Description

MARIA REINING (VIENNA, AUGUST 7, 1903 – DEGGENDORF, MARCH 11, 1991)

 

 

 

 

She initially worked as a clerk in the foreign exchange department of a Viennese bank and was only able to begin her formal vocal training at the age of 25. In 1931, she made her debut at the Vienna State Opera, where she sang comprimaria roles and minor soubrette parts until 1933. From 1933 to 1935, she was engaged at the Darmstadt State Theatre, and from 1935 to 1937 at the Munich State Opera. In 1937, she returned to the Vienna State Opera, this time as its leading young dramatic soprano. She enjoyed brilliant success in Vienna until 1958.

In 1944, on the occasion of Richard Strauss’s 80th birthday, she sang the title role in his opera Ariadne auf Naxos at the Vienna State Opera. One of her last appearances at the house was as Elisabetta in Verdi’s Don Carlos in 1956; in 1959, she was made an honorary member of the opera.

From 1937 onward, she appeared almost annually at the Salzburg Festival, singing Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1937–38), the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier (1949, 1953), the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro (1939), Pamina in The Magic Flute (1941), and the title role in Richard Strauss’s Arabella (1947). She also performed at the Sopot Festival in 1934 and 1939–40.

She was a guest artist at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in London (1938), at La Scala in Milan, at the Teatro Liceo in Barcelona, at the New York City Center Opera (as the Marschallin in 1949), and at the Chicago Opera (1949), and was likewise highly successful as a concert soprano. She appeared as the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro in Amsterdam in 1940 and 1944, at the Antwerp Opera in 1937, at the Zurich Opera House in 1948, at the Paris Opera in 1949, and at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires in 1952.

From 1962 onward, she taught in Salzburg. The city of Salzburg awarded her the Mozart Medal in 1983. She spent her final years at the Mozart Foundation in Ainring, Bavaria, and was buried in an honorary grave in the Dornbach Cemetery in Vienna. Along with the brilliance of her soprano voice, her nuanced diction and refined sense of style were especially admired.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

Lohengrin (Wagner): Einsam in trüben Tagen E3052 024696 Telefunken, Berlin 1939-11-23

Lohengrin (Wagner): Euch Lüften, die meine Klagen E3052 024697 Telefunken, Berlin 1939-11-23

Zarewitsch (Lehár): Einer wird kommen… E3074 024700 Telefunken, Berlin 1939-11?

Fledermaus (Strauss): Klänge der Heimat (Csárdás) E3055 024703 Telefunken, Berlin 1939-11?

Paganini (Lehár): Liebe, du Himmel auf Erde E3074 024704 Telefunken, Berlin 1939-11?

Boccaccio (Suppé): Hab’ ich nur deine Liebe E3055 Telefunken, Berlin 1939-11?

Friederike (Lehár): Warum hast du mich wachgeküsst? DB5694 2RA5342-1 HMV, Berlin 1942-01-26

Eva (Lehár): Im heimelichen Dämmer der albernen Ampel DB5694 2RA5343-1 HMV, Berlin 1942-01-26

Tannhäuser (Wagner): O Fürstin…, pt 1, pt 2 (w. Lorenz) DB7624, DB7624 HMV, Berlin

Bohème (Puccini): Man nennt mich jetzt Mimi DB7648 HMV, Berlin

Andrea Chénier (Giordano): La mamma morta (Ge) DB7648 HMV, Berlin

Nozze di Figaro (Mozart): Porgi amor (Ge) DB7665 HMV, Berlin

Nozze di Figaro (Mozart): Deh vieni, non tardar (Ge) DB7665 HMV, Berlin