Erika Wedekind

Erika Wedekind, complete name Frida Marianne Erica Wedekind, also Erika Oschwald, (13 November 1868 – 10 October 1944) was a German operatic soprano. She came from the family. Her brothers were the writers Frank Wedekind and . She was married since 1898 to the royal privy councillor Walther Oschwald.

Life and career Born in Hanover, Wedekind grew up at Lenzburg Castle in the Swiss canton of Aargau, and studied singing with the famous soprano and music teacher Aglaja Orgeni.

Wedekind made her debut in 1894 as Frau Fluth in The Merry Wives of Windsor by Otto Nicolai

Wedekind took part in the 1907 world premiere of the opera Die Schönen von Fogaras by Alfred Grünfeld, as well as in the Dresden premiere of Engelbert Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel. After she left the Dresden Court Opera in the same year, performances as a concert singer predominantly followed. Her brothers, the writers Donald and Frank Wedekind, who had no professional success at the time, received occasional financial support from her sister.

Wedekind was one of the first female coloratura sopranos in Germany and an outstanding representative of her field. She gave more than a thousand performances in Germany, Prague, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Budapest, Stockholm, Paris and London before becoming an internationally sought-after singing teacher between 1914 and 1930. From 1930 she lived in seclusion in Switzerland, where she died in Zürich in 1944 at the age of 75.

Awards In 1909 she was awarded the civic gold medal (to the well deserving) by the Ministry of the Royal House of Saxony for her achievements. She held the of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Königlich-sächsische Kammersängerin in Dresden