Description

LILLI LEHMANN (BORN ELISABETH MARIA LEHMANN, LATER ELISABETH MARIA LEHMANN-KALISCH; WÜRZBURG, GERMANY, 24 NOVEMBER 1848 – BERLIN, GERMANY, 17 MAY 1929)

 

 

 

 

Her mother, Maria Theresia Lehmann-Löw (1809–1885), was a renowned singer and harpist; her father was the tenor Karl August Neumann (1805–1867). Like Lilli Lehmann, her sister Marie Lehmann (1851–1931) also became a celebrated opera singer. Lilli Lehmann spent her childhood in Prague and was trained by her mother after she separated from Karl August Lehmann around 1853.

In 1867, she made her debut at the German State Theatre in Prague as the First Boy in The Magic Flute. In 1868, she joined the City Theatre of Danzig, and in 1869, the Leipzig Opera. That same year she appeared as a guest at the Berlin Court Opera as Queen Marguerite de Valois in Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots and became a permanent member of this house in 1870, soon establishing herself as its prima donna. At the Berlin Court Opera she sang, among other roles, in the premieres of Bernard Hopffner’s Frithjof (1871), Wilhelm Taubert’s Cesario (1874), Anton Rubinstein’s Die Makkabäer (1875), and J. J. Abert’s Ekkehard (1878).

At the first Bayreuth Festival in 1876, Richard Wagner cast her as Woglinde, Ortlinde, and the Forest Bird in the Ring des Nibelungen, including the premieres of Siegfried (August 16) and Götterdämmerung (August 17). In 1882, however, a dispute with Wagner arose when he refused to allow her to direct the flower-maiden scene in the premiere of Parsifal. She returned to Bayreuth in 1896, this time as Brünnhilde.

In London, she appeared at Her Majesty’s Theatre in 1880 as Violetta in La Traviata and as Philine in Thomas’s Mignon. In 1882 she sang the Rhinemaiden, and in 1884 she appeared at Covent Garden as Isolde in Tristan und Isolde. From 1882 to 1910, she was a frequent and successful guest at the Vienna Court Opera. Guest appearances also took her to Paris, Prague, and Stockholm.

In 1885, she accepted an invitation to the Metropolitan Opera in New York, making her debut as Carmen and thereby breaking her contract with the Berlin Court Opera. She remained at the Met until 1891, excelling especially in the high dramatic and Wagnerian repertoire. Her stage repertoire was extraordinarily vast, encompassing around 170 roles from coloratura parts to Wagnerian heroines. At the Met she created Isolde (1886), Brünnhilde in Siegfried (1887) and Götterdämmerung (1888), Venus in Tannhäuser (1889), Irene in Rienzi (1886), and Sulamith in the American premiere of Goldmark’s The Queen of Sheba (1885; she later sang the title role in 1889). In 1887, she also sang the title role in the New York premiere of Weber’s Euryanthe. Altogether, she performed 25 roles in 203 performances at the Met across seven seasons (not including guest tours).

In 1888, she married tenor Paul Kalisch (1855–1946), also engaged at the Met, though they later separated. In 1891, through the mediation of Kaiser Wilhelm II, she was able to return to the Berlin Court Opera despite her earlier breach of contract. Her influence on the musical life of her time was immense. She also sang with the Damrosch Opera Company in 1897 and again at the Metropolitan Opera in the 1898–99 season.

In 1899, she was celebrated at Covent Garden in London as Norma, Donna Anna, Leonore (Fidelio), and Isolde. Further guest performances followed: Paris (1903), Vienna (1909, as Isolde), and Paris again (1909, Théâtre Nouveau, in Mozart roles conducted by Reynaldo Hahn).

The Salzburg Mozart Festivals (1901–1910), in which she appeared both as singer and director, were her own initiative, and the city of Salzburg made her an honorary citizen. From 1926 onward, she held famous singing courses at the Salzburg Mozarteum. Among her pupils were Geraldine Farrar, Olive Fremstad, Rudolf Laubenthal, Edytha Fleischer, Res Fischer, and Viorica Ursuleac.

Her career was one of the longest ever known: she was still active at 70, later limiting herself to lieder recitals. She wrote important vocal pedagogy manuals and her autobiography Mein Weg (Leipzig, 1913; reprinted 1977), a highly readable and influential book.

Lilli Lehmann is regarded as one of the greatest figures in vocal history, unsurpassed in the universality of her talent and the artistic seriousness she brought to every task.

Literature:

Andro: Lilli Lehmann (Berlin, 1907).

