Erna Schlüter

Erna Schlüter (5 February 1904 – 1 December 1969) was a German operatic dramatic soprano and voice teacher. Beginning as a contralto at the Oldenburgisches Staatstheater in 1922, she moved to the Mannheim National Theatre in 1925 where her voice developed to dramatic soprano, to the Stadttheater Düsseldorf in 1930 where she appeared in 1933 in the world premiere of Winfried Zillig's Der Rossknecht and was awarded the title Kammersängerin. Her last station, from 1940, was the Hamburg State Opera.

Schlüter received European recognition when she appeared as a guest at the Oper Frankfurt, as Brünnhilde in three parts of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. She then sang the role at the Waldoper festival and the Liceu in Barcelona, among others. For conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, she was the ideal Isolde, and for composer Richard Strauss the ideal Elektra, when he heard her at the Royal Opera House in London in 1947, conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham. The Erna Schlüter Prize for young singers was established in her memory.

Life Born in Oldenburg, Schlüter made her stage debut as a contralto at the Oldenburgisches Staatstheater in 1922,

Schlüter died in Hamburg aged 65. She was buried in the in Oldenburg. In January 2005, a private initiative in Oldenburg founded the Erna Schlüter Society Oldenburg. The society awards a singing prize for young singers, The Erna Schlüter Prize. The first recipients in 2005 were the soprano Anja Metzger and the tenor Daniel Behle. In June 2007, the mezzo-soprano received the prize. In May 2010, the prize was awarded to the soprano and the bass-baritone Derrick Ballard, in 2013 to the mezzo-soprano Geneviève King, and in 2015 to the mezzo-soprano .

Recordings The CD-Edition Erna Schlüter contains arias, scenes, concert pieces and Lieder by Beethoven, Weber, Marschner, Halévy, Wagner, R. Strauss, Wolf, Stephan and Braunfels / 2 boxes of 5 CDs, published by the Hamburger Archiv für Gesangskunst: