Margarete Herzberg (10 February 1921 – 29 March 2007) was a German operatic

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

Life

Born in Osnabrück, Herzberg studied singing at the Leipzig Conservatory with Gertrud Bartsch. The mezzosoprano belonged to the ensemble of the

Landestheater Altenburg The Landestheater Altenburg is a multi-partstheatre in Altenburg and part of the . The venues used are the Großes Haus with 500 seats as well as the ''Heizhaus'' and the ''Theater unterm Dach''. The general director and managing director sinc ...

. Later, Herzberg belonged together with Philine Fischer,

Günther Leib Günther Leib (born 12 April 1927) is a German operatic baritone and professor of voice. A Kammersänger of the Dresden State Opera, he sang leading baritone roles both in his native Germany and internationally during the course of his stage c ...

, Werner Enders, Helmuth Kaphahn and others to the ensemble of the

Handel Festival, Halle The Handel Festival (in German: Händel-Festspiele) in Halle an der Saale, Saxony-Anhalt, is an international music festival concentrating on the music of George Frideric Handel in the composer's birthplace. It was founded in 1922 and it grew into ...

. She was awarded the first

Handel Prize The Handel Prize (german: Händel-Preis) is an annual award, instituted in 1956, which is presented by the city of Halle, in Germany, in honour of the celebrated Baroque composer George Frideric Handel. It is awarded, "for exceptional artistic, ...

in 1956 together with the collective of the first '' Poro'' production of the Handel Festival under the musical direction of Horst-Tanu Margraf. Herzberg was engaged at the

Rostock People's Theatre The Volkstheater Rostock ( en, Rostock People's Theatre, link=no) is the municipal theatre of the Hanseatic city of Rostock. It has three venues: the ''Großes Haus'', the ''Theater im Stadthafen'' and the ''Kleine Komödie'' and puts on plays, ...

and later freelanced. Herzberg sang Abigail in Verdi's ''

Nabucco ''Nabucco'' (, short for Nabucodonosor ; en, " Nebuchadnezzar") is an Italian-language opera in four acts composed in 1841 by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera. The libretto is based on the biblical books of 2 Kings, ...

'' at the

Leipzig Opera The Leipzig Opera (in German: ) is an opera house and opera company located at the Augustusplatz and the Inner City Ring Road at its east side in Leipzig's district Mitte, Germany. History Performances of opera in Leipzig trace back to Singspi ...

, accompanied by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under

Rolf Reuter Rolf Reuter (7 October 1926 – 10 September 2007) was a German conductor. Life Reuter was born as son of the composer Fritz Reuter in Leipzig. After studying music at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber Dresden he began his care ...

, and in Weimar and Dessau Salome in Richard Strauss' eponymous opera. Her repertoire included Ortrud (Wagner's '' Lohengrin''), Cherubino (Mozart's ''

The marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premie ...

''), Venus (Richard Wagner's ''

Tannhäuser Tannhäuser (; gmh, Tanhûser), often stylized, "The Tannhäuser," was a German Minnesinger and traveling poet. Historically, his biography, including the dates he lived, is obscure beyond the poetry, which suggests he lived between 1245 and 1 ...

''), Oktavian (Richard Strauss' '' Der Rosenkavalier''), the lead title ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

'' (Georges Bizet), Hänsel (Humperdinck's '' Hänsel und Gretel'') and many others. In concert, Herzberg worked with conductors

Herbert Kegel Herbert Kegel (29 July 1920 – 20 November 1990) was a German conductor. Kegel was born in Dresden. He studied conducting with Karl Böhm and composition with Boris Blacher at the Dresden Conservatory from 1935 to 1940. In 1946 he began co ...

and Ekkehard Tietze, among others. She sang the

contralto A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typically b ...

parts in Bach's ''

Christmas Oratorio The ''Christmas Oratorio'' (German: ''Weihnachtsoratorium''), , is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It is in six parts, each part a cantata intended for performance on one of t ...

'' BWV 248, in the cantatas ''

Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild, BWV 79 Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata (God the Lord is sun and shield), 79, in Leipzig in 1725, his third year as Thomaskantor, for Reformation Day and led the first performance on 31 October 1725. The text was written by an unknown ...

'' and '' Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget, ihr Saiten! BWV 172'', in 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, ...

KV 626 and Beethoven's '' Mass in C major Op. 86. Herzberg was married with the author and playwright Horst Enders. Her grandson is the

Kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

Fabian Enders.Fabian Enders
/ref> Enders, who kept her birth name Herzberg as a stage name during her active time, lived from 1963 until her death in 2007 at age 85 in Woltersdorf, Brandenburg. Her grave is located at the Waldfriedhof in

Schöneiche Schöneiche is a municipality in the Oder-Spree District of Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated directly at the edge to Berlin/ Friedrichshagen and next to Rüdersdorf and Woltersdorf, Brandenburg on the eastern edge of the German capital Berlin. ...

References

External links

*
Website of her grandson Fabian Ender
*
Herzberg, Margarete
on JP^C {{DEFAULTSORT:Herzberg, Margarete 1921 births 2007 deaths Musicians from Osnabrück German operatic mezzo-sopranos University of Music and Theatre Leipzig alumni 20th-century German women opera singers Handel Prize winners