Göta Ljungberg (4 October 1893 – 28 June 1955) was a major Swedish

Wagnerian Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most ...

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 ...

of the 1920s who sang throughout American and Europe and left an important recorded legacy.

Biography

Born in Sundsvall, she studied at the Stockholm Opera SchoolThe Times, Jul 4, 1955, p11 with the physician and vocal coach Gillis Bratt. She undertook further studies with Mme Charles Cahier in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

and also in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. She also studied with

Estelle Liebling Estelle Liebling (April 21, 1880 – September 25, 1970) was an American soprano, composer, arranger, music editor, and celebrated voice teacher and vocal coach. Born into the Liebling family of musicians, she began her professional opera career ...

, the teacher of

Beverly Sills Beverly Sills (born Belle Miriam Silverman; May 25, 1929July 2, 2007) was an American operatic soprano whose career peak was between the 1950s and 1970s. Although she sang a repertoire from Handel and Mozart to Puccini, Massenet and Verd ...

, in New York City during her time at the Met. She debuted as Gutrune in Wagner's ''

Götterdämmerung ' (; ''Twilight of the Gods''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86D, is the last of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). I ...

'' with the

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 ...

in 1917. She remained one of the leading singers there until 1926 when began her international career. She went on to sing at most of the principal opera houses in Europe and America and "was acclaimed not only for her singing, but also for her acting and dramatic intensity" At the Berlin State Opera, she often appeared in Wagner but also as

Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...

, Santuzza (''

Cavalleria rusticana ''Cavalleria rusticana'' (; ) is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from an 1880 Cavalleria rusticana (short story), short story of the same name and subsequent ...

'') and Elektra, as well as in musicals. Her

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

London debut was in 1924 as Sieglinde (''

Der Ring des Nibelungen (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the . The compo ...

'') under

Bruno Walter Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876February 17, 1962) was a Germany, German-born Conducting, conductor, pianist, and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French people, French cit ...

. She later appeared there as

Salome Salome (; , related to , "peace"; ), also known as Salome III, was a Jews, Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II and princess Herodias. She was granddaughter of Herod the Great and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas. She is known from the New T ...

, Kundry (''

Parsifal ''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is freely based on the 13th-century Middle High German chivalric romance ''Parzival'' of th ...

''), Tosca and Elisabeth (''

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 ...

''). She sang at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

from 1932 to 1935 as Isolde (''

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 ...

'') and Brünnhilde as well as Salome. Voice problems eventually caused retirement but as late as 1938 she gave a set of songs with orchestra in concert in Copenhagen

Recorded legacy with critiques

1924:

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...

: ''

'', cond. Coates. She has a "large range of vocal colour... this long lament, so beautifully sung here by Mme. Ljungberg." late 1920s:

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

: ''Ring'' excerpts, conducted by Albert Coates and Leo Blech. "The sexy, passionate Ljungberg" 1926: Wagner: ''

Die Walküre (; ''The Valkyrie''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86B, is the second of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). It was ...

''. "The best of the vocal records f that monthappears to be that of the Love Duet.. sung by Gota Ljungberg and Walter Widdop, at whose hands the amorous frenzy of the climax is given full value" 1929: Richard Strauss: ''Salome'' (Finale). Cond. Blech. "The performance is all that we should expect from such performers" 1931: Wagner: ''Tristan und Isolde'' act III, with Walter Widdop, cond. Blech: One critic claimed that " ervoice is a fine one but hesings here not quite so well as in some of her other recorded roles". Hermann Klein for the Gramophone is more enthusiastic: "neither in the important matter of style nor for beauty of voice or purity and breadth of declamation could er colleagues in the recordingbe compared with an IsoIde like Göta Ljungberg" 1933:

Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for List of compositions by Giacomo Puccini#Operas, his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he ...

: ''Tosca'' arias with Joseph Schmidt. "Neither singer seems to have reached an adequate understanding of the dramatic significance of the duet" Music and Letters, Oct 1933, p 404

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ljungberg, Gota 1893 births 1955 deaths Swedish operatic sopranos People from Sundsvall 20th-century Swedish women opera singers Musicians from Västernorrland County