Christa Ludwig

Christa Ludwig was born in Berlin 1928. In 1945 she received her first professional contract in Giessen. In 1957 she married the bass Walter Berry (1929-2000). In 1966 she sang Brangäne in Bayreuth (only one performance, which was recorded), and in 1967 she received the Grammy Award. In 1994 Christa Ludwig recieved Das Grosses Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich, and in 1995 she became Honorary Member of the Vienna Philharmonic.

Christa Ludwig at Bayreuth

1966

Tristan und Isolde (Brangäne)

1967

Parsifal (Kundry)

Christa Ludwig's Wagner repertoire

Fricka (Das Rheingold)
Fricka (Die Walküre)
Erda (Das Rheingold)
Kundry (Parsifal)
Waltraute (Die Walküre)
Mary (Der fliegende Holländer)
Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde). Debut in Bayreuth: 1966. Ludwig only sang one performance (4 August). This performance was recorded and is now a classic Wagner recording. Read more about the Karl Böhm Tristan und Isolde
Waltraute (Götterdämmerung)
Wellgunde (Götterdämmerung)
2. Norne (Götterdämmerung)
Ortrud (Lohengrin)
Magdalena (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg)
Adriano (Rienzi)
Erda (Siegfried)
Venus (Tannhäuser)
Wesendock-Lieder
Brünnhilde's Immolation Scene (Götterdämmerung)

Main source: Christa Ludwig: In My Own Voice

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One of the finest monuments in sound ever to have been raised to the everlasting glory of music. (Claude Debussy on Parsifal)

"The thing about Wagner is that there can be no true success in any production of his operas, only degrees of failure. There is so much in these bloody pieces, all you can do is try to live up to them." (Keith Warner, The Guardian)

"I have never come across an audience with so much hatred, so much anger, such a thirst for revenge. They take everything personally. It makes you a little bit scared, and it's really quite terrifying." (Lance Ryan on the audiences at Bayreuth)

"People sometimes complain that Wagner operas are too long, that they get stiff and sore about 10.30 because they have rushed in to hear one of his works straight from work and are not properly prepared for listening to his music. The audience, as much as the artists, must be prepared for a performance."
(Benjamin Britten to Alan Blyth, Gramophone)

"I was bowled over. It was the year after Wieland Wagner had died; to be able to see his productions was a total knock-out. These bare stagings, where everything was done with lighting. The light changed with the music, and the shadows and patterns seemed as archetypal as the music itself. Nobody had done that on the stage before. I thought it was extraordinary and wonderful."
(Patrick Carnegy to The Guardian)

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