# RIP Christa Ludwig



## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

A thread was started in the opera forum, but I think she deserves one in the general classical music discussion forum as well. Christa Ludwig (1928-2021), R.I.P.

One of the greatest Mahler interpreters of our time.


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

R.I.P.
Thanks for posting this Art - I would have missed it in the Opera section.
A great voice and her interpretations of some of the great classics will live on in her marvellous recordings. One of my most recent purchases was the disc below, I will give in a spin later.










ETA - I've just listened to her singing Mahler's 'Ich bin der weltabhanden gekommen' with Klemperer from the album above.


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## SearsPoncho (Sep 23, 2020)

I don't listen to much opera or lieder, but I always loved this lady. Here's a great clip of her disagreeing with Bernstein...and trying to keep up:


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## annaw (May 4, 2019)

What a sad loss! I was just a moment ago listening to her singing with Callas in _Norma_ - her mezzo voice was a marvel.


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## vincula (Jun 23, 2020)

A sad loss it is, but what a fruitful life! In musical heaven she dwells.

Regards,

Vincula


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## Ned Low (Jul 29, 2020)

Truly sad news. One of the finest Wagnerian sopranos. RIP


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## Axter (Jan 15, 2020)

I am so saddened by this news. May she RIP.


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## Conrad2 (Jan 24, 2021)

It sad that a person that touch many people has died. This may not be appropriate, but I'm not familiar with her, so what works from her is your favorite?


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## Coach G (Apr 22, 2020)

Ludwig was one the last of the great classical musicians from what I call the Golden Age of Classical Recordings. She must have been a favorite of the likes of Otto Klemperer, Karl Bohm, and Herbert Von Karajan, because they all made many recordings with her. But I think that Leonard Bernstein liked her most of all, because he also had an association with Ludwig that spanned the 1960s, 70s and 80s that produced many collaborations on many, many recordings. Ludwig must have liked Mahler's _Das Lied von Der Erde_, because she recorded it several times. There is the classic recording with Fritz Wunderlich and Otto Kleperer; but she also joined Bernstein, Rene Kollo and the Israel Philharmonic in the early 1970s for yet another version of _DLVDE_; and a couple years later joined Kollo once more to record _DLVDE_ with Karajan and his Berliners.

Ludwig had a long and fruitful life. I celebrate what she gave to the world of classical music, and send my condolences to her family.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Now we may continue to remember a great artist with her art.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Roll of Honour


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## Bruckner Anton (Mar 10, 2016)

RIP. She was one of my favorite mezzo sopranos.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Versatile and superb in everything she attempted, she was a supremely intelligent artist with an unmistakable voice that could be soprano, mezzo or contralto as needed. Ever since I first got into classical music she's been there, on many favored recordings, arguably setting standards for her generation in role after role, and equal to anyone in oratorio and song. In Wagner's dramatic mezzo parts she is, for me, the best since Margarete Klose.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

Her Mahler work is nothing short of miraculous. Together with the solid body of opera recordings it's a testament to the great artist.
RIP


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## Simon23 (Dec 8, 2020)

RIP. Very sad. One of the last representatives of the great generation of vocalists


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

By sheer chance, I dusted off my recording of Solti's "Tannhäuser" only yesterday, and was thrilled once again by her remarkable Venus. I was so sad to hear the news today, but I'm so grateful that she left such a wonderful legacy behind. RIP.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

I first heard her voice on a Beethoven Ninth disc, years ago. It is the Klemperer recording with the Philharmonia Orchestra, still a favorite version of the symphony for me. Since then I've encountered Christa Ludwig on a number of discs, notably singing Mahler and working with conductor Leonard Bernstein, as in his definitive Symphony No. 1 "Jeremiah", one of my favorite Bernstein works/recordings. I count over a dozen of her discs currently in my collection, including a disc of Schubert songs, among which is "Der Tod Und Das Mädchen" D 531, which seems sadly appropriate to listen to now.

Here she sings the Schubert accompanied by the great Gerald Moore from a 1961 BBC television broadcast:






Another great artistic loss. Thankfully, her recordings live on.


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## 89Koechel (Nov 25, 2017)

She, like many of her generation, was remarkable, and maybe, w/o a flaw ... unless someone can NAME one (of those). Let's not forget her late husband - the late Walter Berry, the Viennese bass/baritone. He contributed fine solos, in Mozart ... and an excellent Berg's Wozzeck, with Boulez, conducting. Yes, indeed, the older generation is passing-away ... as sands through the hourglass, of great singing.


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## Agamenon (Apr 22, 2019)

My first Kundry and Brangaene.

Brava!! Your light will shine forever.


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