Portrait of Gertrud Wettergren LCCN2004663730

Gertrud Pålson-Wettergren (17 February 1897 – 26 November 1991) was a Swedish mezzo-soprano. She was hired at

Royal Swedish Opera Royal Swedish Opera () is an opera and ballet company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Location and environment The building is located in the centre of Sweden's capital, Stockholm, in the borough of Norrmalm (borough), Norrmalm, on the eastern si ...

between 1922 and 1948. On 20 December 1935 she made her debut at the

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ar ...

as Amneris in ''

Aida ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is a tragic opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 De ...

'' opposite

Elisabeth Rethberg Elisabeth Rethberg ( Lisbeth Sättler; 22 September 1894 – 6 June 1976) was a German operatic spinto soprano singer who was active from the period of the First World War through the early 1940s. After Richard Strauss assigned the role of the ...

Giovanni Martinelli Giovanni Martinelli (22 October 1885 – 2 February 1969) was an Italian operatic spinto tenor. He was associated with the Italian lyric-dramatic repertory, although he performed French operatic roles to great acclaim as well. Martinelli wa ...

John Charles Thomas John Charles Thomas (September 6, 1891December 13, 1960) was an American opera, operetta and concert baritone. Biography John Charles Thomas was born on September 6, 1891, in Meyersdale, Pennsylvania. He was the son of a Methodist minister of ...

and

Ezio Pinza Ezio Fortunato Pinza (May 18, 1892May 9, 1957) was an Italian opera singer. Pinza possessed a rich, smooth and sonorous voice, with a flexibility unusual for a bass. He spent 22 seasons at New York's Metropolitan Opera, appearing in more than 75 ...

. Her roles there included Brangäne in ''

Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is a music drama in three acts by Richard Wagner set to a German libretto by the composer, loosely based on the medieval 12th-century romance ''Tristan and Iseult'' by Gottfried von Stras ...

'', Venus in ''

Tannhäuser Tannhäuser (; ), 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 1265. His name ...

'',

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 novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

which she sang in Swedish replacing

Rosa Ponselle Rosa Ponzillo, known as Rosa Ponselle (January 22, 1897 – May 25, 1981) was an American operatic dramatic soprano. She sang mainly at the New York Metropolitan Opera and is generally considered to have been one of the greatest sopranos of the ...

in a performance, and opened the 1936/37 season with ''

Samson et Dalila ''Samson and Delilah'' (), Op. 47, is a grand opera in three acts and four scenes by Camille Saint-Saëns to a French libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire. It was first performed in Weimar at the (Grand Ducal) Theater (now the Staatskapelle Weimar) on 2 ...

''. Her last performance there was on 29 January 1938, making a total of 29 performances. Although she sang at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

in 1936 and 1939 in ''Aida'' and '' Il trovatore'', the war prevented a further international career. She returned to London in 1947, singing in ''Die Walküre'' at the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

under Sir Thomas Beecham. In 1945 she sang Nyx in the premiere of Rosenberg's opera '' Lycksalighetens ö'' in Stockholm.''Ord och Bild - Femtiofjarde argangen - 1945.'' A. B. Wahlström & Widstrand, Stockholm, 1945. p326-327.

References

1897 births 1991 deaths Swedish operatic mezzo-sopranos 20th-century Swedish women opera singers {{Sweden-opera-singer-stub