Mechthild Georg is 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 ...

, and a professor of voice at the

Musikhochschule Köln A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

Career

Georg studied Roman studies and history at the

Cologne University The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...

, and music pedagogy at the

. She then studied voice at the

Robert Schumann Hochschule The Robert Schumann Hochschule (Robert Schumann University of Music and Media) is a school for music studies at the university level located in Düsseldorf. The University has a student body of some 850 coming from over 40 countries. Forty-seven f ...

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

with

Ingeborg Reichelt Ingeborg Reichelt (11 May 1928 – 28 June 2022) was a German soprano singer known for her interpretation of works by Johann Sebastian Bach. Biography Reichelt was born in Frankfurt an der Oder studied in Dresden and at the Musikakademie in Ha ...

. She graduated in 1982 as a concert singer, and continued studies as an opera singer. She was a member of the Cologne Opera Studio in 1982/83, and took master classes with

Giulietta Simionato Giulietta Simionato (born Giulia Simionato; Forlì, Romagna, 12 May 1910 – Rome, 5 May 2010) was an Italian mezzo-soprano. Her career spanned the period from the 1930s until her retirement in 1966. Life As a girl she studied in a boarding ...

and

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf Dame Olga Maria Elisabeth Friederike Schwarzkopf, (9 December 19153 August 2006) was a German-born Austro-British soprano. She was among the foremost singers of lieder, and is renowned for her performances of Viennese operetta, as well as the op ...

. She performed roles of early Italian opera such as Penelope in Monteverdi's ''

Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria ''Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria'' (Stattkus-Verzeichnis, SV 325, ''The Return of Ulysses to his Homeland'') is an List of operas by Claudio Monteverdi, opera consisting of a prologue and five acts (later revised to three), set by Claudio Montever ...

'' and Ottavia in his ''

L'incoronazione di Poppea ''L'incoronazione di Poppea'' ( SV 308, ''The Coronation of Poppaea'') is an Italian opera by Claudio Monteverdi. It was Monteverdi's last opera, with a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello, and was first performed at the Teatro Santi Giovanni ...

''. She appeared as Cherubino in ''

Le nozze di 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 ...

'', and also in contemporary opera, such as ''Graf Mirabeau'' by

Siegfried Matthus Siegfried Matthus (13 April 1934 – 27 August 2021) was a German composer, conductor, and festival founder and manager. Some of his operas, such as '' Judith'', were premiered at the Komische Oper Berlin in East Berlin. In 1991, he founded th ...

. She participated in recordings of rarely recorded operas, performing roles such as Tyrsis in Telemann's '' Der neumodische Liebhaber Damon'', conducted by Michael Schneider in 1996, Schubert's ''

Die Verschworenen ', also known as ' ( 787) is an 1823 one-act singspiel by Franz Schubert after a libretto by Ignaz Franz Castelli with spoken dialogue by the composer. Castelli's libretto was based on ''Lisistrata, ou Les Athéniennes, Comédie en un acte et en ...

'' the same year, conducted by Christoph Spering, and Gundelind in the first recording of

Siegfried Wagner Siegfried Helferich Richard Wagner (6 June 18694 August 1930) was a German composer and conductor, the son of Richard Wagner. He was an opera composer and the artistic director of the Bayreuth Festival from 1908 to 1930. Life Siegfried Wagner ...

's ''

Die heilige Linde Die, as a verb, refers to death, the cessation of life. Die may also refer to: Games * Die, singular of dice, small throwable objects used for producing random numbers Manufacturing * Die (integrated circuit), a rectangular piece of a semicondu ...

'' in 2001, conducted by

Werner Andreas Albert Werner Andreas Albert (10 January 1935 – 10 November 2019) was a German-born Australian conductor. Personal life Albert was born in Weinheim. He began his studies in musicology and history, and later studied conducting with Herbert von Ka ...

. As a concert singer, Georg has performed at international festivals, and made several recordings. On 23 June 1988 she performed two works by

C. P. E. Bach Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German Classical period musician and composer, the fifth child and sec ...

, his

Magnificat The Magnificat (Latin for "

y soul Y, or y, is the twenty-fifth and penultimate letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. According to some authorities, it is the sixth (or sevent ...

magnifies

he Lord He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

) is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary, the Canticle of Mary and, in the Eastern Christianity, Byzantine tradition, the Ode of the Theotokos (). It is traditionally incorporated ...

and the oratorio '' Die Israeliten in der Wüste'', alongside

Nancy Argenta Nancy Argenta is a Canadian soprano singer, best known for performing music from the pre-classical era. She has won international acclaim, and is considered one of the leading Handel sopranos of her time. Life She was born in Nelson, British Col ...

Lena Lootens Lena Lootens is a Belgian soprano. She has performed in Claudio Monteverdi's ''L'Incoronazione di Poppea'', and with the Concerto Vocale, amongst many others. On 23 June 1988 she performed two works by C. P. E. Bach, his ''Magnificat'' and the orat ...

Howard Crook Howard Crook (born June 15, 1947) is an American lyric tenor who has lived and worked in the Netherlands and France since the early 1980s. He was born in Rutherford, New Jersey, and educated at Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio and then Unive ...

and Stephen Roberts, conducted by

Frieder Bernius Frieder is both a surname and a masculine given name, a variant of Friedrich. People with the name include: Surname: * Armin Frieder (1911–1946), Slovak Neolog rabbi *Bill Frieder (1942), former basketball coach * Katalin Frieder (1915–1991), ...

, in the first concert of the

Rheingau Musik Festival The (RMF) is an international summer music festival in Germany, founded in 1987. It is mostly for classical music, but includes other genres. Concerts take place at culturally important locations, such as Eberbach Abbey and Schloss Johannisberg, ...

Eberbach Abbey Eberbach Abbey (German: Kloster Eberbach) is a former Cistercian monastery in Eltville in the Rheingau, Germany. On account of its Romanesque and early Gothic buildings it is considered one of the most significant architectural heritage sites in ...

. She recorded works by Bach with

Helmuth Rilling Helmuth Rilling (born 29 May 1933) is a German choral conductor and an academic teacher. He is the founder of the Gächinger Kantorei (1954), the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart (1965), the Oregon Bach Festival (1970), the Internationale Bachakademie S ...

, including his cantata ''Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg'', BWV 149, and his ''

Ascension Oratorio Ascension or ascending may refer to: Religion * "Ascension", "Assumption", or "Translation", the belief in some religions that some individuals have ascended into Heaven without dying first * Ascension of Jesus * Feast of the Ascension (Ascen ...

''. She has taught at the

from 1989, and was appointed professor of voice in 1998. Among her students are Max Ciolek and her daughter Uta Christina Georg, who also became a mezzo-soprano.

References

External links

* *
Mechthild Georg
arkivmusic * .com

(in German)

Deutschlandfunk Deutschlandfunk (DLF, ''Broadcast Germany'') is a public-broadcasting radio station in Germany, concentrating on news and current affairs. It is one of the four national radio channels produced by Deutschlandradio. History Broadcasting in the ...

, 5 March 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Georg, Mechthild Georg German operatic mezzo-sopranos Living people 20th-century German women opera singers 21st-century German women opera singers Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln alumni Robert Schumann Hochschule alumni University of Cologne alumni Academic staff of Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln Women music educators Year of birth missing (living people)