Res Fischer

Res Fischer (8 November 1896 – 4 October 1974) was one of the few true German contraltos of the 1930s and 1940s, and was one of the most powerful singing-actresses of her day, performing internationally. She appeared in first recordings of complete operas, and created roles including Carl Orff's Antigonae.

Res Fischer
Born
Maria Theresa Fischer

(1896-11-08)8 November 1896
Berlin
Died4 October 1974(1974-10-04) (aged 77)
Esslingen am Neckar
OccupationOperatic contralto

Career

Born Maria Theresa Fischer in Berlin, she studied in Berlin with Lilli Lehmann,[1] in Stuttgart and Prague. She made her stage debut in 1927 at the Theater Basel, and remained there until 1935. She then sang at the Frankfurt Opera to 1941, when she joined the Stuttgart Opera.[2]

After the war, she began appearing at the Bavarian State Opera, the Vienna State Opera, at La Scala in Milan, at La Monnaie in Brussels, the Royal Opera House in London, San Carlo in Naples, and in 1951 at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.

Her repertory included: Gluck's Orfeo, Azucena, Amneris, Eboli, Mrs. Quickly, Ortrud, Fricka, Brangäne, The Nurse, Herodias, Clytemnestra, The Old Countess, Kostelnicka, and Iocasta, among others.[1] She created the title role in Carl Orff's Antigonae at the Salzburg Festival in 1949.[2]

Fischer appeared at the Bayreuth Festival from 1959 to 1961 as Mary in Der fliegende Holländer.[1] She performed in a production conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch, alongside George London as the Holländer and Leonie Rysanek as Senta.[3] She enjoyed a long and distinguished career singing until 1961. She died in Ruit auf den Fildern near Esslingen.[1]

Recordings

Fischer is featured in recordings of complete operas in German, including first recordings, in 1949 of Orff's Antigonae conducted by Ferenc Fricsay, in 1950 of Marschner's Hans Heiling conducted by Wilhelm Schüchter, and in 1964 of Fortner's Bluthochzeit conducted by Ferdinand Leitner. She sang the role of Marcellina in Mozart's Die Hochzeit des Figaro in a 1942 recording conducted by Clemens Krauss, and the title role of Samson et Dalila in 1948, alongside Lorenz Fehenberger, Fred Destal and Max Proebstl, with Hans Altmann conducting the Bavarian Radio Chorus and Orchestra. She appeared as Zita in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi in 1949, conducted by Richard Kraus, as Ulrica in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera in 1950, conducted by Georg Solti, as Mary in 1951, conducted by Schüchter, and again in 1959 in the Bayreuth recording, as Erda in Wagner's Das Rheingold a live recording from Hamburg conducted by Schüchter, and as the Knusperhexe in Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel in 1954, conducted by Fritz Lehmann.[3]

References
  1. "Res Fischer" (in German). Bayreuth Festival. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  2. Aßfalg, Winfried. "Res Fischer" (in German). Riedlingen. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  3. Steiger, Karsten (1983). Opern-Diskographie: Verzeichnis aller Audio- und Video-Gesamtaufnahmen (in German). p. 323. ISBN 9783110955965. Archived from the original on 2018-02-14.

Sources
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