Elisabeth Speiser (born 1 October 1940) is a Swiss classical soprano, known principally for singing ''

Lied In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French s ...

er'' but also active in opera. She has appeared internationally.

Biography

Born in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

, Speiser appeared in concert from 1960. She was a regular soloist with the choir Der Gemischte Chor Zürich. Performances included Bach's cantata ''Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild'', BWV 79, and Beethoven's Mass in C major in 1967, Mozart's

Requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

and '' Vesperae solennes'' in 1968, ''

Ein deutsches Requiem ''A German Requiem, to Words of the Holy Scriptures'', Op. 45 (german: Ein deutsches Requiem, nach Worten der heiligen Schrift, links=no) by Johannes Brahms, is a large-scale work for chorus, orchestra, a soprano and a baritone soloist, com ...

'' by Brahms in 1969,

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. A member of Les Six, his best known work is probably ''Antigone'', composed between 1924 and 1927 to ...

's ''Totentanz'' in 1970, Haydn's ''

Nelson Mass The ' (Mass for troubled times), commonly known as the ''Nelson Mass'' ( Hob. XXII/11), is a Mass setting by the Austrian composer Joseph Haydn. It is one of the six masses written near the end of his life that are seen as a culmination of Hay ...

'' the same year, Hermann Suter's '' Le Laudi'' in 1972, alongside

Marga Höffgen Marga Anna Johanna Höffgen (26 April 1921 – 7 July 1995) was a German contralto, known for singing oratorios, especially the Passions by Johann Sebastian Bach, and operatic parts such as Erda in Wagner's ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'', performed a ...

Kurt Huber Kurt Huber (24 October 1893 – 13 July 1943) was a university professor and resistance fighter with the anti-Nazi group White Rose. For his involvement he was imprisoned and guillotined. Early life Huber was born in Chur, Switzerland, to Germ ...

and Kurt Widmer, Frank Martin's ''

Golgotha Calvary ( la, Calvariae or ) or Golgotha ( grc-gre, Γολγοθᾶ, ''Golgothâ'') was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where Jesus was said to have been crucified according to the canonical Gospels. Since at least the early mediev ...

'' in 1972 and 1975, Cherubini's Missa solemnis in 1977. Speiser appeared in 1969 as Sandrina in the first recording of Haydn's opera ''

L'infedeltà delusa ''L'infedeltà delusa'' (''Deceit Outwitted''), Hob. 28/5, is an operatic ''burletta per musica'' in two acts by Joseph Haydn. The Italian libretto was by Marco Coltellini. Performance history The earliest recorded performance, which may have b ...

'', conducted by Antonio de Almeida. She was Euridice in Gluck's ''

Orfeo ed Euridice ' (; French: '; English: ''Orpheus and Eurydice'') is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck, based on Orpheus, the myth of Orpheus and set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the ''azione teatrale'', mea ...

'' at the

Glyndebourne Festival Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an annual opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England. History Under the supervision of the Christie family, the festival has been held annually since 1934, ...

, alongside

Janet Baker Dame Janet Abbott Baker (born 21 August 1933) is an English mezzo-soprano best known as an opera, concert, and lieder singer.Blyth, Alan, "Baker, Dame Janet (Abbott)" in Sadie, Stanley, ed.; John Tyrell; exec. ed. (2001). ''New Grove Dictionar ...

as Orfeo and Elisabeth Gale as Amore, which was recorded in 1982. She also sang Pamina in Glyndebourne's production of

Die Zauberflöte ''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a ''Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that includ ...

alongside

Edita Gruberova Edita is a female first name, a form of Edith. It may refer to: *Edita Abdieski (born 1984), Swiss singer *Edita Adlerová (born 1971), Czech opera singer *Edita Aradinović (born 1993), Serbian singer *Edita Brychta (born 1961), English actress *E ...

as Queen of the night in 1973. She is known for the title role of Melisande in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande. Speiser was also a ''

er'' singer. She recorded in 1975 songs by Schumann, Schubert, Brahms,

Hugo Wolf Hugo Philipp Jacob Wolf (13 March 1860 – 22 February 1903) was an Austrian composer of Slovene origin, particularly noted for his art songs, or Lieder. He brought to this form a concentrated expressive intensity which was unique in late Ro ...

's ''Lieder der Mignon'',

Anton Webern Anton Friedrich Wilhelm von Webern (3 December 188315 September 1945), better known as Anton Webern (), was an Austrian composer and conductor whose music was among the most radical of its milieu in its sheer concision, even aphorism, and stea ...

's ''Vier Lieder'', Op. 12, and Debussy's ''

Ariettes oubliées ''Ariettes oubliées'' (''Forgotten Songs'') is a song cycle for voice and piano, L. 60 by Claude Debussy, based on poems by Paul Verlaine.Pehlivanian, Elisabeth Zachary. “‘Ariettes Oubliees’: A Sonorous Symbolism.” California State Univ ...

'', with pianists

Irwin Gage Irwin Gage (September 4, 1939 – April 12, 2018) was an American pianist, specializing in accompanying Lieder. Biography Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Gage studied piano, musicology and literature at the University of Michigan and Yale, and later wi ...

and John Buttrick. A reviewer described her voice as bright, and noted her diction and her phrasing following the text. He noted her affinity to Wolf's chromaticism, Webern's fine lines, and to the sounds of Debussy. With her husband, Hans Jecklin, she founded the E.+H.-Kulturstiftung Zürich, a foundation for culture.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Speiser, Elisabeth Swiss operatic sopranos 1940 births Living people Musicians from Zürich