Here’s All We Know About Mezzo-Soprano Christa Ludwig Who Died At 94

Christa Ludwig is regarded as one of the greatest Mezzos of the 20th century by the Met audience.

The mezzo-soprano passed away at her home in Klosterneuburg, Austria on April 25. The news of Ludwig’s death was announced by the Vienna State Opera on April 26.

Who Is Christa Ludwig?

• Christa Ludwig was born in Berlin on March 16, 1928. Her father was an opera administrator and her mother was also a mezzo-soprano. She began watching her mother sing from a young age.
• Ludwig made her breakthrough Vienna State Opera debut as a mezzo-soprano on April 14, 1955. She debuted as Cherubino in Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro”. Before this, she had debuted in 1946 at Opera Frankfurt with the role of Prince Orlovsky in Johann Strauss II’s “Die Fledermaus”.
• For the first time after her big Vienna debut, she was heard by the public in the rebuilt opera house as Octavian in Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier” again in December 1955.
• Ludwig has sung about 769 performances in total with a total of 42 roles in Vienna and 119 performances with 15 roles in Metropolitan Opera (Met) before her retirement.
• Her career had to face a setback in the 1970s when Ludwig experienced a burst of capillary veins in her throat. However, the mezzo-soprano did not give up hopes and simply ruled this incident out as “an experience necessary” for her art.
• Ludwig sang her Vienna State Opera farewell on December 14, 1994, as Klytamnestra in Strauss’ “Elektra”. She also sang her Met farewell as Fricka the past year. She retired from singing after this while teaching occasional classes.
• Christa Ludwig is an honorary member of the Vienna State Opera and was also made an Austrian Kammersangerin in 1972.
• Ludwig married twice in her lifetime. First to Berry from 1957-70 and second to Paul-Emile Deiber, a French actor, in 1972.
• Her most notable recordings include Octavian in “Rosenkavalier” and Fricka in “Die Walkure”. Christa Ludwig is survived by one son and one stepson, Wolfgang berry, and Philippe Deiber.