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The German soprano, Gerda Lammers, was educated in Berlin by Lula Mysz-Gmeiner and Margaret Schwedler-Lohmann.
In 1939 Gerda Lammers made her debut as a concert singer. In 1940, she teamed with her teacher Lula Mysz-Gmeiner in concerts in Berlin, where the two singers performed duets. In the next 15 years, she had a successful career in the concert hall, both as an oratorio and as a Lieder singer. Only in 1955 she first appeared on stage, and in 1955-1957 she sang at the Bayreuth Festival the role of Ortlinde in Walküre. In the same year 1955 she was was engaged at the Staatstheater of Kassel, whose member she remained until 1969. As the inaugural role there, she sang Marie in Wozzeck by Alban Berg and then had a sensational success as Elektra by R. Strauss. From now on she had a great career in the highly dramatic soprano roles, with the power and fullness of tone of her voice emphasized by her special talent for performing. Her major roles were Senta in Fliegenden Holländer, Isolde in Tristan, Brünnhilde in Der Ring des Nibelungen, Marie in Wozzeck, Medea in the opera of the same name by Cherubini, but especially the title role in Richard Strauss opera Elektra. At Covent Garden Opera in London she was celebrated in 1957 as Elektra, which she replaced at the last minute the ill Christel Goltz. In 1958 she sang at London’s Ingestre Hall Dido in Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell; in 1959 at the Covent Garden opera she sang Kundry in Parsifal. At the Metropolitan Opera in New York, she debuted very successfully in 1962 as Elektra by R. Strauss. In 1959 and 1967 she was a guest at the Hamburger Staatsoper. She had great success in other guest roles on the German stage, but she also continued her concert career.
Recordings: Bärenreiter published a complete recording of the song cycle Das Marienleben by Paul Hindemith; on Vox a complete recording of Monteverdi's Orfeo; on Laudis and also on Estro Armonico Ortlinde in Walküre (Bayreuth, 1957). |
