Marta Fuchs in rehearsal for Der Rosenkavalier at the Staatsoper (1937)Marta Fuchs with Heinz Tietjen and Ivar Andresen at the Bayreuther Festspielen, 1936
Marta Fuchs (January 1, 1898 - September 22, 1974) was a German concert and operatic dramatic soprano.
Marta Fuchs grew up in an artistic family, her father being a painter, member of the board of the guild and a city councillor. In later years he put his efforts into managing his daughter's career. Marta attended the Königin-Katharina-Stift High School in Stuttgart and studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst, the College of Music in Stuttgart. In 1923 at the age of 25, she began her career as a soprano singing concerts and oratories. After undergoing further voice and drama training in Stuttgart, she made her debut as an operatic soprano at the state theatre in Aachen in 1928 with Gluck's Orpheus, Azucena in Verdi's Troubadour and with Carmen.
From 1933 to 1942, she was a central figure at the Bayreuther Festspiele, where she played Isolde, Kundry and especially Brünnhilde. On February 20, 1935 she played the part of Maria Tudor in the premiere of Rudolf Wagner-Régeny's Der Günstling.
She remained distant from the National Socialist regime. In 1936, she told Hitler, "Mr Hitler, you are going to make war!" After Hitler's protestation, she replied, "I don't trust you." In May 1939 Hitler greeted her asking, "Now, have I made war?" Fuchs replied, "I still don't trust you!"[2] During the years of National Socialism, using her personal acquaintance with Hitler and Göring, she used her reputation in the petitions to allow the continuation of the anthroposophical work in Germany. On 25 June 1941 she used her influence on behalf of the Christian Community, whose priests had been interned, property confiscated and further work prohibited.[1][3]
In 1941, she sang Fidelio-Leonore at the Rome Opera.
After a performance of Leo Janáček’s Jenůfa in 1944, in which she sang the role of Kostelnička, the philosopher Fyodor Stepun wrote to her: “A true and ultimate unity unity between drama and song and through this a true fulfilment of the opera I have to date found realised only in the monumental comedy of the genius Schljapin and in your so completely different priestly, internalised art and if you have accomplished such a successful rendition, the cause lies not least in the fact that your playing moves not in the naturalistic-psychological but rather in the space of mystery-tragedy.” Wilhelm Furtwängler wrote after one of the Isoldes on 3 February 1944 in Berlin: Such a beautiful rendition and such a transfiguration in the death through love he had never experienced…[1]
After the destruction of Dresden on 13 February 1945, she fled to her house on the Tegernsee, then to Stuttgart where she gave guest appearances at the Stuttgart Opera, at conferences of the Christian Community and in 1948 at the conference for Waldorf teachers.[1]
She died in the old-age home in Stuttgart-Sonnenberg on 22 September 1974.
Dame Gwyneth Jones is a Welsh dramatic soprano, widely regarded as one of the greatest Wagnerian sopranos in the second half of the 20th century.
Lisa Kinkead Gasteen AO, is an Australian operatic soprano, known for her performances of the works of Wagner. She won the Cardiff Singer of the World competition in 1991. She did not perform between 2008 and 2011, due to neuro-muscular spasms in her neck.
Martha Mödl was a German soprano, and later a mezzo-soprano. She specialized in large dramatic roles such as Isolde, Brünnhilde, and particularly Kundry, and is considered, along with Astrid Varnay and Birgit Nilsson, one of the three major postwar Wagner sopranos. She was among the preeminent Wagner sopranos—and most compelling singing actresses—of the twentieth century. She was celebrated for her highly individualized interpretations, exceptional acting ability, intense stage presence, and "rich, sexy voice."
Waltraud Meier is a German dramatic soprano and mezzo-soprano singer. She is particularly known for her Wagnerian roles as Kundry, Isolde, Ortrud, Venus, Fricka, and Sieglinde, but has also had success in the French and Italian repertoire appearing as Eboli, Amneris, Carmen, and Santuzza. She resides in Munich.
Janice Baird is an American dramatic soprano, best known for her interpretation of Wagner and Strauss. Baird was born in New York City.
Deborah Polaski is an American opera and concert singer (soprano). She has specialized in dramatic soprano roles and also sings mezzo-soprano roles occasionally.
Marie Wittich was a German operatic soprano. She was a Kammersängerin of the Dresden Royal Opera where she sang for 25 years and was known for the power, vibrancy and dramatic quality of her voice. She created the leading female roles in the world premieres of several operas, most famously, the title role in Salome by Richard Strauss. The novelist E. M. Forster, who saw her 1905 Dresden performance as Brünnhilde in Der Ring des Nibelungen, wrote: "She towered. She soared. Force, weight, majesty! She seemed to make history."
