Lisa Della Casa
During her career, Swiss-born soprano Lisa della Casa was known for her engaging portrayals of Mozart and Strauss roles, particularly Strauss' Arabella. She began her studies at the age of 15 with Margarete Haeser, who remained her only teacher. Della Casa made her debut as Cio-Cio-san in 1941 in Solothurn-Biel and in 1943 became a member of the Zürich City Theater. In normal times she no doubt would soon have been singing in houses in Germany, Austria, and Italy as well, but she remained in neutral Switzerland until after World War II ended in 1945. One of her first major appearances outside Switzerland was at the Salzburg Festival in 1947. Engaged for that production on the recommendation of Maria Cebotari, she sang the part of Zdenka in Strauss' Arabella. She was engaged right away to return the following year for another Strauss role, that of the Countess in Capriccio.
Della Casa became a member of the Vienna Staatsoper in 1947, but continued singing with the Zürich City Theater until 1950. In Zürich she sang a wide variety of roles: Pamina in The Magic Flute, Gilda in Rigoletto, and, unusually, Serena in Porgy and Bess (the Gershwin estate's insistance on all-black casting for that opera has not been followed in Europe as carefully as in the United States). She also sang a noted world premiere in Burkhard's Die schwarze Spinne as "The Young Woman" (1949) and created the triple role of the female leads in Gottfried von Einem's Der Prozess (1953).
She made her British debut as the Countess in Mozart's Nozze di Figaro at Glyndebourne in 1951, and sang the title role of Strauss's Arabella for the first time at her Munich debut the same year. Arabella became her signature role. Her first appearance at Covent Garden was in that role on a tour with the Bavarian Staatsoper. Critics found in her voice the "spring and silver" that Strauss said he called for in such parts, and her attractive and elegant looks and unmannered acting style made her an audience favorite.
She sang regularly at the Metropolitan Opera from 1953 to 1968, again appearing as Mozart's Countess. Of Mozart's heroines, she excelled in Donna Elvira, Donna Anna, Pamina, and Fiordiligi. She sang Chryothemis in Strauss's Elektra, in Ariadne auf Naxos, and even tried Salome (an attempt she admitted was an experiment). Since she had a wide range, she became one of the few singers to excel, in turn, in all three of the major parts in Der Rosenkavalier: Sophie, Octavian, and Die Marschallin.
In 1952, she received the honorary title of Kammersängerin of Austria. She was invited to sing at the 1952 Bayreuth Festspielhaus, where she appeared as Eva in Die Meistersinger. She was, however, bothered by the lingering sense of the darker side of German nationalism she sensed at that shrine to Richard Wagner and turned down all further requests to sing there.
She had a reputation as a thoughtful, highly principled artist and person. She was known for her criticism of the dishonorable aspects of the "music business" and loathed the intrigues, jealousies, and cabals that often infested the operatic world. She also felt that star egos prevented major singers from working together as ensembles. She retired from singing unexpectedly in 1974.
© TiVo
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Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice (Recordings 1957)
Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Risë Stevens, Roberta Peters, Lisa Della Casa, Pierre Monteux, Coro del Teatro dell' Opera di Roma
Opera - Released by Urania Records on 1 Aug 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lisa Della Casa (Wiener Staatsoper Live)
Opera - Released by Orfeo on 30 Jan 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lisa della Casa Sings Richard Strauss
Classical - Released by Regis Records on 1 Sep 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Le Nozze Di Figaro (The Marriage Of Figaro) (Complete Opera)
Lisa Della Casa, The Vienna Opera Orchestra Chorus, Cesare Sepi, Alfred Poell, Hilde Gueden, Suzanne Danco
Classical - Released by Music Manager on 9 Nov 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lisa della Casa
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Naxos on 26 Jan 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann & Strauss: Song Cycles & Selected Songs
Lisa Della Casa, Sebastian Peschko, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Karl Böhm
Classical - Released by Jube Classic on 1 Jan 2021
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Les noces de Figaro, extraits (Mono Version)
Lisa Della Casa, Cesare Siepi, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Erich Kleiber
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Strauss Heroines
Birgit Nilsson, Leontyne Price, Lisa Della Casa
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Singer Portrait: Lisa Della Casa
Classical - Released by The Art Of Singing on 13 Mar 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gluck · orfeo ed euridice
Risë Stevens, Lisa Della Casa, Roberta Peters, Pierre Monteux, Rome Opera Orchestra
Classical - Released by G.O.P. on 28 Oct 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice (Mono Version)
Risë Stevens, Lisa Della Casa, Pierre Monteux, Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Historical Strauss, Vol. I (Remastered 2023)
Classical - Released by Urania Records on 15 Mar 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lieder Aus Unserer Heimat
Lisa Della Casa, Vico Torriani
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Requiem K. 626 - Live Salzburg 26 Juli 1956
Pop - Released by GazzaLadra on 31 Dec 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Airs d'opéras (Mono Version)
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Karl Böhm, Anton Dermota, Lisa Della Casa
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Lehár: The Tsarevich, Extracts (Mono Version)
Helge Rosvaenge, Lisa Della Casa, John Hendrik, Leni Funk
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1952
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Viennese Songs (Mono Version)
Helge Rosvaenge, Lisa Della Casa
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1952
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo