To My Friends - Elisabeth Schwarzkopf

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (Artist), Hugo Wolf (Composer), Edvard Grieg (Composer), Johannes Brahms (Composer), Carl Loewe (Composer), Geoffrey Parsons (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Geoffrey Parsons
• Composer: Hugo Wolf, Edvard Grieg, Johannes Brahms, Carl Loewe
• Audio CD (November 14, 2006)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Decca
• ASIN: B00000E4IW
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #635,615 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf DBE (December 9, 1915 - August 3, 2006) was a German opera singer (who later took British citizenship). She was one of the leading sopranos of the post-World War II period, much admired for her performances of Mozart, Strauss and Hugo Wolf.

She was born in Jarotschin in Prussia (now part of Poland) to Friedrich Schwarzkopf and his wife, Elisabeth Fröhling. Christened Olga Maria Elisabeth Frederike Schwarzkopf, Schwarzkopf showed an interest in music from an early age. She performed in her first opera in 1928, as Eurydice in a school production of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice in Magdeburg, Germany. In 1934, Schwarzkopf began her musical studies at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik. However at the suggestion of the baritone Karl Schmitt-Walter, she switched teachers and started working with the celebrated coloratura soprano Maria Ivogün as well as with her husband, the noted pianist Michael Raucheisen. Ivogün's advice to her new pupil was, "Be noble, my child!"

Schwarzkopf made her professional debut at Berlin's State Opera on 15 April 1938, as the Second Flower Maiden (First Group) in Act II of Richard Wagner's Parsifal. She sang in Berlin for four years, during which time she became a member of the Nazi Party (a decision which later caused her to be boycotted in the United States for several years).[1] However, she was always welcomed and acclaimed in countries other than the U.S.

In 1942, she joined the Vienna State Opera, where her roles included Konstanze in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Musetta and later Mimì in Giacomo Puccini's La bohème and Violetta in Giuseppe Verdi's La traviata.

In 1947 and 1948, Schwarzkopf appeared on tour with the Vienna State Opera at London's Royal Opera House at Covent Garden on 16 September 1947 as Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni and at La Scala on 28 December 1948, as the Countess in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, which became one of her signature roles.

Schwarzkopf later made her official debut at the Royal Opera House on 16 January 1948, as Pamina in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, in performances sung in English, and at La Scala on 29 June 1950 singing Beethoven's Missa Solemnis. Schwarzkopf's association with the Milanese house in the early 1950s gave her the opportunity to sing certain roles on stage for the only time in her career: Mélisande in Pelléas et Mélisande, Jole in Handel's Eracle, Marguerite in Gounod's Faust, Elsa in Wagner's Lohengrin, as well as her first Marschallin in Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier and her first Fiordiligi in Mozart's Così fan tutte at the Piccola Scala. On 11 September 1951, she appeared as Anne Trulove in the world premiere of Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress. Schwarzkopf made her American debut with the San Francisco Opera on 20 September 1955 as the Marschallin, and her debut at the Metropolitan Opera on 19 December 1964, also as the Marschallin.

In March 1946, Schwarzkopf was invited to audition for Walter Legge, a classical music producer and a founder of the Philharmonia. He asked her to sing Hugo Wolf's lied Wer rief dich denn? and Legge signed her to an exclusive contract with EMI. They began a close partnership and Legge subsequently became Schwarzkopf's manager and companion. They were married on 19 October 1953 in Epsom, Surrey. Schwarzkopf would divide her time between lieder recitals and opera performances for the rest of her career.

In the 1960s, Schwarzkopf concentrated nearly exclusively on five operatic roles: Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Countess Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Countess Madeleine in Strauss' Capriccio, and the Marschallin. She also was well received as Alice Ford in Verdi's Falstaff. However, on the EMI label she made several "champagne operetta" recordings like The Merry Widow and The Gypsy Baron.

Schwarzkopf's last operatic performance was as the Marschallin on 31 December 1971, in the theater of La Monnaie in Brussels. For the next several years, she devoted herself exclusively to lieder recitals.

On 17 March 1979, Legge suffered a severe heart attack. He disregarded doctor's orders to rest and attended Schwarzkopf's final recital two days later in Zürich. Three days later, he died.

After retiring, Schwarzkopf taught and gave master classes around the world, notably at the Juilliard School in New York. She was well-known for being an extremely demanding, exacting teacher. Some even called her methods unnecessarily harsh. After living in Switzerland for many years, she took up residence in Vorarlberg, Austria.

She was made a doctor of music by Cambridge University in 1976, and became a Dame of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1992.

Schwarzkopf died in her sleep during the night of 2-3 August 2006 at her home in the village of Schruns, in Vorarlberg, western Austria, aged 90.

During her career, Schwarzkopf was much admired for her artistry and for her timeless beauty.

She leaves a discography that is considerable both in quality and in quantity and will be mostly remembered for her Mozart and Strauss portrayals, her two commercial recordings of Richard Strauss' Four Last Songs, and her countless recordings of lieder, especially those of Hugo Wolf.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A great singer's ill-advised last album, September 4, 2007

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: To My Friends - Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (Audio CD)

Some of us who vastly admire Elisabeth Schwarzkopf react badly to this farewell recital that she was persuaded to make after her voice had declined. I believe the date was either 1972 or 1977 (my disc doesn't have the program insert). Schwarzkopf was the absolute mistress of Wolf lieder, and in the Morike selections heard here, one can't help but respond to her artistry, yet vocal security comes and goes, and all of these songs were done to greater effect on her many recordings for EMI. Georffrey Parsons provides excellent accompaniment, and Decca's sound is first-rate. If you don't know Schwarzkopf, this is a bad place to begin.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quite wonderful - great beauty, June 18, 2008

By 

Dag Kyndel "Kottebo" (Stockholm, Sweden) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: To My Friends - Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (Audio CD)

I am grateful for the artist's decision to make this record even if it was done very late in her career. In fact is was to be her last studio recording, and she knew that. It really is a gift to her friends and admirers. The songs are carefully chosen to fit her voice and the are all masterly performed. It is all very moving - and beautifully done. This is one of the treasures in my music collection - as yeat I have only had a tape recording, so this CD version is a mostly welcomned! Great beauty of voice and all the Schwarzkopf magic are there.