Gladys Kuchta

Gladys Kuchta ( born June 16, 1915 in Chikopee / Massachusetts, † October 7, 1998 in Hamburg) was an American singer in the vocal range soprano.

Life and artistic work

Her family came from Poland. She completed her studies at the Mannes School and at the Juilliard School of Music in New York. One of her teachers was singing Zinaida Lisitchkina. In the early 1950s, she continued her vocal studies in Italy, where she made her debut in 1952 in Florence, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni. A year later she took an engagement at the Municipal Theatre of Flensburg. From 1954 to 1958 she was part of the ensemble of the Staatstheater Kassel. Subsequently, she was member of the ensemble at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. There was the artist, one day after her 60th birthday, her farewell performance as Isolde in Tristan und Isolde.

Gladys Kuchta sang on the great opera stages of the world, among others in Vienna, London, Dresden, Dusseldorf, Florence, Stuttgart, Munich, Bayreuth, San Francisco, Buenos Aires, Edinburgh, Hamburg, Rome, New York, Stockholm, Paris, etc. She has worked with the greatest conductors of the time, especially Karl Böhm, Herbert von Karajan, Lorin Maazel and Leopold Ludwig. The soprano appeared in 1969 at the first studio opera overall color production for television with. She embodied the Elektra in the eponymous opera by Richard Strauss. Another highlight of her international career was the guest of the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 1963 in Tokyo. There she sang the first Isolde in Asia.

In addition to her stage presence, the artist was engaged worldwide as a recital and concert singer. In addition, she worked as a singing teacher at the Folkwang School in Essen. Her students have included Albert Dohmen, Hans- Peter König, Andreas Förster, Vuokko Kekäläinen etc.

Role repertoire (selection)

  • Isolde ( Tristan and Isolde )
  • Elektra, CHRYSOTHEMIS ( Elektra )
  • Amelia ( A Masked Ball)
  • Brünnhilde ( Siegfried )
  • Turandot ( Turandot )
  • Leonore ( Fidelio )
  • Aida ( Aida )
  • Sieglinde, Brünnhilde ( Die Walküre )
  • Brünnhilde ( Twilight of the Gods )
  • Lady Macbeth (Macbeth )
  • Abigail (Nabucco )
  • Elsa ( Lohengrin )
  • Dyer's Wife ( Die Frau ohne Schatten )
  • Senta ( Der Fliegende Holländer )
  • Ursula ( Mathis der Maler )
  • Elettra ( Idomeneo )
  • Marie ( Wozzeck )

Discography

  • Fidelio ( with Julius Patzak ) Label: Nonesuch / Gala
  • Elektra ( with Ingrid Bjoner, Regina Resnik, Hans Sotin ) Label: Ponto 1969
  • Turandot ( with Monserrat Caballe ) Label: Premiere Opera 1965
  • State Theatre (UA M.Kagel ) Label: DGG 1971
  • Wedding Dreams, Label: DGG / Favourite 1994
  • The Tales of Hoffmann, Label: DGG / Resonance 1997
Siegfried (opera) Macbeth (opera) Mathis der Maler (opera) Integrated Authority File
267679
de