Lilli Lehmann, "Don Ottavio, son morta!...Or sai chi l'onore", Don Giovanni (rec. 1906)

The great German dramatic soprano Lilli Lehmann (1848-1929) in Donna Anna's recitative and aria, "Don Ottavio, son morta!...Or sai chi l'onore" from Act 1 of Mozart's Don Giovanni. The recording was made for Odeon in Berlin in 1906.

The following biographical profile of Lilli Lehmann comes from Wikipedia:
"The future opera star's father, Karl-August Lehmann, was a singer (Heldentenor) while her mother, Maria Theresia Löw (1809 - 1885), was a soprano of Jewish origin. Her first lessons were from her mother, who had been a prima donna under Spohr at the Cassel opera. After singing small parts on the stage, Lehmann made her proper debut in 1870 in Berlin as a light soprano in Meyerbeer's Das Feldlager in Schlesien. She subsequently became so successful that she was appointed an Imperial Chamber Singer in 1876. Lehmann sang in the first Bayreuth Festival in 1876, performed in London in 1884, and appeared at the New York Metropolitan Opera in 1885-1890. Together with her Met colleagues Fischer, Alvary, Brandt, and Seidl, she helped to popularise Wagner's music in America. By remaining in America beyond the leave granted her by the Berlin Opera, she faced a ban following her return to Germany. After the personal intervention of the Emperor, the ban was lifted. She appeared at London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 1899 and sang in Paris and Vienna in 1903 and 1909 respectively. In 1905, she sang at the Salzburg Festival, later becoming the festival's artistic director. Lehmann was also renowned as a Lieder singer. She continued to give recitals until her retirement from the concert stage in the 1920s. Her mature voice, of splendid quality and large volume, gained for her the reputation of being not only one of the greatest Wagnerian singers of her day but also an ideal interpreter of Bellini's Norma and the operatic music of Mozart. She was considered unsurpassed in the rôles of Brünnhilde and Isolde but sang an astonishingly wide array of other parts. Indeed, across the span of her career, she performed 170 different parts in a total of 119 German, Italian and French operas. She was also a noted voice teacher. Among her pupils were the famous sopranos Geraldine Farrar and Olive Fremstad. Lehmann founded the International Summer Academy at the Mozarteum in Salzburg in 1916. The academy's curriculum concentrated on voice lessons at first but it was extended later to include a wide variety of musical instruction. The Lilli Lehmann Medal is awarded by the Mozarteum in her honour. Her voice can be heard on CD reissues of the recordings which she made prior to World War I. Although past her peak as an operatic singer when she made these records, they still impress."

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Lilli
• Lehmann
• Don
• Ottavio
• son
• morta
• Or
• sai
• chi
• lonore
• 1906

[saltburner2]

Donna Anna was one of her great roles. After WW1, she was one of the main founders of the Salzburg Festival, which presented on 23 August 1922 its first operatic production - Don Giovanni, conducted by Richard Strauss, with a promising young tenor as Don Ottavio: Richard Tauber. His mother, who lived in Salzburg until her death in 1938, must have been very proud of her son.

[EdmundStAustell]

Wow. There's a voice that takes no prisoners! Also another fascinating insight into the 19th century. She goes way back! Great voice!

[meltzerboy]

In the case of Lilli Lehmann's records--as with Adelina Patti's--the listener must have a tolerant ear, due to the fact that the singer's voice has aged and is captured at the tail-end of a tireless and glorious career. This performance is exceptional for its imperious command and ferocity. As Bivolari states, Lehmann is no shrinking violet Anna. Even Birgit Nilsson and Joan Sutherland, who is wonderful in this role, pale beside her. Thanks for posting, Tim!

[Bivolari]

No shrinking violet Anna she. Tremendous authority. Pity the poor Don Giovanni who crosses her. Sure she is older and the voice isn't what it was. But, what is there cherce.