Christa Ludwig

Christa Ludwig was born in Berlin 1928. In 1945 she received her first professional contract in Giessen. In 1957 she married the bass Walter Berry (1929-2000). In 1966 she sang Brangäne in Bayreuth (only one performance, which was recorded), and in 1967 she received the Grammy Award. In 1994 Christa Ludwig recieved Das Grosses Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich, and in 1995 she became Honorary Member of the Vienna Philharmonic.

Christa Ludwig at Bayreuth

1966

Tristan und Isolde (Brangäne)

1967

Parsifal (Kundry)

Christa Ludwig's Wagner repertoire

  • Fricka (Das Rheingold)
  • Fricka (Die Walküre)
  • Erda (Das Rheingold)
  • Kundry (Parsifal)
  • Waltraute (Die Walküre)
  • Mary (Der fliegende Holländer)
  • Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde). Debut in Bayreuth: 1966. Ludwig only sang one performance (4 August). This performance was recorded and is now a classic Wagner recording. Read more about the Karl Böhm Tristan und Isolde
  • Waltraute (Götterdämmerung)
  • Wellgunde (Götterdämmerung)
  • 2. Norne (Götterdämmerung)
  • Ortrud (Lohengrin)
  • Magdalena (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg)
  • Adriano (Rienzi)
  • Erda (Siegfried)
  • Venus (Tannhäuser)
  • Wesendock-Lieder
  • Brünnhilde's Immolation Scene (Götterdämmerung)

 

Main source: Christa Ludwig: In My Own Voice