Judith Hellwig

Judith Hellwig (19 August 1906 – 25 January 1993) was an Austrian operatic soprano.[1]

Career

Born in Neusohl, (today Banská Bystrica in Slovakia), Hellwig made her debut at the opera house in Saarbrücken. In 1938, she created the role of Ursula in Hindemith's Mathis der Maler at the Zürich Opera[2] which brought her international fame. Hellwig was of Jewish faith and had to go into exile in the United States as the Second World War approached, before moving to Buenos Aires. After the war, she returned to Europe and was hired by the Vienna State Opera, where she remained until 1972.

Among her other outstanding roles was the voice of the falcon in Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten,[3] conducted by Karl Böhm in 1955. She also portrayed Judith very expressively, despite the Hungarian diction efforts she had to make for the role in Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle.

Hellwig died on 25 January 1993 in Vienna at age 86.

Sources

References
  1. Judith Hellwig on Who's Who
  2. Piotr Kamiński [in French] (2003). Mille et un opéras. Les indispensables de la musique (in French). Fayard. p. 675. ISBN 978-2-2136-0017-8.
  3. Judith Hellwig on Capriccio Kultur Forum
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