted by Daniel Barenboim with the West Eastern Divan Orchestra.

In the London Daily Telegraph Rubert Christiansen wrote:

She looked wonderfully elegant and was in good voice - some wild top notes seemed a small price to pay for her total musical and dramatic involvement in Leonore's fate. What a true star and a trouper she is.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Waltraud Meier: photos, CDs, DVDs
• Pensées wagnériennes: Confessions à Waltraud Meier