Ingeborg Hallstein
Hallstein is one of the greatest and most underappreciated of the German coloratura sopranos of the 20th century. She studied with her mother, Elisabeth Hallstein, and debuted as Musetta at Passau in 1956. From 1958 to 1959, she was a member of the ensemble of the opera in Basel (Switzerland). In 1959, she debuted at the Gärtnerplatztheater Munich as Harriet in Millocker's operetta Der Armer Jonathan and created a sensation. That year she also debuted at the Bavarian State Opera, Munich, where she became a member of the ensemble in 1961, and a Kammersingerin in 1968. From 1960, she was a regular guest to the Salzburg Festival, where she sang in Mozart operas (Rosina, Konstanze, Zaide), in the world premiere of Henze's Die Bassariden in 1966, and in matinee concerts and lieder recitals. She was also a guest artist at some of the great opera houses of the world including the Covent Garden, Vienna State Opera, Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires), and the opera houses of Amsterdam, Brussels, Cologne, Copenhague, Dresden, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Kassel, Mannheim, Montreal, Ottawa, Paris, Rom, Stockholm, Stuttgart, Venice, and Zurich. She appeared in numerous TV operetta broadcasts which made her very popular in Germany. Since 1981, she has taught at the Würzburg conservatory.
She is a secret treasure among record collectors, especially "high-note lovers." Hallstein made many records of arias, waltzes, bird songs, lieder, operetta, and musical comedy. She is primarily remembered as an operetta specialist, but she had the chops--as they say--for important music. Her most famous (and first) recording was Marczelline in Fidelio under Klemperer -- considered to be one of the great opera recordings of all time. Among the dozens of roles in her repertoire, she sailed through Mozart's demanding Die Zauberflote and Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail, as well as his most extraordinary concert arias, and presented some difficult modern works by Henze, Egk, Milhaud, Fortner, Bennet, and Bialas (many of these were world premieres). Her vocal range was beyond extensive -- she was an "acuto sfogato" soprano, which is the highest type of coloratura soprano with access to notes in the whistle register above High F. She sings G's and G-sharps in a few of her records from the studio--but even more amazing is that she included these super high notes in some of her live performaces as well (they can be heard in hard-to-find private recordings or broadcast documents). Her tone was airy, light, and spinning, her technique was nearly flawless and always accurate, and her sense of style was uncommonly charming. A wonderful, unique, beautiful artist.
Please visit the Hallstein Discography page. I noted which items I have, and I items I don't. [Always looking for those items I don't have...]
Below are some pictures of Hallstein from my collection or that I've garnered off the web.
Character Portraits
As the Baroness in Der Wildschutz by Lortzing
As Lakme (from television broadcast)
As Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata, Munich
In a film version of Kalman's Die Zirkusprinzessin (The Circus Princess)
With Rene Kollo in a film version of Strauss operetta Wiener Blut.
As Dinorah in Meyerbeer's opera
As Contessa Marit in a film version of Walsungenblut
Musetta in Munich
Sophie at the Vienna Staatsoper
As Titania in Weber's Oberon (Munich Bavarian State Opera)
As the Queen of the Night.
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More pictures of Hallstein can be found in the
> Queen of the Night Gallery
> Hallstein Discography
> Hallstein Album Covers
