Christa Ludwig

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.

Early life and education 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, 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. The performance was recorded by Deutsche Grammophon, and reissued on CD by Amadeo and later Orfeo.

She first performed in the U.S. at the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Dorabella in Mozart's Così fan tutte in 1959. The same year, she appeared at the Metropolitan Opera (Met) in New York City as Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro, conducted by Erich Leinsdorf. Louis Biancolli wrote in his review for the World Telegram and Sun: She subsequently sang 121 performances in 15 roles with the Met, where she quickly became one of the audience's favourites. Her next role, again in trousers, was Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier by Strauss, in a live broadcast conducted by Leinsdorf, with Lisa Della Casa as the Marschallin, Elisabeth Söderström as Sophie, and Oskar Czerwenka in his Met debut as Ochs. Her repertoire there also included The Dyer's Wife in the Met's first performances of Die Frau ohne Schatten by Richard Strauss, then (in 1969) the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, Klytemnestra in Elektra, Ortrud in Wagner's Lohengrin, Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde, Fricka in both Das Rheingold and Die Walküre, Waltraute in Götterdämmerung, Kundry in Parsifal, the title role in Beethoven's Fidelio, Didon in Les Troyens by Berlioz, Charlotte in Massenet's Werther, and Amneris in Verdi's Aida. She performed as a soloist with orchestras, including works by Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Wolf, Mahler and Strauss. She was one of few women to tackle and record Schubert's Winterreise. and the Mass in B minor the same year, Karajan's third recording of the work, with Leontyne Price, Nicolai Gedda, Gérard Souzay and her husband Walter Berry. She recorded Bach's Christmas Oratorio conducted by Karl Richter in 1965, with Gundula Janowitz, Fritz Wunderlich and Franz Crass. She performed Mahler's Second Symphony with Bernstein in 1967. Her final live operatic performance was as Klytemnestra in Elektra for the Vienna State Opera in December 1994. an English translation by Regina Domeraski titled In My Own Voice was published in 1999. Her second memoir, "Leicht muss man sein": Erinnerungen an die Zukunft ("One must be lighter": memories of the future), as told to Erna Cuesta and Franz Zoglauer, was published in 2018.

Ludwig died at her home in Klosterneuburg, Austria in April 2021, at the age of 93.

Decorations and awards

1962: Austrian Kammersängerin 1969: Austrian Decoration for Science and Art 1980: Silver Rose of the Vienna Philharmonic 1980: Golden Gustav Mahler Medal 1981: Honorary Member of the Vienna State Opera 1994: Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria 2007: Grand Decoration of Honour in Silver for Services to the Republic of Austria 2008: Lifetime Achievement Award at Midem 2008: Saeculum-Glashütte Original Music Festival award at the Dresden Music Festival 2008: Honorary doctorate from the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music, Warsaw 2010: Hugo Wolf Medal of the 2016: Lifetime Achievement Award at the Gramophone Awards 2018: Lifetime Achievement Award at the Opus Klassik