Recordings:
Two valuable series of recordings of her voice exist on Odeon (Berlin, 1906–07), issued under a special blue label. Among them are duets with her niece and student Hedwig Helbig (1869–1951).

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

Auf dem Wasser zu singen (Schubert) 50094 xB1304 Odeon, Berlin 1906-06-29

Ave Maria (Gounod) 50096 xB1475-21476 Odeon, Berlin 1906-07-20

Così fan tutte (Mozart) Ich erwähle mir den Muntern (w. Helbig) 50397 xB3061 Odeon, Berlin 1907-06-25

Crucifix (faure) (w. Helbig) 50355 xB3065 Odeon, Berlin 1907-06-25

Der Erlkönig (Schubert) 80004 xxB1475-31477 Odeon, Berlin 1906-07-20

Die Loreley (trad, arr Bungert) 50433 xB3140 Odeon, Berlin 1907-07-02

Don Giovanni (Mozart) Don Ottavio, son morta… Or sai che l’onore 50098, 50099, xB1478, xB1479 Odeon, Berlin 1906-07-20

Don Giovanni (Mozart) Forse un giorno il cielo 50399 xB3046 Odeon, Berlin 1907-06-22

Don Giovanni (Mozart) Non mi dir, bell’idol mio… Forse un giorno il cielo 50396, 50399, xB3045, xB3046 Odeon, Berlin 1907-06-22

Don Giovanni (Mozart) Or sai che l’onore 50398 xB2981 Odeon, Berlin 1907-06-18

Du bist die Ruh’ (Schubert) 50432 xB3137 Odeon, Berlin 1907-07-02

Egmont (Beethoven) Freudvoll und Leidvoll (Klärchens Lied) 50390 xB3142 Odeon, Berlin 1907-07-02

Egmont (Beethoven) Freudvoll und leidvoll 50078 xB1306 Odeon, Berlin 1906-06-29

Entführung aus dem Serail (Mozart) Ach ich liebte 80008 xxB2980 Odeon, Berlin 1907-06-18

Entführung aus dem Serail (Mozart) Martern aller Arten 80005 xxB3048 Odeon, Berlin 1907-06-22

Fidelio (Beethoven) Abscheulicher, wo eilst du hin… Komm’ Hoffnung… Ich folg’ den innern Triebe 50356, 80006, 80007, xB3049, xxB3050, xxB3051 Odeon, Berlin 1907-06-22

Frohe Botschaft (trad) 50391 xB3139 Odeon, Berlin 1907-07-02

Heidenröslein (Schubert) 50389 xB3138 Odeon, Berlin 1907-07-02

Huguenots (Meyerbeer) O glücklich Land 50394 xB3149 Odeon, Berlin 1907-07-05

Im Kahne (Grieg) 50100 xB1470 Odeon, Berlin 1906-07-19

Intermezzo (Schumann) 50372 xB3133 Odeon, Berlin 1907-07-02

Josua (Händel) O hätt’ ich Jubals Harf 50392 xB3143 Odeon, Berlin 1907-07-02

Long, long ago (Bayly) 50071 xB1307 Odeon, Berlin 1906-06-29

Mondnacht (Schumann) 50373 xB3135 Odeon, Berlin 1907-07-02

Norma (Bellini) Ah! si, fa core (w. Helbig) 50358 xB3063 Odeon, Berlin 1907-06-25

Norma (Bellini) Casta diva 99655 xB2978 Odeon, Berlin 1907-06-18

Nozze di Figaro (Mozart) Heil’ge Quelle 50395 xB3150 Odeon, Berlin 1907-07-05

Nozze di Figaro (Mozart) Wenn die sanften Abendlüfte (Che soave zeffiretto) (w. Helbig) 50357 xB3060 Odeon, Berlin 1907-06-25

Robert le diable (Meyerbeer) Robert, Robert mein Geliebter 80009 xxB3148 Odeon, Berlin 1907-07-05

Robin Adair (trad, Scottish) 50097 xB1475 Odeon, Berlin 1906-07-19

Traviata (Verdi) Ah, fors’è lui… Sempre libera 50353, 50354, xB2976, xB2977 Odeon, Berlin 1907-06-18

Traviata (Verdi) Ah, fors’è lui… Sempre libera 80003 xxB1473 Odeon, Berlin 1906-07-19

Traviata (Verdi) Alfredo, Alfredo, di questo core 50374 xB3047 Odeon, Berlin 1907-06-22

Walküre (Wagner) Du bist der Lenz 50393 xB3147 Odeon, Berlin 1907-07-05