Schwarzkopf, Dame Elisabeth

Schwarzkopf, Dame (Olga Maria) Elisabeth (Friederike)

(born Dec. 9, 1915, Jarotschin, near Posen, Ger. [now Poznan, Pol.]—died Aug. 3, 2006, Schruns, Austria) German soprano. After studies at the Berlin High School for Music, she debuted in 1938 as a flower maiden in the opera Parsifal. At the request of Austrian conductor Karl Böhm, she joined the Vienna State Opera, serving as its principal coloratura soprano from 1944 to 1950. In 1947 she made her debut at Covent Garden in London and became a frequent performer there. She also had long associations with the Salzburg Festival (1949–64) and La Scala (1949–63). Her annual lieder recitals were legendary. Her opera farewell (1971) was in her famous role as the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, and she retired in 1979.