Description

ERNA SACK (BORN WEBER, BERLIN-SPANDAU, 6 FEBRUARY, 1898 – MAINZ, 2 MARCH, 1972)

 

 

 

 

Her real name was Erna Weber. She studied singing in Prague and later with Oscar Daniel in Berlin. From 1928 to 1930 she was engaged at the Berlin Municipal Opera, where she sang small mezzo-soprano and soubrette roles. In 1930 she joined the Municipal Theatre in Bielefeld and transitioned to the coloratura soprano repertoire. She became a member of the Wiesbaden State Theatre in 1932, of the Breslau Opera House in 1934, and in 1935 of the Dresden State Opera, where she remained until 1941. There, on June 24, 1935, she sang Isotta in the world premiere of Richard Strauss’s Die schweigsame Frau (The Silent Woman), and on March 2, 1937 she took part in the world premiere of Othmar Schoeck’s Massimilla Doni.

From 1933 onward she made numerous successful guest appearances at the Berlin State Opera. She was enthusiastically received in Milan and London, in Paris and Vienna (1935 and 1936), and in Hamburg and Munich. In 1936 she sang Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, during a guest appearance of the Dresden Opera under Richard Strauss, who greatly admired her artistry and even adapted passages of Zerbinetta’s aria to accommodate the extraordinary height of her voice.

In 1937 she achieved great success at the Chicago Opera as Rosina in The Barber of Seville and as Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor. That same year she appeared at the Rome Opera as the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute under Tullio Serafin, with Tito Schipa and Licia Albanese as partners. She also appeared with great success in Copenhagen in 1938 and 1942. Her first triumphant North American tour took place in 1936.

During the Second World War she performed mainly in Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey. In 1947 she began a five-year world tour, based in Brazil, which took her throughout South America, Canada, South Africa, and Australia. In 1954–55 she was celebrated on two major concert tours in North America. After the war she settled in California, though she returned annually to Germany. From 1956 she lived in Murnau in Upper Bavaria, and in 1966 she moved to Wiesbaden. She also appeared in several sound films.

Erna Sack’s coloratura voice was noted for a unique phenomenon: she could reach the extraordinary pitch of high C. Among coloratura sopranos, only very few—such as Mado Robin and Wilfriede Lüttgen—have been able to reach such a height (a similar phenomenon is reported of the 18th-century soprano Lucrezia Agujari). Known as the “German Nightingale,” she was at her finest in virtuosic coloratura songs and canzonas. Her rendition of the “Song of Jenny Lind” (Fjorton år tror visst att jag var), a Swedish folk song associated with the famous singer, became particularly popular in her concerts and recordings.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

An der schönen blauen Donau (Strauss) (w. chorus) E2039 021272 Telefunken, Berlin 1936-06-12

Barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini) Io sono docile 35087 638GS8 Grammophon, Berlin 1936-11-17

Barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini) Una voce poco fa 35087 637GS8 Grammophon, Berlin 1936-11-17

Bohème (Puccini) Man nennt mich jetzt Mimi SK3242 026262 Telefunken, Berlin 1942-01-03

Das Spitzentuch der Königin (Strauss) Rosen aus dem Süden (w. chorus) E2039 021273 Telefunken, Berlin 1936-06-12

Don Pasquale (Donizetti) Auch ich versteh’ die feine Kunst E1755 020335 Telefunken, Berlin 1934-12-10

Fjorton år tror jag visst att jag va’ (Swedish trad) A10102 24736 Telefunken, Berlin 1939-12-14

Fledermaus (Strauss) Mein Herr Marquis E2571 022850 Telefunken, Berlin 1938-02-11

Fledermaus (Strauss) Spiel’ ich die Unschuld vom Lande E2571 022849 Telefunken, Berlin 1938-02-11

Frühlingsstimmen (Strauss) E1774 020724 Telefunken, Berlin 1935-04-02

Gasparone (Millöcker) Komm, mia bella (w. chorus) A2035 21274 Telefunken, Berlin 1936-06-12

Jubilate (Silcher) E3274 026598 Telefunken, Berlin 1942-09-29

La Folletta (Marchesi) A2035 21275 Telefunken, Berlin 1936-06-12

Linda di Chamounix (Donizetti) O luce di quest’anima SK3242 026263 Telefunken, Berlin 1942-01-03

Martha (Flotow) Den Teuren zu versöhnen E1772 020466 Telefunken, Berlin 1935-01-29

Parla-Walzer (Arditi) E1772 020467-I Telefunken, Berlin 1935-01-29

Rigoletto (Verdi) Teurer Name E1755 020396 Telefunken, Berlin 1935-01-04

Voca, voca (Neapolitan trad) A10102 24734 Telefunken, Berlin 1939-12-14

Wiegenlied (Flies, attr Mozart) A10454 26270 Telefunken, Berlin 1942-01-06

Wiegenlied (Schubert) A10454 26276 Telefunken, Berlin 1942-01-06