East Berlin’s Italian diva has died, at 85
RIPThe Italian soprano Celestina Casapietra died this week in her homeland. After early successes in Milan she married the DDR conductor Herbert Kegel and became half of the regime’s operatic glamour couple.
In Berlin, she performed Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Elsa in Lohengrin and Tatiana in Eugene Onegin, among many leading roles. Elsewhere she sang at Vienna, Salzburg, Munich, Hamburg, Venice and Turin.
I remember being very impressed by her singing on Kegel’s recording of Carmina Burana.
I’ve seen Casapietra a few times with than East Berlin Opera: in Budapest and in Europe in mid 80-ies as Tannhauser Elisabeth (with Golberg, Hubner, Treckel-Burkhard plus Austrian Georg Tichy rushed to replace indisposed S.Lorenz as Wolfram), there is a TV East Berlin video from same period on youtube except Dvorakova is Venus, as well as video of Meistersinger Eva (with Adam, Wenkoff, Lieb both under Suitner); the 1973 Chenier RAI studio video with Corelli, Cappiuccilli under Bartoletti, or her late Elsa in mid 90-ies in Toulouse (with Galina Savovas single Ortrud try) and of course the former ETERNA East German label recordings of Orff’s Carmina burana & Mahler’s No.4 under her hubby Kegel, complete Cosi with Schreier, Adam under Suitner & Mendelssohn’s No.2 Lobgesang under Masur. She shared many roles with young Tomowa-Sintow (before she became Karajan’s fave soprano) & Dvorakova in East Berlin. A very good looking, solid acting B cast singer in any major Opera house in that period. Must loved her husband very much in order to move from Italy behind the Iron curtain….
She did move from Italy, but I am not sure she ever relinquished her Italian citizenship. So, unlike ossies, she could get out of DDR whenever she wanted.
And one instance when she did get out was when her child was born. She went to her native Italy and gave birth there so her child would have Italian citizenship.
Otherwise, I agree, a solid B singer. RIP.