In memoriam: Hildegard Behrens - obituaries and tributes from Scandinavia

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In Memoriam: Hildegard Behrens

http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Udland/2009/08/19/052257.htm

Written by:Vibeke Rask Grøn

The German soprano Hildegard Behrens received the 1998 Leonie Sonning Music Prize.
The soprano Hildegard Behrens has died
19. August 2009 05.48 Abroad Updated.: 19 August 2009 05.50

The German soprano Hildegard Behrens died, 72 years old. She died in Tokyo late last night.

Great voice
Hildegard Behrens was Germany's major dramatic soprano, who has been particularly well-known for her many roles in Richard Wagner's operas, but she has also sung Carl Maria von Weber, Mozart and Richard Strauss into many hearts.

Her voice was at the same time light and with a lyrical sound that is not normally associated with the demanding operatic parts, but she mastered it anyway as few have and had great success with the most dramatic soprano roles.

Hildegard Behrens was educated at the Music Academy in Freiburg, Germany and debuted in 1971 as the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro. A year later, in 1972, she became a member of the Deutsche Opera am Rhein.

To USA
In 1976 she made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. It was during the same period that she was contacted by the conductor Herbert von Karajan, who at the time sought a soprano for Strauss opera Salome. She got the role and performed it on stage at the Salzburg Festival in 1977.

Many prizes
Hildegard Behrens has through her career, received many awards, the key honors being the German Cross of Merit and the Bavarian Order of Merit.

In 1998 she received the Danish Sonning Music Prize.

http://sydsvenskan.se/familj/dodsfall/article538523/En-av-de-framsta-Wagnertolkarna.html

One of the foremost Wagner interpreters
Sydsvenskan-AP
Posted on August 19, 2009 11:24 | Updated September 28, 2009 16:13

German opera singer, soprano Hildegard Behrens, 72 years, Germany, has died suddenly during a music festival in Tokyo.

She is considered one of the top Wagner interpreters since Birgit Nilsson.

Her career which spanned over three decades began in Freiburg in 1971 in the role of the Countess in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro. Her debut at the Metropolitan Opera was in 1976 as Giorgetta in Puccini's Il Tabarro.

Her big breakthrough role came the following year when she sang the title role in Strauss' Salome at thr Salzburg Festival in Austria after being "discovered" by the great master Herbert von Karajan.

She sang a total of 171 performances at the Metropolitan where she worked until 1999.

Hildegard Behrens was born and raised in the north German town of Varel, Oldenburg. Her parents were both doctors, and she and her five siblings studied piano and violin as children. She received a law degree from the University of Freiburg where she also was a member of the student choir.

Hildegard Behrens was the recipient of the prestigious German Medal of Merit, Bundesverdienstkreuz, and the Bavarian Order of Merit, Bayerischer Verdienstorden. She was honored by both the State Opera in Munich and the opera house in Vienna. 1998 she was also awarded the Danish Leonie Sonning Prize.

She leaves behind a son and a daughter. The funeral will take place in Vienna shortly.

Wagneropera.net (Norway)

Hildegard Behrens (1937-2009)

German soprano Hildegard Behrens was born 9 February 1937. She died at a hospital in Tokyo on Tuesday 18 August 2009.

Hildegard Behrens's career as a singer began in 1971. In 1973 she became an ensemble member of Deutschen Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf-Duisburg and (in 1974) also a member of Oper Frankfurt. After some minor roles she sang Marie in Alban Berg's "Wozzeck".

Hildegard Behrens's international career rocketed when Herbert von Karajan offered her the lead role in Richard Strauss's "Salome" at the Salzburg Festival in 1977.

Her career centred around the operas of Richard Wagner, Richard Strauss and Mozart. She can be heard as Brünnhilde on the recordings of Der Ring des Nibelungen conducted by respectively James Levine (also released on DVD) and Wolfgang Sawallisch (also released on VHS). Behrens delivered a wonderful performance as Isolde on Leonard Bernstein's recording of Tristan und Isolde (1981). The video above is taken from the concerts that were used for this recording.

Hildegard Behrens sang Brünnhilde at the Bayreuth Festival in the Peter Hall / George Solti Ring (1983-86).

Hildegard Behrens appeared regularly on opera stages all over the world, with conductors like Herbert von Karajan, Karl Böhm, Leonard Bernstein, James Levine and Wolfgang Sawallisch.

http://www.wagneropera.net/RW-Performers/Hildegard-Behrens.htm

HILDEGARD BEHRENS: she makes music worth seeing!

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