Inge Borkh
Inge Borkh enjoyed major success in the world's leading opera houses not only because of her bright and attractive soprano voice, but also because of her deft dramatic skills. Indeed, she was trained as an actress and managed to convert her superior sense for drama seamlessly to the operatic stage, taking on a variety of standard roles, but with many memorable successes in early-20th century opera. She sang Verdi -- Aida, Macbeth (Lady Macbeth), Cherubini -- Medea, Wagner -- The Flying Dutchman (Senta), Die Walkure (Sieglinde, Freia), and many other staples. But in the 20th century, beside singing Richard Strauss (Salome and Elektra) and Puccini (Tosca and Turandot), she took on somewhat riskier fare, including Magda in Menotti's The Consul and Cathleen in Egk's Irische Legende. Because Borkh also had training as a dancer, she often moved about on-stage with a keen balletic sense and gracefulness. Though she retired from singing in 1973, many of her recordings are still available from a variety of major labels, including DG, Decca, RCA, Opera D'oro, Orfeo D'or, Melodram, Ponto Recordings, and Myto Records.
Inge Borkh (Ingeborg Simon) was born in Mannheim, Germany, on May 26, 1917. She studied music in Milan, and during the war years resided in Switzerland. Borkh made her debut at the Lucerne Opera in 1940, singing Czipra in Johann Strauss, Jr.'s Der Zigeunerbaron. In the postwar era she gained international notice when she sang Magda in The Consul at the Basle Opera in 1951. This was a major production at the time, not least because it was the German-language premiere of the Menotti masterwork. Other important debuts followed: Bayreuth (1952), singing Sieglinde and Freia; San Francisco (1953), as Elektra; and Florence (1954), as Eglantine in von Weber's Euryanthe.
Her debut at the Met came in 1958, singing Salome, and at Covent Garden the following year in the same role. Borkh was appearing in major recordings as well, including the 1957 Dimitri Mitropoulos-led Elektra (also available on Orfeo D'or) and the acclaimed 1960 version of the same opera with Karl Böhm on DG.
Borkh remained a major operatic star throughout the 1960s, even though she did not amass a large number of recordings. In 1973 she retired from serious singing, but returned to the stage four years later as an actress. Following retirement, Borkh also briefly appeared in a cabaret-style act. Her autobiography was published in 1996, and she collaborated on the 2006 book Nicht nur Salome und Elektra with Thomas Voigt. She died in Stuttgart in August 2018.
© Robert Cummings /TiVo
Discography
19 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
-
Strauss: Elektra (Stereo Version)
Inge Borkh, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Staatskapelle Dresden, Karl Böhm
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on Oct. 7, 1997
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: Turandot
Inge Borkh, Renata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco, Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia, Alberto Erede
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan. 1, 1955
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Operatic Recital
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan. 1, 1972
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Inge Borkh & Ljuba Welitsch : The Decca Recitals
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on Oct. 23, 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: 15 Romanzen, Op. 33 "Magelone-Lieder"
Classical - Released by Orfeo on Apr. 8, 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Orff: Antigonae (Stereo Version)
Inge Borkh, Kieth Engen, Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Ferdinand Leitner
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan. 1, 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Grosse Sänger unseres Jahrhunderts: Inge Borkh (Orfeo d'Or)
Opera - Released by Orfeo on Oct. 10, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss Elektra & Salome
Classical - Released by Mangora Classical on Nov. 11, 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Weber: Euryanthe
Herta Wilfert, Inge Borkh, Carlo Maria Giulini
Classical - Released by Urania on Apr. 25, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lebendige Vergangenheit - Inge Borkh
Classical - Released by Preiser Records on Oct. 20, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Inge Borkh
Classical - Released by Preiser Records on Aug. 20, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Orff: Antigonae
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan. 1, 1961
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Inge Borkh singt ihre Memoiren
Classical - Released by Preiser Records on Sep. 15, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Les héroïnes de Richard Strauss (Mono Version)
Inge Borkh, Lotte Lehmann, Maria Olszewska
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on Jan. 1, 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Strauss: Salome (Highlights)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO), Richard Strauss, Inge Borkh, Fritz Reiner
Classical - Released by Music Manager on Oct. 25, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Orff: Antigonae (Mono Version)
Inge Borkh, Kieth Engen, Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Ferdinand Leitner
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan. 1, 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss: Elektra, Extrakte (Mono Version)
Inge Borkh, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Staatskapelle Dresden, Karl Böhm
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan. 1, 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
R. Strauss: Elektra (Mono Version)
Staatskapelle Dresden, Karl Böhm, Inge Borkh, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on Oct. 7, 1997
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss: Elektra, Extracts (Stereo Version)
Inge Borkh, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Staatskapelle Dresden, Karl Böhm
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on Jan. 1, 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo