In my own voice : memoirs / Christa Ludwig ; translated with reference material by Regina Domeraski.
| Author/creator | Ludwig, Christa |
| Format | Book |
| Edition | First Limelight edition. |
| Publication Info | New York : Limelight Editions, 1999. |
| Description | xiv, 306 pages, 32 pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Subjects |
| Uniform title | Und ich wäre so gern Primadonna gewesen. English |
| Contents | A fast foreword / Regina Domeraski -- For my mother -- Starting at the beginning -- How I started to write this book -- Growing up in Germany, 1928-1945 -- A ten-year apprenticeship -- Vienna (Finally!) -- Singing around the world -- "My" opera houses -- Concert halls in Vienna and America -- Memories of Salzburg -- America in the open air -- From Milan to Tokyo -- Another costume, another role -- Carmen -- The Marschallin -- Trouser roles -- Klytamnestra -- The Dyer's Wife -- Ortrud -- Kundry -- Wagner's Ring: Fricka and Waltraute -- Venus and Brangane -- Verdi roles -- French roles -- The moderns -- Surviving rehearsals and stage directors -- My love-hate relationship with Wieland Wagner -- It's wonderful to die on stage -- Please don't kiss! -- The greatest musicians are always searching -- Conducting styles -- Karl Bohm -- Herbert von Karajan -- Lorin Maazel -- Leonard Bernstein -- Lieder -- From heart to heart -- Die Winterreise: a journey of the soul -- Making music with Christa Ludwig / Charles Spencer -- Singing is hard work (in alphabetical order) -- Claques -- Clothes -- Colleagues -- Education -- Fans -- Hobbies -- Management -- Marriage -- Prima Donnas -- Public relations -- Recordings -- Regimen -- Superstition -- Travel -- The men in my life -- Better every day -- My silent wife / Paul-Emile Deiber -- From Wolfi to Wolfgang -- Whistler mother / Wolfgang Berry -- Crisis and change -- Stages: A Hesse poem -- Anatomy of a vocal crisis -- Singing is your destiny -- Limitations. |
| Abstract | Born in Berlin in 1928, Christa at three sang without a mistake the Queen of the Night's aria from The Magic Flute. So said her mother, herself a professional singer. But as a child under the Third Reich, particularly during the final war years, for Christa music was largely silenced, replaced by deprivation, bombings, and fear. The war over, Christa's mezzo-soprano brought her almost immediate recognition, and in 1946 she made her professional debut with the Frankfurt Opera singing Orlovsky in Fledermaus. So began a career that soared for close to 50 years, encompassing dozens of roles, as memorable as they were dissimilar, from the Marschallin and Carmen to Kundry and Amneris, and ending with her farewell appearance, in Vienna in 1994, as Klytamnestra in Elektra. She sang with the great opera stars of her time, including Callas, Corelli, Domingo, Fischer-Dieskau, Nilsson, Pavarotti, Prey, Price, Rysanek, Vickers, and Schwarzkopf. On stage and in recording studios, she worked under the batons of such celebrated conductors as Bohm, Karajan, Levine, Maazel, Solti, and, of course, Bernstein. She remembers them in rehearsal and performance at the great opera houses of Berlin, Vienna, and Paris, and at the Met. |
| General note | Includes index. |
| Bibliography note | Discography: pages 271-277. |
| LCCN | 99043233 |
| ISBN | 0879102810 |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Music | Music Stacks | ML420.L932 A3 1999 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |