Leonie Rysanek

Leopoldine Rysanek (14 November 1926 – 7 March 1998) was an Austrian dramatic soprano.

Life
Rysanek was born in Vienna as one of six children of a Czech father and an Austrian mother. She entered the Vienna Academy at 16, where she studied with Alfred Jerger. Rysanek made her operatic debut in 1949 in Innsbruck.

In 1951, the Bayreuth Festival reopened and the new leader Wieland Wagner asked her to sing Sieglinde in Die Walküre, conducted by Herbert von Karajan. He was convinced that her unique, young and beautiful voice, combined with her rare acting abilities, would create a sensation. She became a star overnight, and the role of Sieglinde followed her for the rest of her career. Her final performance was at the Salzburg Festival in August 1996, as Klytämnestra in Elektra by Richard Strauss.

She made her American debut at the San Francisco Opera on 18 September 1956 in Der fliegende Holländer, the first of her nineteen roles in San Francisco. Other operas were Ariadne auf Naxos, Macbeth, Turandot, Un ballo in maschera, La forza del destino, Tannhäuser, Aida, Salome (Salome and Herodias), Tosca, Der Rosenkavalier, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Die Walküre, Lohengrin (Elsa and Ortrud), Jenůfa (Kostelnička), and The Queen of Spades (the Countess). Her last San Francisco performance was on 12 December 1993.

Her Metropolitan Opera debut came in 1959 as Lady Macbeth in Verdi's Macbeth, replacing Maria Callas who had been "fired" from the production. Over her lengthy career, she sang 299 performances in 24 roles there. She starred in productions of Verdi's Nabucco, in the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss, the Empress in Die Frau ohne Schatten, also by Strauss, and Janáček's Káťa Kabanová. She made her farewell there as the Countess in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades in January 1996.

She was appointed curator of the Vienna Festival a few months after her retirement, a post she held until her death in Vienna at age 71 (she had been diagnosed with bone cancer during her last Met performances). Two days later, a Metropolitan Opera production of Wagner's Lohengrin with Ben Heppner in the title role was dedicated to her memory. In that opera, she had sung the role of Ortrud in the 1985–86 production.

Voice and roles
Rysanek was known for singing the music of Richard Strauss. She was especially praised as the Empress (Kaiserin) in Die Frau ohne Schatten, the title role in Salome, the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier and Chrysothemis in Elektra. She occasionally sang Ariadne/Prima Donna in Ariadne auf Naxos and female leads in Strauss operas rarely staged (Die ägyptische Helena and Die Liebe der Danae). However, cautious of playing out of her league, she did not tackle Salome until 1972 when she was age 46, although she kept the role of Sieglinde in her active repertoire from her early 20s until age 62.

She avoided offers to sing Isolde in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde despite speculation that the role would be perfect for her. She sang Brünnhilde in Die Walküre in 1950 in Innsbruck but did not return to this role. One of her performances in Die Walküre took place in the same week as her appearance as Gilda in Rigoletto.

Rysanek sang the title role of Tosca often, and Turandot a few times. She also sang Leonore in Beethoven's Fidelio. In Wagner, she sang Elisabeth in Tannhäuser often, also Elsa and Ortrud in Lohengrin. The role in which she was most revered, in addition to Strauss's Kaiserin and Chrysothemis, was Sieglinde in Die Walküre.

Due to Rysanek's vocal technique and strong vocal endurance, she was able to sing many Verdi leads, notably Desdemona in Otello, Lady Macbeth, Amelia in Un ballo in maschera, Elisabetta in Don Carlo, Leonora in La forza del destino, and the title role of Aida. She also sang Abigaille in the Metropolitan Opera's first staging of Nabucco in 1960. Rysanek also took an interest in Czech opera (Smetana, Janáček), even though she didn't grow up speaking Czech at home.

Rysanek sang Turandot and was praised in her role of Kundry in Parsifal at the Met, Vienna, and the Bayreuth Festival. She started her career when Kirsten Flagstad was still alive and Birgit Nilsson and Astrid Varnay at the peak of their vocal abilities. In 1981, Karl Böhm persuaded her to sing Elektra for a Unitel film (with the soundtrack recorded in the studio), not a live production in an opera house. In her later years, Rysanek reverted to dramatic mezzo-soprano roles like Herodias in Salome, Klytemnestra in Elektra and Kostelnička in Janáček's Jenůfa.

