Marlise Wendels (28 April 1923 – 23 August 2012) was a German operatic

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

closely associated with the

Oper Frankfurt The Oper Frankfurt (Frankfurt Opera) is a German opera company based in Frankfurt. Opera in Frankfurt am Main has a long tradition, with many world premieres such as Franz Shrek's ''Der ferne Klang'' in 1912, '' Fennimore und Gerda'' by Frede ...

Life and career

Wendels was born in

Saargebiet The Territory of the Saar Basin (german: Saarbeckengebiet, ; french: Territoire du bassin de la Sarre) was a region of Germany occupied and governed by the United Kingdom and France from 1920 to 1935 under a League of Nations mandate. It had its ...

. She trained in singing in

Kaiserlautern Kaiserslautern (; Palatinate German: ''Lautre'') is a city in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfur ...

and

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...

before joining the chorus of the Saarländisches Staatstheater in 1941. She was accepted as a member of the Frankfurt opera chorus in 1952 and in 1956 became a soloist with the company. According to an article in the ''

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (; ''FAZ''; "''Frankfurt General Newspaper''") is a centre-right conservative-liberal and liberal-conservativeHans Magnus Enzensberger: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen' (in German). ''Deutschland Radio'', ...

'' published on her 80th birthday,

Georg Solti Sir Georg Solti ( , ; born György Stern; 21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt and London, and as a long-servin ...

(at the time musical director of the

) had made her promise that if accepted she would never leave the company. Wendels kept her promise. She remained with the Oper Frankfurt for 36 years, singing over 100 roles that ranged from

soubrette A soubrette is a type of operatic soprano voice ''fach'', often cast as a female stock character in opera and theatre. The term arrived in English from Provençal via French, and means "conceited" or "coy". Theatre In theatre, a soubrette is a c ...

dramatic soprano A dramatic soprano is a type of operatic soprano with a powerful, rich, emotive voice that can sing over, or cut through, a full orchestra. Thicker vocal folds in dramatic voices usually (but not always) mean less agility than lighter voices but a ...

. At the height of her career she would sometimes sing in up to 300 performances in a single season. She was particularly noted for her performances as Liu in Puccini's ''

Turandot ''Turandot'' (; see below) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, posthumously completed by Franco Alfano in 1926, and set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. ''Turandot'' best-known aria is "Nessun dorma", whi ...

'', Marie in Smetana's ''

The Bartered Bride ''The Bartered Bride'' ( cz, Prodaná nevěsta, links=no, ''The Sold Bride'') is a comic opera in three acts by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, to a libretto by Karel Sabina. The work is generally regarded as a major contribution towards the ...

'', Musetta in Puccini's ''

La bohème ''La bohème'' (; ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions ''quadri'', ''tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe G ...

'', Micaela in Bizet's ''

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 ...

'', and Gretel in Humperdinck's '' Hänsel und Gretel''. She also sang the role of Rosa in the first staged performance of Hans Werner Henze's opera '' Ein Landarzt'' in 1965. During her career Wendels occasionally appeared on German television as a guest on the variety show ' and the quiz show '. She was made a Kammersängerin of the Oper Frankfurt in 1983 and retired from the company in 1988. She died in Schwalbach at age 89. Wendels can be heard on two live recordings from early in her career—as First Lady in a 1955 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 ...

'' conducted by Georg Solti and as Barena in a 1961 production of Janáček's ''

Jenůfa ''Její pastorkyňa'' (''Her Stepdaughter''; commonly known as ''Jenůfa'' ) is an opera in three acts by Leoš Janáček to a Czech libretto by the composer, based on the play ''Její pastorkyňa'' by Gabriela Preissová. It was first performed ...

'' conducted by

Lovro von Matačić Lovro von Matačić (14 February 1899 – 4 January 1985) was a Croatian conductor and composer. Early life Lovro von Matačić was born in Sušak to a family that was granted a noble title in the early 17th century. Growing up, he was always s ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wendels, Marlise 1923 births 2012 deaths Musicians from Saarland German operatic sopranos