Enid Szantho

Enid Szánthó (15 March 1907 – 1997, buried 21 April 1997) was a Hungarian operatic contralto. From 1928, she belonged to the ensemble of the Vienna State Opera and appeared at the Bayreuth Festival from 1930, first as Erda in Der Ring des Nibelungen. She gave guest performances in opera and concert in Florence, London, Berlin, Paris, and New York at the Metropolitan Opera, where she made her debut as Fricka in 1938. Her career was de facto ended later that year when Austria came under the Nazi regime.

Life and career Born in Budapest on 15 March 1907,

She fled to the United States where she sang some performances at the Metropolitan Opera. In the autumn of 1945, she appeared in four opera and operetta productions of the New York City Opera, as Mary in Wagner's The Flying Dutchman, Czipra in The Gypsy Baron by Johann Strauss, Martha in Gounod's Faust and Ludmilla in Smetana's The Bartered Bride. In 1946, she sang in Paris with the ensemble of the City Opera at the Paris Opéra-Comique, as Mary, but found no permanent place of work. She earned her living as a singing teacher at the University of Michigan After 1946, there are no traces left.

She was buried in London on 21 April 1997.

Reception Szánthó was regarded as one of the world's best contraltos of her time, especially in the dramatic roles of Strauss, Verdi, and Wagner. Her expressive, dramatic voice was generally praised. and in his Third Symphony, conducted there in 1933 by Eugen Szenkar. She performed in the world premiere of Franz Schmidt's oratorio Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln in Vienna on 15 June 1938, At the New York Public Library, she performed works by her compatriot Béla Bartók.

Recordings Szánthó's voice is documented in several recordings from the Vienna State Opera, for example as Schwertleite in excerpts from Die Walküre on 1 March 1933, conducted by Krauss.