The well-known German-born soprano, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, was the daughter of Friedrich Schwarzkopf and his wife, Elisabeth Fröhling. From the very beginning, Elisabeth showed an interest in persuing a career in music. She performed in her first opera in 1928, as Eurydice in a school production of Orfeo ed Euridice in Magdeburg, Germany. She was also in demand in concerts and local amateur performances.
In 1934, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf applied for entrance to the Berlin Hochschule für Musik and was accepted. Elisabeth began studying with Lula Mysz-Gmeiner, who began training Elisabeth as a mezzo-soprano.
Later, Ms. Schwarzkopf trained with Dr. Egonolf for over a year before joining Berlin’s Deutsche Oper as a junior soprano on April 13, 1938. Two days later, she made her professional stage debut as the Second Flower Maiden (First Group) in Act II of Wagner’s Parsifal.
Elisabeth sang at the Deutsche Oper for four years, during which she became a member of the German Nazi Party, leaving Berlin only to sing in one performance as Adele in “Die Fledermaus” at the Paris Opera when the Deutsche Oper went on tour in September 1941.
She left the Deutsche Oper in 1946 and joined the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, where she enjoyed considerable success in roles like Mimi in La Bohème and Violetta in La Traviata. She left the company in 1950 to begin her international career.
Here is Ms. Schwartzkopf, singing the song “Morgen” by Richard Strauss:
