Lotte Lehmann

Charlotte "Lotte" Pauline Sophie Lehmann (February 27, 1888 – August 26, 1976) was a German-American dramatic soprano noted for her successful performances with international opera houses, on the recital stage and in teaching. She gave memorable appearances in the operas of Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Ludwig van Beethoven, Puccini, Mozart, and Massenet. The Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, Sieglinde in Die Walküre and the title-role in Fidelio are considered her greatest roles. During her long career, Lehmann also made almost five hundred recordings in both opera and art song.

Lehmann was born in Perleberg, a middle-sized town about halfway between Hamburg and Berlin, in the Province of Brandenburg, Germany.

She studied, unsuccessfully, at two music schools in Berlin, (where her family had moved), before finding Mathilde Mallinger (Wagner’s first Eva in Die Meistersinger) who within a year and a half developed Lehmann’s voice to the level at which she could audition for and achieve a beginner’s contract with the Hamburg Opera in 1910. At that time she sang roles of pages and other minor roles. By her third year in Hamburg Lehmann was singing important roles such as Agathe in Der Freischütz and Micaëla in Carmen. Her big break came when the absence of the soprano scheduled to sing Elsa in Lohengrin allowed Lehmann her first acknowledged success. She was coached in the role by the young assistant conductor at the Hamburg Opera, Otto Klemperer. Thereafter she further sang larger roles such as Irene in Rienzi, Antonia in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Dorabella in Così fan tutte and Gutrune in Götterdämmerung. In 1913, Hans Gregor, the director of the Vienna Court Opera, came to Hamburg to hear a tenor, but noticed Lehmann as Micäela and offered her a contract.

Lehmann began her Vienna career with a trial appearance in 1914 as Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Vienna Court Opera – the later Vienna State Opera – which she joined in 1916. She quickly established herself as one of the company's brightest stars in roles such as Elisabeth in Tannhäuser and Elsa in Lohengrin.

She created roles in the world premieres of a number of operas by Richard Strauss, including the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos in 1916 (later she sang the title-role in this opera), the Dyer's Wife in Die Frau ohne Schatten in 1919 and Christine in Intermezzo in 1924. Her other Strauss roles were the title-roles in Arabella (she sang in the Viennese premiere on 21 October 1933, even though her mother had died earlier that day) and in Der Rosenkavalier (earlier in her career, she had also sung the role of Sophie and Octavian; when she finally added the Marschallin to her repertoire, she became the first soprano in history to have sung all three female lead roles in that opera).

Her Puccini roles at the Vienna State Opera included the title-roles in Tosca, Manon Lescaut, Madama Butterfly, Suor Angelica, Turandot, Mimi in La bohème and Giorgetta in Il tabarro. In her 21 years with the company, Lehmann sang more than fifty different roles, including Marie/Marietta in Korngold's Die tote Stadt, the title-roles in La Juive by Fromental Halévy, Mignon by Ambroise Thomas, and Manon by Jules Massenet, Charlotte in Werther, Marguerite in Faust, Tatiana in Eugene Onegin and Lisa in The Queen of Spades.

In the meantime she had made her debut in London in 1914, sung on tour in South America in 1922, and from 1924 to 1935 performed regularly at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden where aside from her famous Wagner roles and the Marschallin she also sang Desdemona in Otello and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni. She appeared regularly at the Salzburg Festival from 1926 to 1937, performing with Arturo Toscanini, among other conductors. She also gave recitals there accompanied at the piano by the conductor Bruno Walter.

In August 1936, while in Salzburg, she discovered the Trapp Family Singers, later made more famous in the musical The Sound of Music. Lehmann had heard of a villa available for let and as she approached the villa she overheard the family singing in their garden. Insisting the children had a precious gift, she exclaimed that the family had "gold in their throats" and that they should enter the Salzburg Festival contest for group singing the following night. Having regard to the family's aristocratic background the Baron insisted performing in public was out of the question; however Lehmann's fame and genuine enthusiasm persuaded the Captain to relent, leading to their first public performance.