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Biography
Gundula Janowitz (born August 2, 1937 in Berlin, Germany) http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/14144 "Janowitz, Gundula" by Alan Blyth , Grove Music Online Subscription is an Austrian lyric soprano singer of opera s, oratorio s and concert s. She is one of the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century and was pre-eminent in the 1960s and 1970s.
Career
Janowitz grew up in Graz , Austria, where she became a Naturalization|naturalised Austrian. http://www.welt.de/welt_print/article1073834/Gundula_Janowitz_70.html? print=true#reqdrucken "Gundula Janowitz 70" by Manuel Brug, Die Welt (2 August 2007) De icon She studied at the Graz Conservatory in Austria, and had already begun to sing at the highest level by the end of the 1950s (Haydn's The Creation (Haydn)|The Creation , with Herbert von Karajan in 1960). In 1959, Karajan engaged her as Barbarina in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro at the Vienna State Opera , of which she became a permanent member in 1962. In the 1960s and 1970s, she became one of the most popular singers in her field internationally and she developed a comprehensive and widely-followed discography of works ranging from Johann Sebastian Bach to Richard Strauss , in cooperation with the most prominent conductors (her mentor at times, Karajan, as well as Otto Klemperer , Eugen Jochum , Leonard Bernstein , Rafael Kubelík , Karl Böhm , Georg Solti , Carlos Kleiber , etc.)
One of the emphases of Janowitz's work was the development of song recitals, which she gave several times at the Salzburg Festival s. Following her vocal career, she was active as a vocal teacher. In 1990, she temporarily took over the position of Opera Director in Graz. http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Janowitz-Gundula.htm Gundula Janowitz at bach-cantatas.com
In 1978, Gundula Janowitz was awarded the Joseph Marx Music Prize of the state of Styria , Austria, named for the composer, Joseph Marx . http://www.joseph-marx-gesellschaft.org/english/joseph-marx.html Joseph Marx: The Life and Works of the Composer Joseph Marx
Janowitz appeared on many of the great stages of the world, including Glyndebourne Festival Opera , the Salzburg Easter Festival s, the Metropolitan Opera , the Opéra National de Paris|Paris Opéra , the Royal Opera House . She was made a Kammersänger in in 1970. In 1973, she sang the part of the Countess in a now legendary new production of Le nozze di Figaro (with Georg Solti as conductor, Giorgio Strehler as director and Ezio Frigerio as set designer).
Her farewell premiere was at the Vienna State Opera in the title role of Gluck's Iphigénie en Aulide (with Charles Mackerras as conductor, Claus Helmut Drese as director, and :de:Hans Schavernoch|Hans Schavernoch as set designer). Janowitz made her official farewell from the stage in 1990.
Voice and repertory
Gundula Janowitz's voice is distinguished by its very bright, pure, crystalline, tremolo -free sound with tight, rapid vibrato , and by her even breathing technique. She kept her youthful, angelic tone and freshness well into her mature years. Like her predecessors, Elisabeth Grümmer and Maria Stader , who had similar timbre to hers, and like her contemporary, Elizabeth Harwood , Janowitz mastered first and foremost the high and middle register and lyrical-emotional expression. Despite her comparatively weak sound projection, she occasionally performed in dramatic roles (Sieglinde, Leonore, Elsa) or comic roles (Marzelline, Rosalinde), but she was most highly regarded as Fiordiligi, Countess Almaviva, Pamina, Agathe, Arabella, Ariadne, the Angel Gabriel ( The Creation ), and Countess Madeleine, and in sacred music. She was also a leading interpreter of Richard Strauss " Four Last Songs ". With a few exceptions, she avoided foreign-language roles (although recordings exist of her singing Don Carlos and Verdi's Requiem (Verdi)|Requiem and all three Mozart/ Lorenzo Da Ponte|DaPonte operas in Italian).
An excerpt of her portrayal of the Figaro Countess in a duet with Swiss soprano Edith Mathis features prominently in the 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption .
Selected discography
With Otto Klemperer : The Magic Flute
With Herbert von Karajan : The Creation (Haydn)|The Creation , The Seasons (Haydn)|The Seasons , Die Walküre , Götterdämmerung , St Matthew Passion , Mass in B minor , Fidelio (as Marzelline), Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)|Ninth Symphony , Missa Solemnis (Beethoven)|Missa Solemnis , A German Requiem (Brahms)|A German Requiem , Four Last Songs
With Eugen Jochum : Carmina Burana (Orff)|Carmina Burana
With Carlos Kleiber : Der Freischütz
With Karl Böhm : Così fan tutte , The Marriage of Figaro , Die Fledermaus , The Seasons , Capriccio (opera)|Capriccio
With Rafael Kubelík : Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg , Lohengrin (opera)|Lohengrin
With Rudolf Kempe : Ariadne auf Naxos
With Karl Richter (conductor)|Karl Richter : Christmas Oratorio , Messiah (Handel)|Messiah , Orfeo ed Euridice , Mass in B minor
With Hans Knappertsbusch : Parsifal (1962, as Flower Girl)
15 Lieder by Franz Schubert , with Charles Spencer (piano)
Schubert Lieder, with Irwin Gage (piano). Includes " Gretchen am Spinnrade ", "Die Männer sind méchant", and " The Shepherd on the Rock|Der Hirt auf dem Felsen ".
Persondata | NAME = Janowitz, Gundula | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION =Austrian opera soprano | DATE OF BIRTH = August 2, 1937 | PLACE OF BIRTH =Berlin, Germany | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Janowitz, Gundula Category:Austrian sopranos Category:Austrian opera singers Category:Operatic sopranos Category:Honorary Members of the Royal Academy of Music Category:People from Berlin Category:1937 births Category:Living people
