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Ljuba Welitsch--soprano
Josef Krips--conductor
Orchester der Staatsoper Wien
1947
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"Ljuba Welitsch (Veličkova; Bulgarian: Люба Величкова 10 July 1913 - 1 September 1996) was an operatic soprano. She was born in Borisovo, Bulgaria, studied in Sofia and Vienna, and sang in opera houses in Austria and Germany in the late 1930s and early and mid-1940s. In 1946 she became an Austrian citizen.
Welitsch became best known in the title role of Richard Strauss's Salome, in which she was coached by the composer. Her international career was short, its start delayed by the Second World War and its end hastened by vocal problems. It took off in 1947 in London and continued in New York from 1949, but her starring days were over by the mid-1950s. Her international career was just before the days when complete studio recordings of operas were common, and although some live recordings survive from broadcasts, her recorded legacy is not extensive.
Welitsch was born in Borissovo, Bulgaria, and grew up on her family's farm with her two sisters.[1][2] Her interest in music began as a young girl;[3] when she was eight one of her sisters gave her a violin, and for a while she considered becoming a professional player.[2][4] After leaving high school in Shumen she read philosophy at Sofia University, gaining a PhD.[4] In Sofia she sang in choirs, and studied music with Georgi Zlatev-Cherkin.[3] With funding from the Bulgarian government she moved to Vienna to study with Theo Lierhammer, professor of singing at the State Academy.[5][6]
Welitsch made her operatic debut in Sofia in 1936, in a small part in Louise.[2] Her first major role was Nedda in Pagliacci at the Graz Opera in the same year.[1] She learned her craft with the Graz company over the next three years, singing an unusually wide range of soprano roles, in operas by composers from Mozart to Wagner, Humperdinck, Puccini and Richard Strauss.[n 1]
Between then and the end of the Second World War she was a member of opera companies in Hamburg (1941-1943), Munich and Berlin (1943-1946).[5] While in Berlin she played the role of the young Composer in Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos. Strauss saw her and was impressed; he arranged for her to sing the title role in a new production of his Salome at the Vienna Volksoper in 1944 to mark his eightieth birthday. He helped her prepare the part, and it became the one with which she was most closely associated.[3][5] They worked on the piece for six weeks before the performance; Strauss attended rehearsals every day.[7]
Welitsch took Austrian citizenship in 1946.[7] She became a key member of the group of singers the opera manager Franz Salmhofer gathered around him as he strove to rebuild the Vienna State Opera company at the end of the war. In Vienna she further extended her repertoire, adding roles in French, German, Italian and Russian operas. As well as Salome, other roles with which she was particularly associated in Vienna were Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni.[n 2]
Later years
By 1953 Welitsch had developed nodules on her vocal cords, necessitating surgery. That, compounded by her unusually high number of performances, led to a swift deterioration in her singing, and she was obliged to give up the star roles for which she was most celebrated. She had expected a longer career, and had been contemplating taking on the role of Isolde in a few years' time, although she was not enamoured of Wagner in general.[n 3] The critic Tim Ashley writes that Welitsch's farewell to Salome came on film in Carol Reed's 1955 thriller The Man Between, in a scene set in the Berlin State Opera during a performance of the opera. "You only see her in long shot, though it's enough to get an idea of what she was like on stage."[18]
Welitsch was still able to sing roles such as Magda in Puccini's La rondine in Vienna in 1955, and to record the character part of Marianne, the duenna, in Herbert von Karajan's 1956 set of Der Rosenkavalier.[6] She successfully turned to the non-operatic stage, in parts such as June in a German translation of The Killing of Sister George in Berlin in 1970.[6]
Long after her retirement Welitsch continued to be regarded by professionals with admiration and affection. The Decca producer John Culshaw wrote in 1967 that she was a welcome guest at recording sessions, and "one of our regular jobs is to bring kippers to Vienna for Welitsch".[19] Her hospitality was famous, and she remained the focus of public attention even in retirement, as a member of first-night audiences.[6][20]
Welitsch was twice married and twice divorced; she had no children. She died in Vienna after a series of strokes, aged 83.[5]"; Wikipedia (edited)
Негізгі бет Ljuba Welitsch; "Ritorna vincitor"; AIDA; Giuseppe Verdi
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