  g(11696700)a(1393595))
| Rysanek Leonie | | soprano
[ 1926 - 1998 ]
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| Leonie Rysanek was born in Vienna on November 14th 1926; she died there March 7, 1998. She was a unique artist, almost from the start as we can hear in recordings from the start of her career, whether a recital album or Act 3 of DIE WALKÜRE from the 1951 Bayreuth Festival where her Sieglinde is already memorable. Rysanek's voice was always noted for its gleaming top, but her special qualities as a performer are not always apparent on disc where the visceral quality she\nbrought to all her performances was not as tangible as in the opera house. In 1959 she sang Lady Macbeth at the Metropolitan when Rudolf Bing unceremoniously fired Maria Callas. Between her\nDebut as Lady Macbeth on February 5, 1959 and her farewell performance as the Countess in THE QUEEN OF SPADES on January 2, 1996, Leonie\nRysanek sang two hundred and ninety-nine performances of twenty-four roles. She was featured in the Met premieres of MACBETH, NABUCCO, ARIADNE AUF NAXOS, DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN and KATYA KABANOVA. Her 1959 Lady Macbeth was recorded by RCA immediately; a veritable rarity at that time, and the recording remains at the top of the list for anyone seeking to find the essence of middle-period Verdi. Famous is a performance of THE FLYING DUTCHMAN, with George London in the title role and Thomas Schippers conducting, in which the audience remained in its seats during an entire intermission to applaud. And then there was the Kaiserin in DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN during the\nopening weeks of the new Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center, where Rysanek shared the stage with Christa Ludwig, Irene Dalis, James King and\nWalter Berry while Karl Böhm conducted a series of memorable performances that converted many to the Straussian fold. A whole book could be written about the various ways in which Rysanek could shriek, the cry in DIE WALKÜRE another unforgettable moment. Even Elsa in Rysanek's performance became a more positive figure than is usually the case, while her Chrysothemis was a\nworthy partner to Birgit Nilsson and Regina Resnik. In later years Rysanek sang mezzo roles such as Herodias or Klytemnestra with the same total engagement that marked her every appearance. \nWho can forget the soprano's appearances in the Italian repertory: a TOSCA partnered by Gabriel Bacquier in which she almost chewed the scenery, or the gutsiest Desdemona one ever saw, or an Elisabetta in DON CARLO where the intensity made up for the occasional vocal defect. There is much more, for everyone has his own list of memorable Rysanek performances. Leonie Rysanek was an artist, who made every appearance something special. |
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