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Leonie Rysanek
Leopoldine Rysanek (14 November 1926 – 7 March 1998), known professionally as Leonie Rysanek, was an Austrian soprano singer.
Rysanek made her operatic debut in 1949 in Innsbruck, Austria.
In 1951, the Bayreuth Festival reopened (following the aftermath of World War II), and Wieland Wagner asked her to sing as Sieglinde in Die Walküre, conducted by Herbert von Karajan. , a role which became very closely associated with her career. Her final performance was at the Salzburg Festival in August 1996, as Klytämnestra in Elektra by Richard Strauss.
Rysanek made her American debut at the San Francisco Opera on 18 September 1956 in Der fliegende Holländer, the first of her nineteen roles in San Francisco. Other operas she performed were Ariadne auf Naxos, Macbeth, Turandot, Un ballo in maschera, La forza del destino, Tannhäuser, Aida, Salome (as Salome and Herodias), Tosca, Der Rosenkavalier, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Die Walküre, Lohengrin (as Elsa and Ortrud), Jenůfa (as Kostelnička), and The Queen of Spades (as the Countess). Her last San Francisco performance was on 12 December 1993.
Rysanek's Metropolitan Opera debut came in 1959 as Lady Macbeth in Verdi's Macbeth, replacing Maria Callas in the production. Over her lengthy career, she sang 299 performances in 24 roles there. She starred in productions of Verdi's Nabucco, in the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss, the Empress in Die Frau ohne Schatten, also by Strauss, and Janáček's Káťa Kabanová.
During her final performance season at the Metropolitan Opera, she received confirmation of her cancer diagnosis. Her final performance occurred at the 1996 Salzburg Festival as Klytaemnestra in Elektra, following her farewell to the Metropolitan Opera earlier that same year. She played the Countess in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades in January 1996.
Rysanek was known for singing the music of Richard Strauss. Her Strauss roles included the Empress (Kaiserin) in Die Frau ohne Schatten, the title role in Salome, the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier and Chrysothemis in Elektra. She occasionally sang Ariadne (prima donna) in Ariadne auf Naxos and female leads in rarely-staged Strauss operas (Die ägyptische Helena and Die Liebe der Danae). She did not sing Salome until 1972, when she was 46, although she kept the role of Sieglinde in her active repertoire from her early 20s until age 62.
She avoided offers to sing Isolde in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. She sang Brünnhilde in Die Walküre in 1950, in Innsbruck, but did not return to this role. One of her performances in Die Walküre took place in the same week as her appearance as Gilda in Rigoletto.
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Leonie Rysanek
Leopoldine Rysanek (14 November 1926 – 7 March 1998), known professionally as Leonie Rysanek, was an Austrian soprano singer.
Rysanek made her operatic debut in 1949 in Innsbruck, Austria.
In 1951, the Bayreuth Festival reopened (following the aftermath of World War II), and Wieland Wagner asked her to sing as Sieglinde in Die Walküre, conducted by Herbert von Karajan. , a role which became very closely associated with her career. Her final performance was at the Salzburg Festival in August 1996, as Klytämnestra in Elektra by Richard Strauss.
Rysanek made her American debut at the San Francisco Opera on 18 September 1956 in Der fliegende Holländer, the first of her nineteen roles in San Francisco. Other operas she performed were Ariadne auf Naxos, Macbeth, Turandot, Un ballo in maschera, La forza del destino, Tannhäuser, Aida, Salome (as Salome and Herodias), Tosca, Der Rosenkavalier, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Die Walküre, Lohengrin (as Elsa and Ortrud), Jenůfa (as Kostelnička), and The Queen of Spades (as the Countess). Her last San Francisco performance was on 12 December 1993.
Rysanek's Metropolitan Opera debut came in 1959 as Lady Macbeth in Verdi's Macbeth, replacing Maria Callas in the production. Over her lengthy career, she sang 299 performances in 24 roles there. She starred in productions of Verdi's Nabucco, in the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss, the Empress in Die Frau ohne Schatten, also by Strauss, and Janáček's Káťa Kabanová.
During her final performance season at the Metropolitan Opera, she received confirmation of her cancer diagnosis. Her final performance occurred at the 1996 Salzburg Festival as Klytaemnestra in Elektra, following her farewell to the Metropolitan Opera earlier that same year. She played the Countess in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades in January 1996.
Rysanek was known for singing the music of Richard Strauss. Her Strauss roles included the Empress (Kaiserin) in Die Frau ohne Schatten, the title role in Salome, the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier and Chrysothemis in Elektra. She occasionally sang Ariadne (prima donna) in Ariadne auf Naxos and female leads in rarely-staged Strauss operas (Die ägyptische Helena and Die Liebe der Danae). She did not sing Salome until 1972, when she was 46, although she kept the role of Sieglinde in her active repertoire from her early 20s until age 62.
She avoided offers to sing Isolde in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. She sang Brünnhilde in Die Walküre in 1950, in Innsbruck, but did not return to this role. One of her performances in Die Walküre took place in the same week as her appearance as Gilda in Rigoletto.