Description

EDYTH WALKER (HOPEWELL, NEW YORK, MARCH 27, 1867 – NEW YORK CITY, FEBRUARY 19, 1950)

She began her career at the age of 14 as a soloist in the Old Church of Hopewell, followed by performances in Utica, New York, and Long Island. Initially working as a schoolteacher, she moved to Europe in 1891 to pursue vocal training with Aglaia Orgeni in Dresden and furthered her studies with Marianne Brandt in Vienna. She made her operatic debut in 1894 at the Berlin Court Opera, performing as Fides in Meyerbeer’s Le prophète. Her first major success came in 1895 with a concert at the Leipzig Gewandhaus under Carl Reinecke.

In 1895, she joined the Vienna Court Opera, where she performed roles such as Fides and Azucena in Il trovatore, remaining there until 1903. In Vienna, she sang in the 1896 premiere of Wilhelm Kienzl’s opera Der Evangelimann. She appeared as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni at the 1901 Salzburg Mozart Festival. However, a dispute with Gustav Mahler led to her departure from the Vienna Opera in 1903.

She then joined the Metropolitan Opera in New York, debuting as Amneris in Aida. Her repertoire at the Met included Lohengrin, Tristan und Isolde, Faust, La Gioconda, Martha, La favorite, and Lucrezia Borgia. In 1905, she performed in the premiere of Johann Strauss’s operetta Die Fledermaus at the Met. She then performed with the Berlin Court Opera (1906-07) and became a celebrated artist at the Hamburg Opera from 1907 to 1912.

At Covent Garden in London, she performed in 1900 and returned in 1908 and 1910, notably as Isolde, Thirza in The Wreckers, and Elektra in the English premiere of Richard Strauss’s Elektra. She made successful guest appearances in Brussels, Leipzig, Frankfurt (1907-1912), Cologne, and Prague, particularly renowned for her Wagnerian roles. She sang Kundry in Parsifal and Ortrud in Lohengrin at the 1908 Bayreuth Festival and triumphed in Strauss’s Salome and Elektra at a 1910 festival in Holland. In 1909, she performed as Leonore in Fidelio under Willem Mengelberg at The Hague’s Beethoven Festival.

From 1912 to 1917, she was with the Munich Court Opera and gave her farewell performance in 1918 at the Municipal Theatre of Elberfeld in Der Ring des Nibelungen. After retiring, she moved to Scheveningen, Holland, then relocated to Paris in 1919, where she taught voice privately. In 1933, she joined the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau, teaching there until 1936 before moving back to New York City, where she continued teaching until her death in 1950. Among her notable students were Irene Dalis and Blanche Thebom. She passed away in New York City at the age of 79 after a brief illness.

TRACKLIST

1. Am Meer (Schubert) 43291 974x G&T, Wien 1902
2. Der Kreuzzug (Schubert) 43290 971x G&T, Wien 1902
3. Der Schmied (Brahms); Jägerlied (Grieg) 43322 2411B G&T, Wien 1902
4. Die Allmacht, pt 1 and pt 2 (Schubert) 043146, 043147, 453s, 454s Gramophone, Hamburg 1910-04-20
5. Evangelimann (Kienzl) O schöne Jugendtage 43231 915½x G&T, Wien 1902
6. Frühlingsnacht (Schumann) 43191 2408B G&T, Wien 1902
7. Love’s old sweet song (Molloy) 3437 1113x G&T, Wien 1902
8. Lucrezia Borgia (Donizetti) Trinklied des Orsino 43260 972x G&T, Wien 1902
9. Neue Liebe (Rubinstein) 43192 2409B G&T, Wien 1902
10. Prophète (Meyerbeer) Kerkerarie 43261 975x G&T, Wien 1902
11. Rheingold (Wagner) Weiche, Wotan (Erdas Warnung) 043093, 349s Gramophone, Berlin 1907-1112
12. Rienzi (Wagner) Gerechter Gott (Arie des Adriano, pt 1 and pt 2) 043144 043145 455s 456s Gramophone, Hamburg 1910-04-20
13. Tannhäuser (Wagner) Allmächt’ge Jungfrau (Gebet) 043094 355s Gramophone, Hamburg 1907-1112
14. The lost chord (Sullivan) 3436 976x G&T, Wien 1902
15. Walküre (Wagner) Ho-jo-to-ho! (Walkürenruf) 43262 977x G&T, Wien 1902
16. Xerxes (Händel) Ombra mai fu 43279 973x G&T, Wien 1902