Ursula Boese

Ursula Boese (27 July 1928 – 25 October 2016) was a German operatic contralto. A member of the Hamburg State Opera from 1960 to 1993, she pursued an international career. She appeared as Stravinsky's Iocaste at the San Francisco Opera in the presence of the composer, as Wagner's Fricka in Wieland Wagner's last production of the Ring Cycle at the Bayreuth Festival, and as Verdi's Ulrica alongside Luciano Pavarotti.

Life Born in Hamburg, Boese studied voice at the Musikhochschule Hamburg in her hometown, graduating with a diploma, and began as a concert singer during her studies. She sang several roles there, including Fricka in the Ring Cycle in 1965, staged by Wieland Wagner.

She became a member of the Hamburg State Opera (HSO) in 1960, She was awarded the title Hamburgische Kammersängerin on 21 May 1969 by Rolf Liebermann. and in 1963 at La Scala in Milan as Iocaste in Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex.