Bayreuth mezzo dies
RIPThe German dramatic mezzo-soprano Ruth Hesse died yesterday,, aged 87.
Hesse, a member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 1962 to 1995, sang most summers in Bayrteuth or Salzburg. She made a noted Covent Garden in 1969 in the taxing role of the nurse in Richard Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten. In the US she appeared in San Francisco, Chicago and Washington DC.
When the Berlin company visited Washington in the 1970’s, Ruth Hesse sang Ortrud — menacing the Lohengrin of Rene Kollo.
On Deutsche Grammophon’s “live recording” of DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN, led by Karl Bohm, she has the demanding role of the Nurse of the Empress.
She was also Magdalene in Karajan’s Meistersinger.
Hesse sang die Amme in „Die Frau ohne Schatten“ 24 times at Wiener Staatsoper, where – between 1965 and 1988 – her other roles included Amneris, Carmen, Fricka, Eboli, Waltraüte, Azucena, Ortrud, Kundry, Brangäne, and the Kostelnička.
Her most-performed role in Wien was Herodias: 44 times over 22 seasons.
At Bayreuth, she appeared regularly between 1960 and 1979, but mostly in small roles: she debuted as a Zaubermädchen and only got to Ortrud in her last summer there.