Ruth Michaelis

This article is about the musician Ruth Michaelis. For information on the writer and translator, see Ruth Michaelis-Jena .

Ruth Michaelis (born February 27, 1909 in Posen ; † December 3, 1989 in Santa Barbara ) was a German opera singer ( alto ) who taught as a music professor in Turkey and the USA after her career .

Life

Michaeli's prime roles as an active singer were Dorabella in Così fan tutte , Marthe in Charles Gounod's opera Faust and Floßhilde in the Ring of the Nibelung and Suzuki in Madame Butterfly . In Engelbert Humperdinck's fairy tale opera Hansel and Gretel , their portrayal of Hansel received attention.

Michaeli's teachers were Hans Beltz and Jeanne Robert from Berlin and Anna Bahr-Mildenburg in Munich.

In 1932 Michaelis made her debut at the Stadttheater Halberstadt , of which she was a member until 1935. Further stations in her early career were Cottbus (until 1937), the Stuttgart State Opera (until 1938), where she sang in Nico Dostal's Monika premiere, and Augsburg (until 1939).

In 1939 Michaelis came to the Munich State Opera , to which she remained connected until 1961 while her career as a singing teacher had ended. Several appearances at the Salzburg Festival (1942–1943, 1946, 1946–1947) and reference appearances throughout Europe are evidence of its international reputation.

In 1956 Michaelis became professor of music at the National Opera School in Istanbul . Here, in addition to her teaching activities, with the support of Turkish friends, she began to collect traditional Turkish folk songs, which she translated into German and published in 1960 in a book volume with an accompanying record.

From 1968 Michaelis gave singing lessons at American universities, first in Florida and finally in Santa Barbara . In the USA she also found particular recognition as an opera director and Bach interpreter.

Web links

• Vita in English with information about recordings