I was so overtaxed this weekend trying to wrestle an article into submission that I never did get around to acknowledging the passing of the great mezzo-soprano Teresa Berganza, who died on Friday at the age of 87.
Now I turn on my computer this morning to learn that she has been joined by the organist Simon Preston. He too died on Friday at the age of 83.
Both were prominent artists, well documented on major record labels at a time when the industry was still going strong.
Distressing reminders of change and the passage of time. Thanks to them both, and may they rest in peace.
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”
The Met has lost one of its great mezzos. Rosalind Elias died yesterday at the age of 90. Over 35 seasons, Elias assumed 50 roles. In all, she sang at the Met 687 times. She made her Broadway debut in Stephen Sondheim’s “Follies” as recently as 2011.
