Maria Radner

Maria Friderike Radner (; 7 May 1981 – 24 March 2015) was a German contralto who performed internationally in opera and in concerts. She studied at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf. She was described as an "extremely talented interpreter of Wagner's music" by Stern magazine and Abendzeitung. Possessing the "rare pitch of a true alto", was born in Düsseldorf and had a brother, Bozidar, and a sister, Anna. Her talent for singing remained unnoticed at school, but when she was 14, her parents introduced her to voice teacher Angelo Melzani, who told her, "I will get you into opera."

Vocal education (2000–2008) Radner pursued German studies for one semester, but left because she disliked it. She started training in an import–export business and had the best grades at the vocational school, but felt that it did not suit her. In the concert division of the 2007 Cantilena Singing Competition, she placed second out of 120 vocalists from 19 countries. In 2008, she played Cornelia in Handel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto at the Theater Hagen. It was to be her only engagement as an ensemble member at a theatre. She decided that it was "not her world" because she wanted to earn more, She gave a recital in June 2008. In 2009, she performed in a new production of Parsifal under Lorin Maazel in Valencia and in Arthur Honegger's Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher under the direction of Antonio Pappano at Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome.

Career (2009–2015) After graduating with distinction, Radner performed Schumann's Faust scenes under Jesús López-Cobos at the Teatro Real Madrid. She sang in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 conducted by Gianandrea Noseda at the Teatro Regio Torino. She performed a recital at Wahnfried on 16 August 2009 with works by Schubert, Brahms, Liszt and Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder. In December 2009, she sang the third lady in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte under Tomáš Netopil at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich in five performances.

In 2009 and 2010, Radner was part of a new production of Stravinsky's Rossignol by the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto. She then sang Beethoven's Missa Solemnis under Philippe Herreweghe at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. In the same year, she sang in Mahler's Symphony No. 2 (the Resurrection) under Pappano in Rome and Milan. In the summer of 2010, she was part of a new production of Elektra at her first summer Salzburg Festival under Daniele Gatti and Die Frau ohne Schatten, conducted by Christian Thielemann. In November 2011, she sang Siegfried's Erda in Leipzig under Ulf Schirmer. and the 11 February 2012 performance was recorded and broadcast by radio. In March 2012, she participated in Die Frau ohne Schatten at La Scala under Marc Albrecht. In the fall of 2012, she was at the Royal Opera House in London performing in three Wagner operas conducted by Pappano: the Erda in Siegfried and Rheingold during September and October, and the first norn in Götterdämmerung during October and November 2012.

Radner gave her final performance as the earth goddess Erda on 23 March 2015 in Wagner's Siegfried at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona.

Karen Cargill, quoted on 26 March 2015

Scottish mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill summarized "Maria Radner, my beloved friend" in The Guardian: "She was the most generous-spirited person I have ever met. Hysterical laughter, an obsession with all things Burberry, unadulterated passion for Bayern Munich and the warmest of hugs were things you could always be guaranteed of when you were with her. Her son and partner were her whole life." Further down Cargill qualified the latter, in that "Music was Maria's entire life until she met her partner and they had their son." Stern described photos of her private life, published one week prior in Bild, showing the young woman embraced by her partner Sascha Schenk in the soccer stadium with a scarf of FC Bayern Munich, and him holding their infant son, who is sitting on a motorbike. Stern wrote that "privately Radner was able to simply be Maria, the wife of insurance specialist Sascha S." Bild wrote – incorrectly – "They lived in Mettmann. She was travelling a lot professionally, while he looked after his insurance clients in Wuppertal." They were en route to Düsseldorf after Radner's and Bryjak's two performances in Wagner's Siegfried at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona.

The Metropolitan Opera issued a brief statement, mourning her "untimely and tragic death" and calling her "a gifted artist who touched the lives of many". The Deutsche Oper am Rhein expressed sympathy.

Discography Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin Choir / Wagner – Richard Wagner: Das Rheingold. 28 May 2013. PentaTone Classics. Gürzenich-Orchester Köln / Markus Stenz, conductor: Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 8. Oehms Classics; recording of a September 2011 live performance in the Philharmonie Köln. Maria Radner as Maria Egyptiaca (Part 2, Acta Sanctorum).