Ljuba Welitsch
While her career was relatively short, Welitsch was a legend in her own time, with a strikingly beautiful stage presence (and a figure she was never hesitant to show off to its best advantage onstage) and a powerfully-focused, though not huge, voice. For many, her Salome has never been vocally or dramatically surpassed.
She studied in Sofia under Gyorgy Zlatov, and made her debut as one of the seamstresses in Charpentier's Louis at the Sofia Opera in 1934. Her first lead role was as Nedda in Pagliacci in 1936 at the Graz Opera. In 1937, she became part of the Graz opera company, where she remained until 1940. As her career developed, her roles ranged over the lyrical and the spinto repertoire, including such heavy roles as Senta and Aida. In 1944, she sang Salome in a performance conducted by Strauss himself, and after joining the Vienna State Opera in 1946, made her Covent Garden debut in the same role the next year. Her Metropolitan Opera debut was in 1949, also as Salome. (This was also conductor Fritz Reiner's Met debut.) As early as 1953, her voice was showing pronounced signs of wear, though her total artistry was still commanding, and she began to appear in smaller roles, including comic character parts. In 1959, she made her farewell to the opera stage in Egk's Der Revisor at the Vienna State Opera, though she returned to the Met in 1972 to perform the comic speaking part of the Duchess in a production of Donizetti's La Fille du Regiment.
© TiVo
Discography
6 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Strauss: Salome
Brian Sullivan, Hans Hotter, Ljuba Welitsch, Set Svanholm, Fritz Reiner, Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera House
Opera - Released by OperaPrima on 1 Jan 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Art of Ljuba Welitsch
Classical - Released by Preiser Records on 8 Aug 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Ljuba Welitsch (Recorded 1947-1950)
Ljuba Welitsch, Alessio de Paolis, Richard Tucker
Opera - Released by Prima Voce on 1 Jan 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Pure Voice of Luba Welitsch
Opera - Released by Editions Audiovisuel Beulah on 13 Nov 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Very Best Of
Opera - Released by Unchained Melodie on 31 Aug 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo