ELISABETH SCHWARZKOPF (Jarocin, Poznań, 9.12.1915 – Schruns, 03.08.2006)
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf studied music, first as a contralto at the Berlin Hochschule, where she was a pupil of L. Mysz-Gmeiner in the field of singing, and also took courses in harmony and counterpoint, piano and viola. In the spring of 1938 she made her debut at the Berlin Opera, where she sang in Parsifal (as the flower girl). After playing minor roles for a while, she performed her first demanding roles as an agile soprano. In 1942 she performed in a Lieder concert in Vienna with such success that she was immortalised at the Staatsoper. In 1947 she toured England with the Vienna Staatsoper company: her success in Don Giovanni, opposite Seefried and Jurinac, earned her a series of engagements at Covent Garden, where she remained until 1951. In 1948 she made her debut in Italy, singing Mozart’s Requiem at the Sagra Musicale Umbra; a few months later she appeared at La Scala as the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro, conducted by Herbert von Karajan. In September 1951, she took part in the first performance of Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress at the Venice Festival. At the same time, she performed at the opera houses of La Scala and the Vienna Staatsoper, then sang in the United States, where she made her debut in 1955. In 1962 she made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera. In 1950 she was awarded the Lilli Lehmann Medal and in 1955 she received the 1st Orfeo d’oro, which was presented to her personally by Arturo Toscanini. Over the years she devoted herself more and more intensively to chamber music, gradually abandoning opera and bidding farewell in 1971 at a gala evening at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels. In 1984 she won the ‘Diapason d’Or’ record prize. In 1992 she was appointed ‘Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire’. She died in Schruns in 2006.
1 - Abendempfindung, KV523
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
2 - Das Veilchen, KV476
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
3 - Warnung, KV433 = 416c
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
4 - Ich möchte wohl der Kaiser sein, KV539
Franz Schubert
5 - Der Einsame, D800
Franz Schubert
6 - An Silvia, D891
Franz Schubert
7 - Romanze (da Rosamunde)
Robert Schumann
8 - Lied der Suleika: Wie mit innigstem Behagen, Op. 25 No.9
Robert Schumann
9 - Zwei venezianische Lieder, Op.25 Nos. 17,18
Robert Schumann
10 - Der Nußbaum, Op.25 No.3
Robert Schumann
11 - Die Kartenlegerin, Op.31 No.2
Hugo Wolf
12 - Lied der Mignon: Kennst du das Land
Hugo Wolf
13 - Das verlassese Mägdlein
Hugo Wolf
14 - In dem Schatten meiner Locken (da: Spanisches Liederbuch No.12)
Hugo Wolf
15 - Trau'nicht der Liebe (da: Spanisches Liederbuch No.29)
Hugo Wolf
16 - Wie lange schon (da: Spanisches Liederbuch No.11)
Hugo Wolf
17 - Die Zeigeunerin
Franz Schubert
18 - Seigkeit, D433
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari
19 - Preghiera (da: Il Canzoniere Op.17)
other interpreters: Geoffrey Parsons – Pianoforte
style: Romantic - Classical
running time: 67:50
format: CD - COMPILATION - ALBUM
registration date: 1967
publication: 1991
country: ITALY
label music: ERMITAGE
catalog: ERM – 109 ADD