Everything about Elisabeth Schwarzkopf totally explained
Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf,
DBE, (
December 9,
1915 –
August 3,
2006) was a
German-born
Austrian/
British opera singer and recitalist. She was one of the leading
sopranos of the post-
World War II period, much admired for her performances of
Mozart,
Strauss and
Hugo Wolf.
Early life
Olga Maria Elisabeth Friederike Schwarzkopf was born in
Jarotschin in the
province of Posen in
Prussia (since 1919 part of
Poland) to Friedrich Schwarzkopf and his wife, Elisabeth nee Fröhling. Schwarzkopf showed an interest in music from an early age. She performed in her first opera in 1928, as
Eurydice in a school production of
Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice in
Magdeburg,
Germany. In 1934, Schwarzkopf began her musical studies at the
Berlin Hochschule für Musik. However at the suggestion of the baritone
Karl Schmitt-Walter, she switched teachers and started working with the celebrated
coloratura soprano Maria Ivogün as well as with her husband, the noted pianist
Michael Raucheisen. Ivogün's advice to her new pupil was, "Be noble, my child!"
Early career
Schwarzkopf made her professional debut at
Berlin's
State Opera on
15 April,
1938, as the Second Flower Maiden (First Group) in Act II of
Richard Wagner's
Parsifal. She sang in Berlin for four years, during which time she became a member of the
Nazi Party (a decision which later caused her to be boycotted in the
United States for several years). However, she was always welcomed and acclaimed in countries other than the U.S.
In 1942, she joined the
Vienna State Opera, where her roles included Konstanze in
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's
Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Musetta and later Mimì in
Giacomo Puccini's
La bohème and Violetta in
Giuseppe Verdi's
La traviata.
Post-war career
In 1945, Schwarzkopf was granted Austrian citizenship to enable her to sing in the
Vienna State Opera (
Wiener Staatsoper). In 1947 and 1948, Schwarzkopf appeared on tour with the Vienna State Opera at
London's
Royal Opera House at
Covent Garden on
16 September,
1947 as Donna Elvira in Mozart's
Don Giovanni and at
La Scala on
28 December,
1948, as the Countess in
Mozart's
Le nozze di Figaro, which became one of her signature roles.
Schwarzkopf later made her official debut at the Royal Opera House on
16 January 1948, as Pamina in Mozart's
Die Zauberflöte, in performances sung in English, and at La Scala on
29 June,
1950 singing
Beethoven's Missa Solemnis. Schwarzkopf's association with the Milanese house in the early
1950s gave her the opportunity to sing certain roles on stage for the only time in her career: Mélisande in
Pelléas et Mélisande, Jole in
Handel's
Eracle, Marguerite in
Gounod's
Faust, Elsa in Wagner's
Lohengrin, as well as her first Marschallin in
Strauss'
Der Rosenkavalier and her first Fiordiligi in Mozart's
Così fan tutte at the Piccola Scala. On
11 September 1951, she appeared as Anne Trulove in the world premiere of
Stravinsky's
The Rake's Progress. Schwarzkopf made her American debut with the
San Francisco Opera on
20 September,
1955 as the Marschallin, and her debut at the
Metropolitan Opera on
19 December,
1964, also as the Marschallin.
In March 1946, Schwarzkopf was invited to audition for
Walter Legge, an influential British classical record producer and a founder of the
Philharmonia. Legge asked her to sing
Hugo Wolf's
lied Wer rief dich denn? and, impressed, signed her to an exclusive contract with
EMI. They began a close partnership and Legge subsequently became Schwarzkopf's manager and companion. They were married on
19 October 1953 in
Epsom,
Surrey; Schwarzkopf thus acquired British citizenship by marriage. Schwarzkopf would divide her time between
lieder recitals and opera performances for the rest of her career.
When invited in 1958 to select her eight favourite records on the
BBC's
Desert Island Discs, Schwarzkopf famously chose seven of her own recordings as they evoked fond memories of the people she'd worked with. This apparently narcissistic choice was due to the influence of her husband Walter Legge. In private, she remarked that she disliked many of her recordings.
In the
1960s, Schwarzkopf concentrated nearly exclusively on five operatic roles: Donna Elvira in
Don Giovanni, Countess Almaviva in
Le nozze di Figaro, Fiordiligi in
Così fan tutte, Countess Madeleine in Strauss'
Capriccio, and the Marschallin. She also was well received as Alice Ford in
Verdi's
Falstaff. However, on the EMI label she made several "champagne operetta" recordings like
The Merry Widow and
The Gypsy Baron.
Schwarzkopf's last operatic performance was as the Marschallin on
31 December,
1971, in the theater of
La Monnaie in
Brussels. For the next several years, she devoted herself exclusively to lieder recitals.
On
17 March,
1979, Legge suffered a severe heart attack. He disregarded doctor's orders to rest and attended Schwarzkopf's final recital two days later in
Zürich. Three days later, he died.
After retiring, Schwarzkopf taught and gave
master classes around the world, notably at the
Juilliard School in
New York. She was well-known for being an extremely demanding, exacting teacher. Some even called her methods unnecessarily harsh. After living in
Switzerland for many years, she took up residence in
Vorarlberg,
Austria.
She was made a doctor of music by
Cambridge University in 1976, and became a Dame of the
Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1992.
Schwarzkopf died in her sleep during the night of 2–3
August 2006 at her home in the village of
Schruns, in Vorarlberg, western Austria, aged 90.
Immediately following her death, an
urban myth resurfaced: that she was an aunt of
Norman Schwarzkopf. This myth was published in several obituaries. However, the parents of
Norman Schwarzkopf, Sr. were Julius George Schwarzkopf and Agnes Sarah Schmidt whereas Elisabeth's were Friedrich Schwarzkopf and Elisabeth Fröhling. Also, Elisabeth was an only child.
Legacy
During her career, Schwarzkopf was much admired for her artistry and for her timeless beauty.
She leaves a discography that's considerable both in quality and in quantity and will be mostly remembered for her Mozart and Strauss portrayals, her two commercial recordings of
Richard Strauss'
Four Last Songs, and her countless recordings of lieder, especially those of
Hugo Wolf.
The Elisabeth Schwarzkopf/Walter Legge Society, chaired by Dr Daphne Kerslake, continues to keep alive her name.
Quotes
- (After being asked about Peter Sellars) "There are names I don't want mentioned in my home. Do not say that name in my presence. I've seen what he's done, and it's criminal. As my husband used to say, so far no one has dared go into the Louvre Museum to spray graffiti on the Mona Lisa, but some opera directors are spraying graffiti over masterpieces." — Newsweek interview, 15 October, 1990
"Many composers today don't know what the human throat is. At Bloomington, Indiana, I was invited to listen to music written in quarter tones for four harps and voices. I'd to go out to be sick." — Newsweek interview, 15 October, 1990Further Information
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