Martha Mödl

Martha Mödl (22 March 1912, Nuremberg – 17 December 2001, Stuttgart) was a German soprano, and later a mezzo-soprano. She specialized in large dramatic roles such as Isolde, Brünnhilde, and particularly Kundry, and is considered, along with Astrid Varnay and Birgit Nilsson, one of the three major postwar Wagner sopranos. She was among the preeminent Wagner sopranos—and most compelling singing actresses—of the twentieth century. She was celebrated for her highly individualized interpretations, exceptional acting ability, intense stage presence, and "rich, sexy voice."

Her career peaked in the early and mid-1950s, which included her Brünnhilde in Wilhelm Furtwängler's famous 1954 studio recording of Die Walküre and his 1953 live recording of Der Ring des Nibelungen (his only uncut recording of the cycle), along with the title role from Fidelio with the same conductor also in 1953 (at first live and then in studio), and Isolde in Herbert von Karajan's 1952 Tristan und Isolde, live from Bayreuth. There have been fully ten recordings of her Kundry released commercially, most associated with the Bayreuth Festival, all from 1949 to 1959. Although she is most known for her portrayals of Wagner's major heroines from 1951 to 1955, her continuous performing career (as mezzo-soprano after the 1950s) lasted in excess of half a century, well into the singer's eighties, through which her acting abilities remained intact. Having made her debut as Hänsel in Remscheid in 1942, she then added Cherubino, Mignon and Azucena to her roles. Moving to Düsseldorf, she began performing Dorabella, Venus, Octavian, Eboli, Carmen and Klytemnestra.

Three essentially complete recordings of her Brünnhilde (all three live) have been published: the 1953 and 1955 Ring cycles conducted by Joseph Keilberth, and the 1953 Rome Ring cycle under Furtwängler. The Rome Cycle is frequently cited as being among the best cycles ever recorded, combining the century's leading Wagnerian conductor with an all-star cast and decent sound. (Furtwängler very pointedly passed over the more-famous Varnay for Mödl as the female lead.) The 1955 cycle's Siegfried has not been released, though Brünnhilde appears only for that opera's final duet. The Walküre from this production, along with Keilberth's Walküre from 1954 (discussed below), represent the two occasions on which Mödl and her great contemporary Astrid Varnay sang the two leading women opposite one another; in this case, Mödl was Brünnhilde.

Kundry, however, was to be her defining role, singing it at every Bayreuth production from 1951 to 1959 except for 1958, most famously in 1951, the year the festival re-opened, under Knappertsbusch, and in 1953, under Clemens Krauss. Furtwängler had engaged her to sing Brünnhilde for his studio recording of the Ring, of which, due to his death in 1954, only Die Walküre was ever recorded. The conductor commented: "Other singers can sing what they like; you'll always recognise them. With Martha Mödl, her voice identifies so closely with the role that you are only aware of the character on stage." and in 1970 she appeared in The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny in Cologne.

From the 1970s, Mödl appeared in character parts: Grandmother Buryjovka, the Countess in The Queen of Spades in Nice (1989) which she was still performing in Mannheim at the age of 87.

Selected discography Her complete discography can be found here.

Parsifal, 1951 (conducted by Hans Knappertsbusch) Oedipus Rex, 1951 (conducted by the composer) Tristan und Isolde, 1952 (Herbert von Karajan) Parsifal, 1953 (Clemens Krauss) Fidelio, 1953 (Wilhelm Furtwängler, both the live and studio recordings) Fidelio, 1953 (Herbert von Karajan) Der Ring des Nibelungen, 1953 (Wilhelm Furtwängler, as Brünnhilde) Der Ring des Nibelungen, 1953 (Joseph Keilberth, as Brünnhilde) Die Walküre, 1954 (Wilhelm Furtwängler, as Brünnhilde) Die Walküre, 1954 (Joseph Keilberth, as Sieglinde, the only recording in which Nilsson, Varnay, and Mödl sing together) Der Ring des Nibelungen, 1955 (Joseph Keilberth, second cycle, as Brünnhilde) Elektra, 1964 (Herbert von Karajan) The Queen of Spades - VHS, 1992 (Seiji Ozawa), as the Countess Lieder: Schubert, Wagner (Wesendonck-Lieder), Wolf, Mahler, Schumann, R. Strauss

Selected filmography The Merry Wives of Windsor (1950)