Lotte Lehmann

Lotte Lehmann, actually Charlotte, ( born February 27, 1888 in Pearl, Brandenburg, † August 26, 1976 in Santa Barbara, California ) was a German and American opera singer.

It belonged beside Erna Berger, Elisabeth Grummer, Hilde Güden, Martha Mödl and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf one of the outstanding German sopranos of the 20th century and was also known as a writer and poet.

Life

Youth and Education

Born in Pearl Mountain in the Prussian Brandenburg grew Lotte Lehmann in the budget of a small officials, the father had at least a pretty tenor and sang in Perleberger glee club with the same devotion to duty with which he did his job. Vocal talent was obviously present in the family Lotte Lehmann; an early deceased aunt should have had after the family tradition, the voice of an angel. Even as a student Lotte Lehmann appeared in the auditorium of their school. My father, however, envisioned a " regular " job for her before, he thought mainly to " teacher ". She proved willpower and determination in their desire to become a singer. They passed the entrance examination at the Berlin Royal Academy of Music with the Siebel aria from Gounod's Faust and the aria "Jerusalem" from Mendelssohn's Paulus.

Later she moved to the private school of singing the Elka Gerster, which was still protegriert Verdi personally and serious rival of Adelina Patti was that famous coloratura soprano, - and failed. During the time in Hamburg she confided in a wide variety of teachers, as Alma Schadow, Hedwig Francillo - merchant or Catherine Fleischer - Edel.

Great voice

After studying with Prof. Luise Götz (born Devrient ) at the Munich Academy of Music, she began her stage career as a singer in the fall of 1910 at the Hamburg Opera, and debuted as the second boy in The Magic Flute, with great success. Lehmann always remained a statiöse singer, her wide -area face, her powerful figure were from the glamorous flair of a Jeritza.

In 1914, the Prussian Lehmann to acclaimed and beloved star of the Viennese court and later the State Opera. In 1916 she established herself there in the second version of Ariadne auf Naxos, at the request of Strauss and Schalk. During the long-standing involvement in Vienna until 1938, it grew to become the world-famous Wagner and Strauss roles. She has performed in Salzburg, Paris, London, Buenos Aires, Chicago, San Francisco and New York City.

Since they do not demand the Goring followed after 1933, is classified as a world-famous singer in the Nazi art world, their performances were impossible during the time of National Socialism in Germany. After the annexation of Austria to the German Reich, she emigrated like many other Nazi victims and found a new home in the United States where she worked among other things as a director. From 1938 to 1951, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the center of her life as an artist, from which they inspired the Americans with their singing talents and touching role incarnation.

In 1951, she announced during a concert at New York's Town Hall, the end of her stage career. She then worked as a singing teacher, first in New York and later in Santa Barbara, California. Your most significant student from that time is the American soprano Grace Bumbry. Judith Beckmann also was taught by her. 1963 Lotte Lehmann was awarded the Honorary Ring of the City of Vienna, 1964, the Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In August 1976, she passed away in Santa Barbara and was on 24 February 1977 in Vienna's Central Cemetery (Group 32 C, number 49) buried in a grave of honor in Vienna. This was her wish come true, to find their final resting place in Vienna, where she had spent the happiest time of her life. Until her death on August 26, 1976 in Santa Barbara, she was restlessly active. On her grave stone is a quote from the composer Richard Strauss was engraved: "She has sung that it touched the stars. "

Leo Slezak she described as follows:

" She possessed the secret, the only secret we have: heart. A sound that comes from the heart, the receiver goes to the heart, maybe he does not even know what actually caused him such joy, what makes him so happy and satisfied. "

In 1996 ( 22nd District ) of the Lotte Lehmann road was named after her in Vienna Danube city.

On the Walk of Fame in Hollywood her a star has been awarded, amounting to find 1735 Hollywood Blvd. Falsely her first name is written there " Lottie ".

Works

• Beginning and advancement. Memoirs. Reichner Verlag, Wien 1937
• Midway in my songs. Autobiography. Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn. 1970
• More than singing. The interpretation of songs. Boose & Hawkes, London 1945
• My many lives. Boose & Hawkes, New York 1948
• Orplid, my country. Roman Reichner Verlag, Wien 1937.
• Verses in prose. Publisher Hugo Heller Bukum - A.G. , Vienna 1923