In the words of Strauss’ Marschallin, “With a light heart and light hands, hold and take, hold and let.”

The great mezzo-soprano Christa Ludwig has died.

In a career that spanned four decades, Ludwig was a fixture in the world’s major opera houses.

She was a principal artist at the Vienna State Opera during a golden age at mid-century. With the company, she sang 769 performances in 42 roles. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1959. There she sang 119 performances in 15 roles.

She was a versatile and remarkably consistent performer. Her repertoire embraced Amneris (“Aida”), Brangäne (“Tristan und Isolde”), “Carmen,” Charlotte (“Werther”), Dido (“Les Troyens”), Dorabella (“Così fan Tutte”), Eboli (“Don Carlo”), Klytämnestra (“Elektra”), Kundry (“Parsifal”), Ortrud (“Lohengrin”), Ulrica (“Un ballo in maschera”), and Waltraute (“Götterdämmerung”), to name a few.

Her technique and upper register were such that she was able to tackle the Marschallin in “Der Rosenkavalier” and the Dyer’s Wife in “Die Frau ohne Schatten,” parts almost exclusively sung by sopranos. Among the roles she created was that of Claire in Gottfried von Einem’s “Besuch der alten Dame” (“The Visit of the Old Lady”).

Her voice graced dozens of treasurable recordings. She sang Fidelio for Klemperer, Fricka in Solti’s landmark “Ring,” and Octavian in Karajan’s “Der Rosenkavalier,” with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. She was Adalgisa opposite Maria Callas in “Norma.”

She was a frequent collaborator of Leonard Bernstein. Together, they recorded much Mahler. On a lighter note, she also sang “I Am Easily Assimilated,” as the Old Lady in Bernstein’s “Candide,” in what the composer considered to be the work’s definitive recording.

I only saw her live once, at Carnegie Hall, but it was a memorable occasion. She sang the lamentations in Bernstein’s “Jeremiah” Symphony, under the composer’s direction. (The two recorded the work for Deutsche Grammophon.) Also on the program was Mozart’s Symphony No. 29 and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 5.

Ludwig died on Saturday at her home in Klosterneuburg, Austria. She was 93 years-old.

“Das Abschied” (“The Farewell”) from Mahler’s “Das Lied von der Erde”

Complete, with René Kollo – and subtitles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Npy4gjZ81F0

As Fidelio

The Recognition Scene from Strauss’ “Elektra”

Rossini, of all things – in German!

With her husband, Walter Berry, in “Des Knaben Wunderhorn”

Brahms, with Bernstein at the piano (and André Previn as page-turner!)

A bone to pick with Bernstein’s tempo in Mahler

“I Am Easily Assimilated”