Soprano Lotte Rysanek was Leopoldine Rysanek's sister.

Officially published recordings
Work (composer), role, conductor, year of recording, label.


 * Die Walküre act 3 (Richard Wagner), Sieglinde, Herbert von Karajan, 1951, EMI
 * Die Walküre (Richard Wagner), Sieglinde, Wilhelm Furtwängler, 1954, EMI
 * Die Frau ohne Schatten (Richard Strauss), Kaiserin, Karl Böhm, 1955, Decca
 * Fidelio (Ludwig van Beethoven), Leonore, Ferenc Fricsay, 1957, Deutsche Grammophon
 * Operatic Arias, Arturo Basile, 1958, RCA Victor
 * Ariadne auf Naxos (Richard Strauss), Prima Donna/Ariadne, Erich Leinsdorf, 1958, Decca
 * Macbeth (Giuseppe Verdi), Lady Macbeth, Erich Leinsdorf, 1959, RCA Victor
 * Otello (Giuseppe Verdi), Desdemona, Tullio Serafin, 1960, RCA Victor
 * Requiem (Giuseppe Verdi), soprano, Herbert von Karajan, 1960, EMI
 * Der fliegende Holländer (Richard Wagner), Senta, Antal Doráti, 1961, Decca
 * Die Frau ohne Schatten (Richard Strauss), Kaiserin, Herbert von Karajan, 1964, Deutsche Grammophon
 * Die Walküre (Richard Wagner), Sieglinde, Karl Böhm, 1967, Philips
 * Médée (Luigi Cherubini), Medea, Horst Stein, 1972, RCA
 * Salome (Richard Strauss), Salome, Karl Böhm, 1972, RCA
 * Die Frau ohne Schatten (Richard Strauss), Kaiserin, Karl Böhm, 1977, Deutsche Grammophon
 * Elektra (Richard Strauss), Elektra, Karl Böhm, 1981, Unitel (video)
 * Jenůfa (Leoš Janáček), Kostelnička, Eve Queler, 1988, BIS
 * Salome (Richard Strauss), Herodias, Giuseppe Sinopoli, 1990, Deutsche Grammophon
 * Elektra (Richard Strauss), Klytaemnestra, Jeffrey Tate, 1990, Claves
 * Elektra (Richard Strauss), Klytaemnestra, Friedemann Layer, 1995, Actes Sud Musicales

Other recordings

 * Senta in Der fliegende Holländer: Bayreuth Festival 1959, cond. Wolfgang Sawallisch
 * Sieglinde in Die Walküre: Bayreuth Festival 1958, cond. Hans Knappertsbusch
 * Title role in Salome: Chorégies d'Orange 1974, cond. Rudolf Kempe
 * Gioconda in La Gioconda: Berlin State Opera, 1974, cond. Giuseppe Patanè
 * Chrysothemis in Elektra: Cologne Radio 1953, cond. Richard Kraus (conductor); and Bavarian State Opera 1955, cond. Karl Böhm
 * Elisabeth in Tannhäuser: Bayreuth Festival 1964, cond. Otmar Suitner; and 1966, cond. Carl Melles
 * Elsa in Lohengrin: Bayreuth Festival 1958, cond. André Cluytens
 * Danae in Die Liebe der Danae: Bavarian State Opera 1953, cond. Kurt Eichhorn
 * Helena in Die ägyptische Helena: Bavarian State Opera 1956, cond. Joseph Keilberth
 * Title role in Aida: Vienna State Opera 1955, cond. Rafael Kubelík
 * Amelia in Un ballo in maschera: Metropolitan Opera 1962, cond. Nello Santi

Decorations and awards

 * 1956: Österreichische Kammersängerin
 * 1956: Bayerische Kammersängerin
 * 1956: Silver rose of the Vienna Philharmonic
 * 1986: Honorary Ring of the Vienna
 * 1991: Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters (France)
 * 1996: Grand Gold Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria
 * Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class

Honorary memberships

 * 1974: Honorary member of the Vienna State Opera
 * 1984: Honorary member of the Metropolitan Opera
 * 1986: Honorary member of the San Francisco Opera
 * 1994: Honorary member of the Opéra de Marseille