- Hilde Gueden
The
Austria nsoprano Hilde Gueden, or Güden (born inVienna ,September 15 ,1917 ; died inKlosterneuburg ,September 17 ,1988 ) was one of the most appreciatedStrauss ian andMozart iansoprano s of her days. Her youthful and lively interpretations made her an ideal interpreter of roles like Zerbinetta inAriadne auf Naxos and Susanna inLe nozze di Figaro .Early life
She was born Hulda Geiringer and studied singing with Otto Iro,
piano with Maria Wetzelsberger, and dancing at theVienna Music Academy . She debuted, as Hulda Gerin, in 1937 in Benatzky's operetta "Herzen im Schnee" at theVienna Volksoper . Her operatic debut came in 1939, when she sang Cherubino in "Le nozze di Figaro" at theZurich Opera .In 1941, the famous conductor
Clemens Krauss engaged her to theMunich State Opera , where she sang with much success. From this time she used Hilde Gueden as her stage name. However, she had someJew ish ancestry, and this forced her to leaveGermany under the Nazis. Rumor has it that she was almost arrested by theGestapo in Munich, but she had by then obtained a fake passport showing that she was aCatholic Polish woman and could avoid the arrest.Post-war career
In
Italy ,Tullio Serafin invited her to singSophie (Der Rosenkavalier ) inRome andFlorence . From then on, she gained great successes inParis ,Milan ,London ,Venice , Glyndebourne, and other major cities. She made her debut atSalzburg Festival in 1946 by singing Zerlina in Mozart's "Don Giovanni " in 1946. In 1947, she started a long membership with theVienna Staatsoper , where she was still of the greatest stars up to 1973. In December 1951, she debuted at theMetropolitan Opera as Gilda inRigoletto . In 1953, she sang the first Ann Trulove, in Stravinsky's "The Rake's Progress", of theMetropolitan Opera .From late 1950s, she moved from light parts to lyric parts in the same
opera s; from Susanna to Countess Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), from Zerlina to Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), from Despina to Fiordiligi ("Cosi fan tutte "), from Nannetta to Alice Ford (Falstaff), and from Musetta to Mimi (La bohème). She was also praised for her performances of Violetta in La traviata, Marguerite in Faust, and Micaela in Carmen.She was a most versatile and accomplished singer. Besides her usual Mozart and
Richard Strauss , she was also an ideal Operetta singer. Her Rosalinde inDie Fledermaus is considered one of her best roles. In the Bel Canto repertoire, she became a famous Gilda inRigoletto and Adina inL'elisir d'amore . She was also noted for herlieder and oratorio work.Recordings
During the 1950s and 1960s, Hilde Gueden made dozens of recordings with the best artists of her generation, especially for the Decca/London label. Following is a selection of her recorded works:
1. Mozart:
Le nozze di Figaro (as Sussana) with Lisa della Casa, Cesare Siepi, andErich Kleiber (con.) Vienna State Opera Chorus and Vienna Phiharmonic Orchestra (Decca)2. Mozart:
Don Giovanni (as Zerlina) with Lisa della Casa, Cesare Siepi, Walter Berry, Sazanne Danco andJosef Krips (con.) Chorus and Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera (Decca)3. Mozart:
Die Zauberflöte (as Pamina) with Wilma Lipp, Leopold Simoneau, Kurt Bohm andKarl Bohm (con.) Chorus and Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera (Decca)4. Johann Strauss:
Die Fledermaus (as Rosalinde) with Wilma Lipp, Anton Dermota, Julius Patzak andClemens Krauss (con.) Chorus and Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera (Decca, now only available in Naxos)5. Johann Strauss:
Die Fledermaus (as Rosalinde) with Erika Koth, Walter Berry, Regina Resnik andHerbert von Karajan (con.) Chorus and Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera (Decca)6. Richard Strauss: Daphne (as Daphne) with
Fritz Wunderlich , James King, Paul Schoffler andKarl Bohm (con.) Chorus and Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera (DG)7. Richard Strauss:
Der Rosenkavalier (as Sophie) with Maria Reining,Sena Jurinac andErich Kleiber (con.) Chorus and Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera (Decca)8. Richard Strauss:
Die schweigsame Frau with Hermann Prey,Fritz Wunderlich ,Hans Hotter , andKarl Bohm (con.) Chorus and Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera (DG)9. Richard Strauss:
Ariadne auf Naxos (as Zerbinetta) with Lisa della Casa, Irmgard Seefried, Rudolph Schock andKarl Bohm (con.) Chorus and Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera (DG)10. Wagner:
Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg (as Eva) with Anton Dermota, Paul Schoffler, Karl Donch andHans Knappertsbusch (con.) Chorus and Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera (Decca)11. Puccini:
La bohème (as Musetta) withRenata Tebaldi , Giacinto Prandelli, Fernando Corena and Alberto Erede (con.) Orchestra e coro dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Roma (Decca)References
*D. Brook, "Singers of Today" (Revised Edition - Rockliff, London 1958), 100-103.
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