Description

Lilli Lehmann (1848-1929) was a German operatic soprano. Her first lessons were from her mother who was a prima donna under Spohr at Cassel. After singing small parts on the stage she made her debut in 1870 in Berlin as a light soprano in Giacomo Meyerbeer's Das Feldlager in Schlesien and became so successful that she was appointed Imperial chamber singer in 1876. She sang in the first Bayreuth Festival in 1876, sang in London in 1884, and appeared at the New York Metropolitan Opera from 1885-1890. It was there that, together with Fischer, Alvary, Brandt, and Seidl, she helped accomplish the final triumph of Wagner's music. Her voice, of superb quality and 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 Mozart. Lehmann, also known for her lieder singing, became a noted teacher after retiring from her concert career. In 1888 she married the tenor Paul Kalisch. Her autobiography Mein Weg (My Path Through Life) was published in 1913.