Description

ELISA CAROLINA OHMS (ARNHEM, MAY 17, 1888 – MARQUARTSTEIN, UPPER BAVARIA, OCTOBER 16, 1974)

 

 

 

 

She began her studies in 1908 with Jacob Heuckeroth in Arnhem, initially focusing on piano and violin. In 1916, she decided to pursue singing and became a student of Morello, C.H. van Oort, and Rose Schoenberg at the Amsterdam Conservatory. In 1919, she moved to Frankfurt am Main, where she completed her training with Eduard Bellwidt.

She made her stage debut in 1921 at the Mainz City Theatre, where she remained until 1923. That year, she joined the Munich State Opera, where she enjoyed a distinguished career lasting more than a decade. In 1925, she created the title role in Puccini’s Turandot for Munich.

From 1927 to 1928, she appeared as a guest artist at La Scala in Milan under Antonín Toscanini, performing as Leonore in Fidelio; in 1929, she returned as Kundry in Parsifal and as Isolde in Tristan und Isolde. She also appeared as a guest at the Rome Opera in 1929.

She sang at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in London from 1928 to 1929 and again in 1935, performing the roles of Venus, Ortrud, Brünnhilde, and Isolde. Between 1929 and 1931, she achieved great success at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, notably as Brünnhilde in the Ring Cycle (her debut role), the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, and Ortrud in Lohengrin.

She also made guest appearances at the Vienna and Berlin State Operas, the Hague Opera, and in Amsterdam. At the 1931 Bayreuth Festival, she sang Kundry in Parsifal, and she participated in the Sopot Festival from 1932 to 1933.

In addition to her operatic work, she had a notable concert career, particularly as a lieder interpreter; for example, she gave highly acclaimed recitals in Berlin in 1939. She was married to the stage painter Leo Pasetti (1882–1937) and lived in Marquartstein (Bavaria) until her death.

She possessed a dark-timbred soprano voice of great dramatic power and expressive intensity, particularly suited to the Wagner repertoire. She recorded for Polydor.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

Fidelio (Beethoven) Abscheulicher, wo eilst du hin… Komm Hoffnung, pt 1, pt 2 66904, 66904, 803Bi, 804Bi Polydor, Berlin 1929

Fliegende Holländer (Wagner) Traft ihr das Schiff (Ballade) 66928 797Bi I Polydor, Berlin 1929

Fliegende Holländer (Wagner) Versank ich jetzt… Wirst du des Vaters nicht schelten (w. Scheidl) 66930, 66930, 878Bi, 879Bi Polydor, Berlin 1929

Oberon (Weber) Ozean, du Ungeheuer, pt 1, pt 2 66900, 66900, 795½Bi, 796Bi Polydor, Berlin 1929

Rosenkavalier (R Strauss) Hab’ mir’s gelobt (Finale) (w. Kern & Marherr) 66931 882½Bi Polydor, Berlin 1929

Rosenkavalier (R Strauss) Kann mich auch an ein Mädel erinnern (Monolog der Marschallin) 66901 801Bi Polydor, Berlin 1929

Rosenkavalier (R Strauss) Oh, sei er gut, Quinquin (Szene der Marschallin) 66901 802Bi Polydor, Berlin 1929

Schmerzen (Wagner) 66929 806Bi Polydor, Berlin 1929

Träume (Wagner) 66929 880Bi Polydor, Berlin 1929

Tristan und Isolde (Wagner) Mild und leise 66928 881Bi I Polydor, Berlin 1929