Lillie Claus

Lillie Claus-Dostal (1905–2000) was an Austrian lyric coloratura opera and operetta singer.

Biography

She received a musical education in her youth (vocals, piano, dance school). When she was 16 she entered the Vienna Academy of Music. She debuted as Papagena in Mozart's The Magic Flute at the Vienna State Opera.

After engagements at several theatres, she returned to the Vienna State Opera. There, she heard the composer Nico Dostal was in search a leading singer for his operetta "Clivia". On 23 December 1933, she took part in the premiere in the Berlin theatre on Nollendorfplatz.

On 30 November 1934, she sang the 'Lied der Lulu' (part of the five-movement concert suite version of Alban Berg's opera Lulu) at the Berlin Staatsoper Unter den Linden under Erich Kleiber.

In the ensuing period Lillie Claus focused increasingly on operetta. Nico Dostal wrote several of his operettas for her voice.

In 1942 she married Nico Dostal and retired from the stage. Their son Roman Dostal, later to be a conductor, was born in 1943 and the family lived in Salzburg. At Nico Dostal's 100th birthday celebration in 1995, the 90-year-old Lillie Claus Dostal was still in the best of health and participated in the events. She made several records.

Selected filmography

Recordings
  • Eine Grande Dame der Operette: Lillie Claus. Songs from operettas and films. Recordings between 1932 and 1941. Rv-Musik RV2618 CD.

References
  1. Andrew Lamb - 150 Years of Popular Musical Theatre 2000 - Page 230 0300075383 "Walter Jankuhn played the tenor role of the president, and Lillie Claus (who later married Dostal) was Clivia. She had the two big numbers: the introductory "Man spricht heut' nur noch von Clivia" and the reflective "Ich bin verliebt."
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