100 Singers - In Memoriam: CHRISTA LUDWIG

Leonard Bernstein: "I always thought, Christa Ludwig is the greatest Brahms singer - and she was, until I heard her singing Strauss. Once again I had to give her a new throne. Then I heard her singing Wagner, and again I experienced the same. And now I heard her incredible interpretation of the old lady in my musical CANDIDE. I give up. She's simply the best ..."
Christa Ludwig: "I always wanted to be a prima donna, but I was too lazy for scandals and all the circus that went with the role." A wonderful understatement by a mezzo-soprano with only a few roles she hasn't sung. For more than thirty years, Christa Ludwig dominated opera on both sides of the Atlantic (she came to the Met in 1959 as Mozart's Cherubino and left the house in 1993 as Fricka). Blessed with a powerful warm voice of great expressiveness and sonority, the 1928 Berlin born Christa Ludwig was one of the most sought after mezzo-sopranos ever during her long career that began in 1946 with a contract in Frankfurt and ended with a farewell performance as Klytämnestra 1994 in Vienna. Kammersängerin Christa Ludwig was covered with prizes and awards, among others with the 'Golden Ring' of the Vienna State Opera, the French 'Odre des Arts et des Lettres', the 'Order of the Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany' and - in 2016 - the 'Gramophone's Lifetime Achievement Award'.
Present in countless recordings, she partnered Maria Callas and Franco Corelli in NORMA, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf in DER ROSENKAVALIER, Jon Vickers in FIDELIO, Jess Thomas in LOHENGRIN, Luciano Pavarotti in UN BALLO IN MASCHERA and Placido Domingo in LES CONTES D'HOFFMANN. In 1971 she sang both Octavian and the Marschallin. A special gem is her recording of Bartok's BLUEBEARD'S CASTLE with her then husband Walter Berry. Her last operatic studio production was 1992 the witch in HANSEL UND GRETEL.
"Why do you retire?", she was asked two years later. Her answer: "Almost fifty years I took care of my voice, couldn't do this, couldn't do that. Now I want to live like an ordinary woman without fear of a cold or other indispositions. Fifty years of self-torture. What a madness! Now it's time to go." In 2018, she received the new Lifetime Achievement Award "Opus Klassik".
Christa Ludwig left the stage of life on April, 24, 2021 at age 93.
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