Naděžda Kniplová was a Czech operatic soprano who had an active international career from the 1950s through the 1980s. Kniplová possessed a large voice with a sonorous, metallic, dark timbre that was particularly well suited to the dramatic soprano repertoire. While she was most admired in Czech operas and as Wagnerian heroines, she sang a wide repertoire that also encompassed Italian, Russian, and Hungarian language roles. A fine actress, her performances were praised for their intensity and pathos. However, some critics commented on a certain lack of steadiness or purity in her singing. Her voice is preserved on a number of recordings made on the Supraphon and Decca labels.
Ursula Schröder-Feinen was a German operatic soprano who performed at the Metropolitan Opera and the Bayreuth Festival.
Ella Némethy was a Hungarian mezzo-soprano who had an active international career in operas and concerts from 1919 to 1948. Music historian Péter P. Várnai writes in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians that "she was the leading mezzo-soprano in the interwar years, especially in Wagnerian roles such as Brünnhilde, Isolde and Kundry. Her interpretations were characterized by vocal amplitude, rich colouring and grand declamation." She was the mother of author Baba Macnee, who would marry actor Patrick Macnee in 1988.
Evelyn Herlitzius is a German opera singer, a dramatic soprano. She is known for performing major roles in works by Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss, such as Brünnhilde, Isolde and Elektra, at the Semperoper, the Bayreuth Festival and leading European opera houses.
Liane Synek was an Austrian operatic soprano. She made a career based in Germany, at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, the Staatsoper Berlin and the Cologne Opera, and appeared at international major opera houses and festivals, such as the Bayreuth Festival. She appeared mostly in dramatic roles such as Beethoven's Fidelio, and Wagner's Sieglinde, Brünnhilde and Isolde. She also performed in contemporary operas, creating the role of Countess de la Roche in Zimmermann's Die Soldaten in Cologne in 1965, conducted by Michael Gielen.
Ingrid Haubold is a German operatic soprano. After beginning her career in Munich and continuing with German companies, she moved on to major international opera houses, appearing as Isolde in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde at the Teatro Real in Madrid in 1986, as Senta in Der fliegende Holländer at the Savonlinna Opera Festival, and in the title role of Beethoven's Fidelio at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
Ute Vinzing is a German operatic soprano who received the title Kammersängerin. She is known for dramatic roles by Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss, including Brünnhilde, Isolde, Ortrud, Kundry, Elektra and the Dyer's Wife, which she performed internationally.
Erna Schlüter was a German operatic dramatic soprano and voice teacher. Beginning as a contralto at the Oldenburgisches Staatstheater in 1922, she moved to the Nationaltheater Mannheim in 1925 where her voice developed to dramatic soprano, to the Stadttheater Düsseldorf in 1930 where she appeared in 1933 in the world premiere of Winfried Zillig's Der Rossknecht and was awarded the title Kammersängerin. Her last station, from 1940, was the Hamburg State Opera.
Sigrid Kehl is a German operatic soprano and mezzo-soprano.
Anny Helm, later also Anny Helm-Sbisà, was an Austrian operatic soprano. She was a member of the ensemble at the Stadttheater Magdeburg and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and gave guest performances at numerous German theatres and at the Bayreuth Festival, in Vienna, Paris, London, Brussels and Buenos Aires as well as at all the major opera houses in Italy. She was one of the most sought-after dramatic sopranos of her time.
Margarete Henriette Therese Roßkopf-Bäumer was a German operatic soprano.
Helena Forti was a dramatic soprano active 1906 – 1924, closely associated with the Dresden royal court opera, known for her beauty, voice and strong stage presence. She sang all Wagner's opera heroines, in Dresden, Bayreuth and internationally. Other repertoire included the title role in Verdi's Aida, Santuzza in Mascagni's Cavalleria and contemporary works such as Marietta in Korngold's Die tote Stadt. She created the role of Myrtocle in d'Albert's Die toten Augen. Her Sieglinde in Die Walküre in Braunschweig was described by the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik as "Equally endowed with youth, beauty and vocal means... (Forti) immerses herself so intensely in her role that one believes the transformation of the virgin-Goddess into a human form." After retiring from the stage she taught voice and acting in Gera, Düsseldorf and Vienna. She died in Vienna, where she lived with her stage director and Intendant husband, Walter Bruno Iltz.
Linda Watson is an American dramatic soprano and academic voice teacher. She made her career based in Germany where she studied and began as a mezzo-soprano at the Theater Aachen. She has performed worldwide, including at the Vienna State Opera, La Scala, the Metropolitan Opera and the Bayreuth Festival. She focused on dramatic roles by Wagner, including Brünnhilde and Isolde, and Strauss, including Ariadne and the Dyer's Wife. She was awarded the title Kammersängerin in Germany in 2004 and in Austria in 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
