View source for Elisabeth Schumann

{{Short description|German soprano}}
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[[File:Elisabeth Schumann.jpg|thumb|Elisabeth Schumann]]
'''Elisabeth Schumann''' (13 June 1888 &ndash; 23 April 1952) was a German [[lyric soprano]] who sang in [[opera]], [[operetta]], [[oratorio]], and [[lied]]er. She left a substantial legacy of recordings.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Elisabeth Schumann (Soprano) - Short Biography |url=https://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Schumann-Elisabeth.htm |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=www.bach-cantatas.com}}</ref>

==Career==
{{unreferenced section|date=June 2020}}
Born in [[Merseburg]], Schumann trained for a singing career in Berlin and Dresden. She made her stage debut in Hamburg in 1909. Her initial career started in the lighter [[soubrette]] roles that expanded into mostly [[Lyric soprano|lyrical]] roles, some [[Coloratura soprano|coloratura]] roles, and even a few [[Dramatic soprano|dramatic]] roles. She remained at the [[Hamburg State Opera]] until 1919, also singing during the 1914/1915 season at the [[Metropolitan Opera]], New York. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Elisabeth Schumann {{!}} Opera, Lieder & Recitals {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Elisabeth-Schumann |access-date=2023-08-28 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Elisabeth Schumann & Richard Strauss.jpg|thumb|Schumann and Richard Strauss]]
From 1919 until 1938, she was a star of the [[Vienna State Opera]]. Her most famous role was that of Sophie in [[Richard Strauss]]'s ''[[Der Rosenkavalier]]'', but she also excelled in Mozart, taking the roles of Pamina in ''[[The Magic Flute]]'', Zerlina in ''[[Don Giovanni]]'', Blonde in ''[[Die Entführung aus dem Serail]]'' and Susanna in ''[[The Marriage of Figaro]]''.

Despite her glittering operatic career, she excelled in lieder. Lotte Lehmann, in many ways her rival, paid her the tribute of saying that she represented perhaps the purest singing style of German lieder. The production of her voice, which was not particularly powerful, was so good; and enabled her to continue giving recitals long after many singers retire. This is most evident in her rendering of Schubert's "Du bist die Ruh" which requires a steadiness and purity of tone beyond most singers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Elisabeth Schumann (Soprano) - Short Biography |url=https://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Schumann-Elisabeth.htm |access-date=2023-08-28 |website=www.bach-cantatas.com}}</ref> This technique sustained her in dramatic operatic roles like Der Rosenkavalier. Her careful use of vibrato, never coarse, gave volume and sonority.

The conductor [[Karl Alwin]] was her second husband from 1920 until 1938. In 1938, she emigrated to New York City where she lived until her death on 23 April 1952, aged 64. During World War II she gave recitals but mainly taught singing, privately and at the [[Curtis Institute of Music]] in Philadelphia. One of her pupils at Curtis was soprano [[Florence Kirk]]. After the war she gave many recitals in Europe, making a particularly successful comeback in England.

She was a much-loved artist, admired for her vivacity, elegance, and beauty. She was closely connected with Richard Strauss, [[Otto Klemperer]], [[Lotte Lehmann]], [[Bruno Walter]], [[Wilhelm Furtwängler]], and other leading musicians of the first half of the 20th century.

==Death==

Elisabeth Schumann died in New York City, New York. She was buried in [[St Martin's Church, Ruislip]], England. Her son is also interred in the same plot.

==Honors==
*Honorary Member of the Vienna State Opera and the first female Honorary Member of the [[Vienna Philharmonic]].<ref>[http://www.naxos.com/artistinfo/bio1421.htm Elisabeth Schumann]{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} at [[Naxos Records]], retrieved on December 3, 2007.</ref>

