Biography (read more)
Christa Ludwig was born on 16 March 1928 in Berlin to mezzo-soprano Eugenie Besalla-Ludwig, who gave her first voice training; she went on to study at the Aachen Conservatory and the Musikhochschule Frankfurt before making her 1946 debut as Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus at Oper Frankfurt. She died on 24 April 2021 in Klosterneuburg, Austria.
Ludwig was a principal artist at the Vienna State Opera for nearly four decades (1955-1994), singing 769 performances in 43 roles, and appeared in 121 performances across 15 roles at the Metropolitan Opera; she created the title role in Gottfried von Einem’s Der Besuch der alten Dame in 1971. Regarded as one of the great mezzo-sopranos of the 20th century for both her opera and Lieder singing, she was named a Kammersängerin in 1962 and left an extensive recorded legacy.
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