Leonie Rysanek
Soloist, Soprano
She was born in Vienna on 14/11/1926. She studied with Alfred Jerger and Rudolf Grossmann. She made her operatic debut in 1949 in Innsbruck as Agathe [The Freeshooter/Die Freischutz]. During her career she was distinguished as a dramatic soprano of the Italian repertoire and excelled in singing works by Richard Strauss. Her international acclaim came when she was invited by Wieland Wagner to sing Sieglinde [The Valkyrie/Die Walkure] in the first postwar Bayreuth Festival (1951). She performed numerous times at the Bayerische Staatsoper (1952), the Wien Staatsoper (1954), the Royal Opera House in London (1953), La Scala Milan (1954) and in Paris (1955). She made her Metropolitan Opera of New York debut in 1959 as Lady Macbeth [Macbeth], replacing Maria Callas. With the Met she participated in 299 performances and sang 24 roles, starring in a number of US premieres, such as Macbeth, Nabucco, Ariadne on Naxos [Ariadne auf Naxos], The Woman without a Shadow [Die Frau ohne Schatten] and Kata Kabanova. In her last Met appearance she sang the role of Countess [Queen of Spades/Pique Dame] in 1996. On the same year she also appeared for the last time at the Salzburg Festival as Klytemnestra [Elektra]. She was appointed curator of the Vienna Festival a few months after her retirement, a post she held until her death. In her late years she reverted to dramatic mezzo-soprano roles like Ortrud [Lohengrin], Herodias [Salome] and Klytemnestra [Elektra]. Her performances were recorded in numerous excellent audio and audiovisual recordings (DG, EMI, Decca, RCA, Philips, Claves). She passed away in Vienna on 07/03/1998. She worked with the GNO once, singing the title role of Cherubini’s Medea at the Athens Festival (Herodeion, 1972/73).