==Opera roles==
In a career spanning 28 years, Schumann sang 91 roles. Her debut role was the Shepherd Boy in ''[[Tannhäuser (opera)|Tannhäuser]]'' on 2 September 1909 in Hamburg; on 1 November 1937 her last role was the First Flower maiden in ''[[Parsifal]]'' in Vienna.<ref>[http://www.elisabethschumann.org/operaroles.htm "The Opera Roles of Elisabeth Schumann"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081221123655/http://www.elisabethschumann.org/operaroles.htm |date=2008-12-21 }}, ElisabethSchumann.org, accessed 23 October 2008</ref>
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* Abisag, ''Daniel in der Löwengrube'' ([[Joseph Weigl]])
* Adele, ''[[Die Fledermaus]]'' ([[Johann Strauss II]])
* Albertine, ''[[Die Brautwahl]]'' ([[Ferruccio Busoni|Busoni]]) (role creator)
* Amore, ''[[Orfeo ed Euridice]]'' ([[Christoph Willibald Gluck|Gluck]])
* Anna, ''[[L'Africaine]]'' ([[Giacomo Meyerbeer|Meyerbeer]])
* Ännchen, ''[[Der Freischütz]]'' ([[Carl Maria von Weber|Weber]])
* Annina, ''[[La traviata]]'' ([[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]])
* Antonia, ''[[The Tales of Hoffmann]]'' ([[Jacques Offenbach|Offenbach]])
* Apprentice, ''[[Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg]]'' (Wagner)
* Arsena, ''[[The Gypsy Baron]]'' (Johann Strauss II)
* Arsinoe, ''[[Die toten Augen]]'' ([[Eugen d'Albert|d'Albert]])
* Barbarina, ''[[The Marriage of Figaro]]'' ([[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]])
* Bastienne, ''[[Bastien und Bastienne]]'' (Mozart)
* Bianca, ''[[Der Widerspänstigen Zähmung]]'' ([[Hermann Goetz]])
* Blonde, ''[[Die Entführung aus dem Serail]]'' (Mozart)
* Flower Maiden, ''[[Parsifal]]'' ([[Richard Wagner|Wagner]])
* Bronislawa, ''[[Der Bettelstudent]]'' ([[Carl Millöcker|Millöcker]])
* Cherubino, ''The Marriage of Figaro'' (Mozart)
* Chorknabe, ''[[Le prophète]]'' (Meyerbeer)
* The composer, ''[[Ariadne auf Naxos]]'' ([[Richard Strauss]])
* Cornelia, ''Meister Grobian'' (Arnold Winternitz)
* Cupidon, ''[[Orpheus in the Underworld]]'' (Offenbach)
* Despina, ''[[Così fan tutte]]'' (Mozart)
* Dew fairy, ''[[Hansel and Gretel (opera)|Hänsel und Gretel]]'' ([[Engelbert Humperdinck (composer)|Humperdinck]])
* Dianora, ''[[Mona Lisa]]'' ([[Max von Schillings]])
* Esquire, ''Parsifal'' (Wagner)
* Eva, ''[[Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg]]'' (Wagner)
* First boy, ''[[The Magic Flute]]'' (Mozart)
* Forest bird, ''[[Siegfried (opera)|Siegfried]]'' (Wagner)
* Frasquita, ''[[Carmen]]'' ([[Georges Bizet|Bizet]])
* Friedensbote, ''[[Rienzi]]'' (Wagner)
* Gerhilde, ''[[Die Walküre]]'' (Wagner)
* Goose girl, ''[[Königskinder]]'' (Humperdinck)
* Gretel, ''Hänsel und Gretel'' (Humperdinck)
* Hannerl, ''[[Das Dreimäderlhaus]]'' ([[Heinrich Berté]])
* Heimchen, ''[[The Cricket on the Hearth]]'' ([[Karl Goldmark]])
* Ida, ''[[Die Fledermaus]]'' (Johann Strauss II)
* Ilia, ''[[Idomeneo]]'' (Mozart)
* Laura, ''[[Der Ring des Polykrates (opera)|Der Ring des Polykrates]]'' ([[Erich Wolfgang Korngold|Korngold]])
* Lola, ''[[Cavalleria rusticana]]'' ([[Pietro Mascagni|Mascagni]])
* Luise, ''Ferdinand und Luise'' (Julius Zaiczek-Blankenau)
* Maid, ''[[Martha (opera)|Martha]]'' ([[Friedrich von Flotow]])
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* Malgherita, ''Meister Andrea'' ([[Felix Weingartner]])
* Mařenka, ''[[The Bartered Bride]]'' ([[Bedřich Smetana|Smetana]])
* Margiana, ''[[Der Barbier von Bagdad]]'' ([[Peter Cornelius]])
* Marguerite, ''[[Faust (opera)|Faust]]'' ([[Charles Gounod|Gounod]])
* Marie, ''[[Zar und Zimmermann]]'' ([[Albert Lortzing]])
