Schwarzkopf, << SHWAWRTS kawpf, >> Elisabeth (1915-2006), ranks among the greatest lyric sopranos of the 1900’s. As an opera singer, she won acclaim for her performances in the works of the Austrian composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Richard Strauss. She also gained praise for singing lieder (art songs) in concert, especially songs by the Austrian composer Hugo Wolf.
Schwarzkopf was born on Dec. 9, 1915, near Poznan, Poland. She studied at the Berlin Hochschule fur Musik and in England. Schwarzkopf sang her first operatic role in Richard Wagner’s Parsifal in 1938. She made her American debut in a song recital at Town Hall in New York City in 1953. She made her American opera debut in San Francisco in 1955. Schwarzkopf retired from opera in 1971 but continued performing in concerts until 1979. In 1992, Queen Elizabeth II made her a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Schwarzkopf died on Aug. 3, 2006.
