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Biography
Hildegard Behrens (9 February 1937 – 18 August 2009) was a German soprano with a wide repertoire including Richard Wagner|Wagner , Carl Maria von Weber|Weber , Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart , Richard Strauss , and Alban Berg roles.
Biography
Behrens was born in Varel , Germany in 1937 and was graduated from the University of Freiburg as a junior barrister before becoming serious about her talents as a singer, studying at first with Ines Leuwen at the Freiburg im Breisgau|Freiburg Academy Of Music. Her debut was as the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro in Freiburg in 1971Anthony Tommasini, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/20/arts/music/20behrens.html Hildegard Behrens, Soprano Acclaimed for Wagner, Is Dead at 72, New York Times (obituary), 2009/08/19. and the following yearshe became a member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin|Deutsche Oper . On 15 October 1976 she made her United States|American debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City|New York as Giorgetta in Il tabarro .
She began her musical career singing small roles at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf where she stayed for six years during which she graduated into bigger roles. Then in the 1975–76 season, while rehearsing Wozzeck , she was "discovered" by Herbert von Karajan , who was then looking for his new Salome (opera)|Salome . She was summoned to Berlin to audition for the role. Karajan liked what he heard and invited her to portray the role at the 1977 Salzburg Festival.
Behrens was the recipient of many awards - among them the highest civilian honors given by the Federal Republic of Germany ( Bundesverdienstkreuz or Order of the Merit Cross of the Federal Republic) and by the state of Bavaria (the Bayerischer Verdienstorden ), and the titles of Bayerische Kammersängerin and Österreichische Kammersängerin bestowed by the Bavarian State Opera and the Vienna State Opera respectively. In 1998, she received Denmark's most prestigious Leonie Sonning Music Prize and in 1999 the Vienna State Opera honored her with the Lotte Lehmann Ring, bequeathed to her by the late dramatic soprano Leonie Rysanek .
Hildegard Behrens died of a sudden aortic aneurysm aged 72 in hospital in Tokyo, Japan , where she had been attending the Kusatsu International Summer Music Fest.Reuters, http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE57I36320090819 "German soprano Hildegard Behrens dies aged 72" http://kusa2.net/J/index.php? e=390 Notice of death of Behrens
Awards
Grammy Awards of 1990|1990 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording: Richard Wagner's Die Walküre , with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Available on DVD: Der Ring des Nibelungen , with James Levine conducting the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, in the "classical-manner" production by Otto Schenk , from 1989 to 1990. Deutsche Grammophon 073 049-9. Tosca , with Giuseppe Sinopoli conducting the Metropolitan Opera in the celebrated Franco Zeffirelli production from 1985, also starring Plácido Domingo . Deutsche Grammophon 073 410-1. Idomeneo , performed at the Met with Luciano Pavarotti , production designer Jean Pierre Ponnelle , conductor James Levine . Deutsche Grammophon ASIN: B000E5KOJI
Notes
reflist
Sources
Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992), The Oxford Dictionary of Opera , 782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5
Léonie Sonning Music Prize laureates Persondata | NAME = Behrens, Hildegard | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = German operatic soprano | DATE OF BIRTH = 9 February 1937 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Varel, Germany | DATE OF DEATH = 18 August 2009 | PLACE OF DEATH = Tokyo, Japan DEFAULTSORT:Behrens, Hildegard Category:1937 births Category:2009 deaths Category:People from Varel Category:Operatic sopranos Category:German opera singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Deaths from aortic aneurysm Category:Cardiovascular disease deaths in Japan Category:Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Category:Members of the Bavarian Order of Merit
