  g(11696700)a(1393595))
| | Ludwig Christa | | mezzosoprano |  
| Her father, Anton Ludwig (1888-1957) was first a baritone, then a tenor, and finally director of several theaters including Generalintendant of Stadttheaters in Aachen. Her mother, Eugenie Ludwig-Besalla (1899-1993) had a successful career as a contralto. Christa Ludwig was trained first by her mother, then at the Musikhochschule at Frankfort am Main. She also studied with the great soprano Felicie Hüni-Mihaczek in Munich. She made her debut in 1946 in Frankfurt. as Orlofsky and remained there until 1962, when she moved to the Darmstadt Staatstheater. In 1954-55 she appeared at the state theater of Hannover and in 1955 was invited to the Vienna Staatsoper, beginning the rapid rise of her international career. She remained with the Vienna opera for more than four decades, her true artistic home. There, she sang the world premieres of Der Sturm by Frank Martin (17 June 1956) and as Clair in von Einem's Der Besuch der alten Dame (23 May 1971). For years she was at the center of the Salzburg Festival: from 1955-61 and in 1964 as Dorabella in Cosí fan tutte; 1955-58 and 1960 as Cherubino, in 1955-56 she was heard in Die Zauberflöte, in1955 as Strauss' Komponist, in 1962-63 as Iphigénie in Gluck's Iphigénie in Aulide. In 1960 and 1975 she appeared as Eboli, 1981-82 Quickly in Falstaff, 1964 as Leonore in Fidelio, and in 1974 as the Empress in Frau ohne Schatten. She participated in the world premieres of Liebermann's Schule der Frauen, (1957) and Carl Orff's De temporum fine comoedia(1973), and continued to perform in concerts, oratorios and Lieder concerts until 1990. Guest appearances in La Scala, Milan, and the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatsopern of Munich and Hamburg, and the Brussels opera house contributed to her world reputation. Her North American debut was as Dorabella in 1959 in Chicago. In December 1959 she made her debut at the Met as Cherubino, followed by Charlotte in Werther the Empress in Frau ohne Schatten, Klytemnestra in Elektra, Octavian and (1968) the Marschallin, Dido in Les Troyens, Leonore in Fidelio, Fricka, Ortrud, Kundry and (1988-90) Fricka and Waltraute in Götterdämmerung - altogether fourteen different roles in eleven seasons. At the Bayreuth Festival she sang Brangäne (1966) and Kundry (1967). In 1976 she was a guest at Covent Garden in London as Carmen and Amneris. At the Paris Grand Opéra she sang the Empress, Ottavia in Monteverdi's Incoronazione di Poppea and Fricka. Her great career lasted with undiminished glamour for more than 40 years. In 1990 she was a guest in Innsbruck as Klytemnestra and in 1991 she gave a major Lieder recital in London's Wigmore Hall. In February, 1995 she gave her farewell performance in Vienna in the role of Klytemnestra. Christa Ludwig belongs to the most important singers of her generation. The high musicality of her voice, her great range, secure style and her ability to characterize musical and dramatic terms could not be admired sufficiently in her huge opera and concert repetoire. She was married for the first time to bass-baritone Walter Berry (1957-68). Her second marriage was to the French director Paul-Émile Deiber. Memoirs: ...und ich wäre so gern Primadonna gewesen (...and I would have liked to be a Primadonna) (1994). Reference: P. Lorenz: Christa Ludwig, Walter-Berry (Vienna, 1968). Recordings (complete works only): Columbia (Fidelio, Carmen, Rosenkavalier), Decca/London (Così fan tutte, Zauberflöte, Parsifal, Un ballo in Maschera, Mahler's Second Symphony), Philips (Nozze di Figaro, Elektra, Hänsel und Gretel), CBS (Rosenkavalier, Hänsel und Gretel), Melodram (Giulio Cesare, Rienzi), RCA (Samson et Dalila), DGG (Die Walküre, Mahler's Second Symphony, Matthäuspassion), Amadeo-Polygram (Der Besuch der alten Dame). |
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