* Marzellina, ''[[Fidelio]]'' ([[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]])
* Micaëla, ''[[Carmen]]'' (Bizet)
* Mignon, ''[[Mignon]]'' ([[Ambroise Thomas|Thomas]])
* Mimì, ''[[La bohème]]'' ([[Giacomo Puccini|Puccini]])
* Musetta, ''La bohème'' (Puccini)
* Najade (Naiad), ''Ariadne auf Naxos'' (Richard Strauss)
* Nanette, ''[[Der Wildschütz]]'' (Lortzing)
* Nannetta, ''[[Falstaff (opera)|Falstaff]]'' (Verdi)
* Nedda, ''[[Pagliacci]]'' ([[Ruggero Leoncavallo|Leoncavallo]])
* Norina, ''[[Don Pasquale]]'' ([[Gaetano Donizetti|Donizetti]])
* Nuri, ''[[Tiefland (opera)|Tiefland]]'' (d'Albert)
* Octavian, ''[[Der Rosenkavalier]]'' (Richard Strauss)
* Page, ''[[Lohengrin (opera)|Lohengrin]]'' (Wagner)
* Page, ''[[Tannhäuser (opera)|Tannhäuser]]'' (Wagner)
* Pamina, ''The Magic Flute'' (Mozart)
* Papagena, ''The Magic Flute'' (Mozart)
* Pepa, ''Tiefland'' (d'Albert)
* Rhinemaiden, ''[[Götterdämmerung]]'' (Wagner)
* Rose, ''[[Lakmé]]'' ([[Léo Delibes|Delibes]])
* Rose, ''[[Le postillon de Lonjumeau]]'' ([[Adolphe Adam|Adam]])
* Sandman, ''Hänsel und Gretel'' (Humperdinck)
* Serpina, ''[[La serva padrona]]'' ([[Giovanni Battista Pergolesi|Pergolesi]])
* Shepherd boy, ''Tannhäuser'' (Wagner)
* Sophie, ''Der Rosenkavalier'' (Richard Strauss)
* Susanna, ''Le nozze di Figaro'' (Mozart)
* Suschen, ''Die beiden Schützen'' (Lortzing)
* Valentin, ''[[La chanson de Fortunio]]'' (Offenbach)
* Veronika, ''{{ill|Die Schneider von Schönau|de}}'' ([[Jan Brandts Buys]])
* Vertraute, ''[[Elektra (opera)|Elektra]]'' (Richard Strauss)
* Wellgunde, ''[[Das Rheingold]]'' (Wagner)
* Wellgunde, ''[[Götterdämmerung]]'' (Wagner)
* Woglinde, ''Das Rheingold'' (Wagner)
* Woglinde, ''Götterdämmerung'' (Wagner)
* Yvonne, ''[[Jonny spielt auf]]'' ([[Ernst Krenek|Krenek]])
* Zelmire, ''[[Le cadi dupé]]'' (Gluck)
* Zerlina, ''[[Don Giovanni]]'' (Mozart)
* Zerline, ''[[Fra Diavolo (opera)|Fra Diavolo]]'' ([[Daniel Auber|Auber]])
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==Biography==
*''Elisabeth Schumann: a Biography'' by (her son) [[Gerd Puritz]], edited and translated by her granddaughter, Joy Puritz, published 1993 by André Deutsch, London, {{ISBN|0-233-98794-0}} (out of print); revised paperback edition published 1996 by Grant and Cutler, London, {{ISBN|9780729303941}}

== Recordings ==
*''Great Voices of the Century sing Exotica'', SCSH 005<ref>[http://www.sanctusrecordings.com/reviews.asp?id_catalogo=8 ''Great Voices of the Century sing Exotica''] SanCtuS Recordings</ref>
*"Elisabeth Schumann: Silver thread of song", EMI Classics, 2011, digitally-remastered 6-CD set, 5099991848024.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{commons category-inline|Elisabeth Schumann}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070205133931/http://www.elisabethschumann.org/ Elisabeth Schumann website], discography, photographs (2003)
*{{Find a Grave|212959738}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Schumann, Elisabeth}}
[[Category:1888 births]]
[[Category:1952 deaths]]
[[Category:American operatic sopranos]]
[[Category:German operatic sopranos]]
[[Category:People from Merseburg]]
[[Category:Lieder singers]]
[[Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States]]
[[Category:Emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States]]
[[Category:Curtis Institute of Music faculty]]
[[Category:German voice teachers]]
[[Category:20th-century German  women opera singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American women opera singers]]
[[Category:German women music educators]]
[[Category:American women music educators]]
[[Category:American women academics]]