Christa Ludwig
She is the charm, the style and the spirit of Vienna personified. This great Mozartian and Straussian mezzo-soprano made her mark over fifty years, on stage and on record. Her father was a tenor, her mother a famous mezzo-soprano who sang Fidelio, Elektra or Azucena under Karajan's baton at Aix-la-Chapelle. She was Christa's first teacher and it is thanks to her that she learned all the dos and don'ts of singing. She made her début at the age of 18 in the Viennese operetta which was then playing in all the biggest German theatres, as was the rule at the time. In 1955, she joined the troupe of the Vienna Opera, of which she became the Kammersängerin, a prestigious distinction awarded to singers in theatres in the German-speaking world.
As a girl she had dreamed of singing the part of Léonore (Fidelio) under Karajan's direction, like her mother, whom she had watched on stage: she would do so in 1962, but this horribly difficult role (Beethoven couldn't write for the human voice) gave her dreadful stage fright that would dog her through her life. She would later admit to one night having swallowed six Valium pills before going on stage, to calm her nerves...
In the manner of an actress of stage or screen, Christa Ludwig always psychologically prepared for her roles with care, liking to put herself in her heroines' shoes. She felt very close to some, like the unfortunate Dyer's Wife (Die Frau Ohne Schatten by Strauss), who is caught in a life she feels to be useless and sterile, and who does not hesitate to sell her shadow, until she sees the world with greater serenity and love.
Christa Ludwig would take on other roles in which she would feel quite at ease: Brangäne (Tristan et Isolde), Ortrud (Lohengrin), Kundry (Parsifal). This great Wagnerian singer would not, however, feel particularly at east in Bayreuth, which she thought populated by unwelcome ghosts. Christa Ludwig, who had a good sense of humour, would often say that she had three men in her life, three chiefs with whom she loved to work: Karl Böhm who understood her voice perfectly, Herbert von Karajan who taught her the beauty of the phrase and Leonard Bernstein who to her was a genius, and the only one of her colleagues at whose death she truly wept.
While singing opera, Christa Ludwig was also a wonderful performer of Lieder, which she sang a lot on stage and in the studio. In 1994 she bid farewell to the stage by singing the redoubtable role of Clymnestra in Elektra by her dear Richard Strauss, himself also being one of the "men in her life ".
© FH / Qobuz
Similar artists
-
Bellini: Norma
Maria Callas, Christa Ludwig, Franco Corelli, Nicola Zaccaria, Tullio Serafin, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano
Opera - Released by Warner Classics on 1 jan. 1961
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Christa Ludwig - The Essentials
Klassiek - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 2 mrt. 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bartók: Duke Bluebeard's Castle
Christa Ludwig, Walter Berry, London Symphony Orchestra, István Kertész
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 1966
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Very Best of Christa Ludwig
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 4 aug. 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Così fan tutte
Lisa Della Casa, Christa Ludwig, Anton Dermota, Paul Schöffler, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Karl Böhm
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 1955
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Art of Christa Ludwig
Klassiek - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 8 aug. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonie n° 4 - Lieder
Otto Klemperer, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Christa Ludwig, Philharmonia Orchestra
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 1 mrt. 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Highlights from Der Rosenkavalier
Otto Edelmann, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Christa Ludwig
Opera - Released by Stage Door on 24 mrt. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Lieder
Klassiek - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 jan. 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Kindertotenlieder & 5 Lieder
Sir Adrian Boult, Christa Ludwig, Philharmonia Orchestra, Andre Vandernoot, Otto Klemperer
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 27 jul. 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Christa Ludwig sings Brahms, Wagner, Mahler & Beethoven
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 1 jan. 1962
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: Suor Angelica
Dame Joan Sutherland, Christa Ludwig, Anne Collins, Elizabeth Connell, National Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Bonynge
Klassiek - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 jan. 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Complete Recitals on Warner Classics
Klassiek - Released by Warner Classics on 9 mrt. 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Humperdinck: Hänsel und Gretel
Christa Ludwig, Anna Moffo, Münchner Rundfunkorchester
Klassiek - Released by Eurodisc on 21 feb. 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart · cosi fan tutte
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Christa Ludwig, Karl Böhm, Philharmonie Orchestra
Klassiek - Released by G.O.P. on 31 mrt. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg - Highlights
Catarina Ligendza, Christa Ludwig, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Plácido Domingo, Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Eugen Jochum
Klassiek - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 jan. 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Christa Ludwig - Legendary Recordings
Klassiek - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 27 feb. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Farewell To Salzburg
Christa Ludwig, Charles Spencer
Klassiek - Released by RCA Red Seal on 13 jul. 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Fidelio
Gundula Janowitz, Christa Ludwig, Jon Vickers, Walter Berry, Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper, Herbert von Karajan
Klassiek - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 jan. 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A 70th Birthday Tribute
Klassiek - Released by RCA Red Seal on 6 feb. 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss: Le chevalier à la rose, extraits (Mono Version)
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Christa Ludwig, Philharmonia Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan
Divers - Released by BNF Collection on 1 jan. 1963
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo