Christa Ludwig

Christa Ludwig

Known for: Acting
Biography: 1928-03-16
Deathday: 2021-04-24 (93 years old)

Biography

Christa Ludwig (16 March 1928 – 24 April 2021) was a German mezzo-soprano and sometime dramatic soprano, distinguished for her performances of opera, lieder, oratorio, and other major religious works like masses, passions, and solos in symphonic literature. Her performing career spanned almost half a century, from the late 1940s until the early 1990s.


She sang at many international opera houses and festivals, including at the Vienna State Opera from 1955 to 1994, and at the Metropolitan Opera in many roles. She is remembered for roles such as Mozart's Dorabella, Beethoven's Leonore in Fidelio, Wagner's Kundry, and both Octavian and the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss. In Vienna, she created the title role of Gottfried von Einem's Der Besuch der alten Dame in 1971.


She is widely recognised as having been one of the most significant and distinguished singers of the 20th century. The NPR Listener's Encyclopedia of Classical Music (2006) stated "Ludwig possessed a voice of exquisite richness and, when needed, breathtaking amplitude. She had the ability to impart dramatic urgency to a performance, the hallmark of a great singer."


Ludwig was born in Berlin to a musical family. Her father, Anton Ludwig, who began his singing career as a baritone and later moved into the tenor repertory, was also an opera administrator, and her mother, Eugenie Besalla-Ludwig, was a mezzo-soprano who sang at the Aachen Opera during Herbert von Karajan's period as conductor. Ludwig grew up in Aachen, where her first voice teacher was her mother. At age eight, she sang an aria of the Queen of the Night in Mozart's The Magic Flute.


At Aachen Conservatory, she studied piano, cello, flute and music theory. The family moved to Hanau when their home was bombed in 1944. She studied voice at the Musikhochschule Frankfurt.


Ludwig made her stage debut in 1946 at the age of 18 as Orlovsky in Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss at the Oper Frankfurt, where she sang until 1952. She was a member of the Staatstheater Darmstadt from 1952 to 1954, then sang for the 1954/55 season at the Staatsoper Hannover. She joined the Vienna State Opera in 1955, where she became one of its principal artists and was awarded the title Kammersängerin in 1962. She performed with the company for more than thirty years in 43 opera roles and 769 performances. In 1954, she made her debut at the Salzburg Festival as Cherubino in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, conducted by Karl Böhm, and appeared there regularly until 1981. At the Vienna State Opera, she created the title role of Gottfried von Einem's Der Besuch der alten Dame on 23 May 1971, conducted by Horst Stein and alongside Eberhard Waechter as her lover Alfred Ill. The performance was recorded by Deutsche Grammophon, and reissued on CD by Amadeo and later Orfeo. ...


Source: Article "Christa Ludwig" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Filmography

all 32

Movies 26

self 21

TV Shows 6

Information

Known For
Acting

Gender
Female

Birthday
1928-03-16

Deathday
2021-04-24 (93 years old)

Birth Place
Berlin, Germany

Relationships
Paul-Émile Deiber (1972-01-01 - 2011-12-14), Walter Berry (1957-01-01 - 1970-01-01)

Citizenships
France, Germany

Awards
Great Silver Medal of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria, Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres, Grand Officer of the National Order of Merit, Gramophone Award for Lifetime Achievement, Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Commander of the Legion of Honour, Berliner Bär

This article uses material from Wikipedia.

Last updated:

Leonard Bernstein
Christa Ludwig,
Leonard Bernstein worked together with Christa Ludwig in:
8 Movies
Humphrey Burton
Christa Ludwig,
Humphrey Burton worked together with Christa Ludwig in:
7 Movies
Herbert von Karajan
Christa Ludwig,
Herbert von Karajan worked together with Christa Ludwig in:
7 Movies
Walter Berry
Christa Ludwig,
Walter Berry worked together with Christa Ludwig in:
6 Movies
Gundula Janowitz
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Gundula Janowitz worked together with Christa Ludwig in:
6 Movies
MET Orchestra
Christa Ludwig,
MET Orchestra worked together with Christa Ludwig in:
3 Movies
Wiener Philharmoniker
Christa Ludwig,
Wiener Philharmoniker worked together with Christa Ludwig in:
3 Movies
Gustav Mahler
Christa Ludwig,
Gustav Mahler worked together with Christa Ludwig in:
3 Movies
Richard Wagner
Christa Ludwig,
Richard Wagner worked together with Christa Ludwig in:
3 Movies
Brian Large
Christa Ludwig,
Brian Large worked together with Christa Ludwig in:
3 Movies
René Kollo
Christa Ludwig,
René Kollo worked together with Christa Ludwig in:
3 Movies
Diane Kesling
Christa Ludwig,
Diane Kesling worked together with Christa Ludwig in:
3 Movies
James Levine
Christa Ludwig,
James Levine worked together with Christa Ludwig in:
3 Movies
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