Lilly Hafgren

Lilly Johanna Maria Hafgren, also Lilly Hafgren-Waag, Lilly Hafgren-Dinkela, (7 October 1884, Stockholm — 27 February 1965, Berlin) was a Swedish operatic soprano who performed mainly in Germany. After studying in Frankfurt and Milan, in 1908 she made her debut in Bayreuth as Freia in Wagner's Rheingold. She went on to perform in a variety of roles at the Hofteater in Mannheim and at the Hofoper in Berlin. In the 1920s she appeared widely across Europe, including at Milan's La Scala, the Vienna Opera and the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm. Her final engagement was with the Dresen State Opera (1934–35). She is remembered above all for her leading soprano roles in the operas of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. Among her successes in this period were Elsa in Wagner's Lohengrin and Sieglinde in Die Walküre.

While at the Hofoper in Berlin (1912–1920), she sang Élisabeth in the German premiere of the later version of Verdi's Don Carlos in 1913. Other roles included the Countess in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, Leonora in Beethoven's Fidelio, Agata in Carl Maria von Weber's Der Freischütz, the title roles in Bizet's Carmen and Puccini's Tosca, and the Empress in Richard Strauss's Die Frau ohne Schatten. In 1920, she sang the Empress in the premiere of Richard Strauss's Die Frau ohne Schatten. Also while in Berlin, in 1913 at the Schauspielhaus she sang the title role in the premiere of Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos.

From 1921, she appeared in the principal opera houses of Europe. In addition to those throughout Germany, these included Vienna, Basel, Prague, Rome, Lyon and Monte Carlo. In the spring of 1926, she spent two weeks in Stockholm where she performed her Wagner roles with the tenor Oscar Ralf under the baton of Armas Järnefelt. She spent no less than seven seasons at Milan's La Scala singing her Wagner roles under Arturo Toscanini. These included Brünnhilde in Die Walküre (1925–26) and the same role in 1924–25 in the full cycle of Der Ring des Nibelungen.

In 1934, she was engaged by the Dresden Staatsoper. Quite unexpectedly, in 1935 following her appearance in Die Frau ohne Schatten she announced her retirement. Despite the efforts of Richard Strauss who had conducted the work, she never returned to the stage. She spent the remainder of her life with her husband Georg Dinkela in Berlin.

Lilly Hafgren died in Berlin on 27 February 1965, aged 81.